Liz sat patiently as her maids and matrons of honor fussed with her Wedding gown. Bowing to the wishes of her parents and particularly her father, she had agreed to a big wedding which she had regretted almost immediately. It had grown bigger and bigger. Her second mistake was to let Isabel set it all up. Now the largest church in Roswell was overflowing with flowers and bunting and everything else. Isabel had told her that a queen was getting married to a king even if no one knew it. So it had to be big and resplendent. She had 3 Matrons of Honor in Isabel, Tess and Maria. She had 3 Maids of Honor in Cynthia, Amanda and Grace. Amanda was particularly tickled at being called a maid at over one thousand. Courtney had asked NOT to be part of it since she wanted to sit in the crowd and watch the fun. Liz told her she was the only one with a brain in the whole bunch.

Max had it a little easier and just waited as they knew that between all those women, it would be a while. Michael was of course his best man, and then had Alex and Kyle, Duncan, Methos, Charlie to hold up the other side. Also in the crowd was Lord Lanar and most of the Prime Minister's cabinet; he had agreed to stay on Antar to keep an eye on things (Max also suspected he was greatly relieved at not having to be a part of this circus). Maria had been having lots of fun with the idea of so many aliens being in Roswell for a wedding without anyone knowing different.

Liz had demanded that her gown look just like the gown she wore the first time on Antar. Max had the giddy thought that maybe she was NOT wearing anything under it this time as well.

Liz walked down the aisle slowly on her father's arm. Just like she had promised almost 3 months earlier when they had left for Antar. She had not realized that the wedding would be this big, but she felt that as happy as that made her parents, it was worth it. Max was waiting for her at the altar, and that was what really mattered.

The last 3 months since the end of the war had been hectic, but the last month or so, it had settled down quite a bit, and they had decided to go back to Earth for the wedding she had promised her father. It had created a bit of a stir in Roswell since Liz and Max were still only 17. And the fact that they were supposedly in a ritzy prep school had some wags spinning some interesting tales. Liz could care less what people said or thought; she just wanted to get married and be with Max.

It turned out that rebuilding Antar went a lot faster than most had thought, and it was pretty much expected to be done in only a year or so. Grace had gone back and forth several times to confer with the Granolith and then apply what she learned in her lab back on Earth. She was on the verge of several important breakthroughs. She had also told Liz that Methos and she would be back to stay for a while if Liz got pregnant. Amanda and Duncan seemed to be thinking the same. Liz said she really wanted to have a child, but being a guinea pig was NOT appealing. Alex was deep into the Antarian technology looking for applications that could be easily used on Earth without attracting too much attention. He was also working with the granolith on identifying all the unique energies generated on both planets. The Granolith had created plans for sensors that could be left on earth, and it could compare those energies with those on Antar and Granular. They were both confident that before long, they would have virtually every single different form of energy identified. Liz pointed out that they could only identify what they could detect; how did they know they had detected all or even most?

Cynthia and Charlie had visited twice—Cynthia really wanted to write a book about the fictional world of Antar, and Charlie had gotten hooked on teaching trainees how to use weapons like crossbows. Antar was now working with regular projectile weapons, but the crossbows and such were considered more proper.

Liz and Max spent a week in the mountains of Roswell as their honeymoon. They had to put up with a distant bodyguard of Antarians, but otherwise, they were alone. That is what they really wanted anyway. They would spend another week on Granular as the other part of their honeymoon.

Isabel and Alex, Tess and Kyle, and Charlie and Cynthia had all gotten together with Maria and Michael and had one big wedding right after they got back from Antar. Liz was surprised that Isabel did not want a big wedding—until Isabel told her that no way would she go through all that Liz would to get married. Liz then vowed revenge on Isabel at some future time.

A somewhat odd couple had started to draw some attention. Richie had spent more time with Courtney than anyone else, and they seemed to click. Courtney had decided to stay on earth full time once things had settled down on Antar. She had gotten a shiny new skin and had the one left in Roswell as a standby. She had also decided to relocate to Seacouver—and Richie seemed quite happy about that.

Joe and Rebecca had settled down together, and he said they would stay put most of the time though an occasional visit to Roswell and Antar was something they would look forward to. Now if Duncan and Amanda did go to stay for a while on Antar, then Joe would have to think about that even if there would be no Immortal challenges involved.

Time went by quickly. Liz was checking her calendar and realized that they had spent almost a year on Antar since the wedding. Then she realized something else—she had not had her period that month, and she was normally very regular. She took a deep breath and realized that she had been a little nauseous the first thing in the morning for the last week or so—and had not thought anything of it since they had realized that her quickening had slowly been diminishing. She then took out a small knife and made a very small cut on her arm—and nothing happened. She put the knife down and placed her hand on her stomach—and she smiled broadly. She walked into the bedroom where Max was just waking up.

Max smiled at the beautiful site of his Queen and Mate walking towards him wearing the shear nightgown that she preferred—and shear it was; all but see through. Then he saw that she was smiling very broadly with tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. He got out of bed and asked her, "Liz, what is wrong?"

"Nothing at all, Max, NOTHING at all. I think I am pregnant."

Maria was already pregnant and so was Tess, and Isabel swore she was working on it, and Alex admitted that that was CERTAINLY true. But they had thought it would take more time with Liz, if it was going to happen at all. Cynthia and Charlie had also decided it was time and were working hard at it. So in one respect, it was just one more pregnancy—but on the other hand…

Liz contacted the Granolith and went down to it to be thoroughly examined . The fact that no one would realize that kind of made Liz smile as she greeted the crowd that normally gathered each day to view the Granolith. The reception she got was every bit as warm as the one she had received right after the final battle; the adoration of the people of Antar for their royal family, and it seemed particularly for their Queen, had not diminished at all. Max had rather ruefully told Liz that their plan to have the monarchy fade away was a total failure.

Liz listened in her mind as the Granolith told her that she was indeed pregnant and should have a normal human delivery. She went back to tell Max, and also told the Granolith to arrange to give a message to those back on earth—that night once the palace grounds were closed for the evening, they would all go down to the Granolith for the message making.

Liz stood next to Max with the rest of the Royal Four (everyone else was on Earth at this time), and waited for the Granolith to tell her they were all ready at the far end. This would be a video as well as audio message.

Jeff and Nancy and the rest of the Roswell crowd (only the Seacouver group were missing) gathered at the house where the transmitter had been set up for these types of messages. Liz telling them that they had important news had stirred them all up with speculation on what it was.

Then Liz appeared on the screen and was holographically projected so as to appear to be right in front of them.

"Mom, Dad, everyone, I have great news. I am pregnant, and the Granolith says I should deliver a normal baby in about 8 months."

Jeff and Nancy and Diane and Phillip cried; and everyone else celebrated. Cynthia was rocked and told Liz that she would give Joe a call so that he could inform the other Immortals that what they had hoped would happen had.

Joe put down the phone and looked over at Rebecca who was checking her latest entry as Grace's watcher. "That was Cynthia. Liz just contacted them and told them that she is pregnant, and the Granolith believes the baby will be perfectly normal and be born in 8 months."

Duncan was looking for Amanda who was down in the gym with Charlie and Methos and Richie. They were all working out that night purely by accident.

Amanda looked up as Duncan came into the gym. She had never seen the look on his face he had now. She put down her sword and walked towards him—to be enveloped in a huge hug and swung around in the air.

"Duncan McLeod, put me down. Are you drunk?"

"No—just happy. Just got a call from Joe. Liz is pregnant."

Amanda gasped and put a hand to her mouth, then sagged against Duncan and started to cry. He just held her as he looked at Methos, who walked out of the room to find a phone—he was calling Grace.

They waited a month to make the announcement. The response put the last nail in the coffin of the idea of getting rid of the Monarchy.

Amanda and Duncan, Grace and Methos arrived a month later. It had been determined that it would take approximately one year for the quickening to fade so as to allow the bearing of children. Joe had decided that he would visit every other month or so just to keep his hand in. In the meantime, Tess was about to give birth with Maria just behind, so all the women were involved and totally engrossed in babyland. Isabel was overjoyed to finally be pregnant (a somewhat skinnier and tired looking Alex was REALLY happy), and Liz was just happy that she would come last.

They were all gathered around the room in the palace that had been designated for births as Tess went into labor. Kyle remained with her all through the 17 hours it took, even when Tess threatened to see to it that he never would father anyone else ever again. Alex had discreetly put a dampening device in the room just in case. One week later, Maria went through the same thing, and Mt. St. Maria truly erupted as Michael got called everything dirty ever imagined. Kyle was impressed by Maria's vocabulary. Luckily, Amy was able to calm her down somewhat. Since Amy had unexpectedly found herself pregnant only a month ago, the two women had grown close than ever.

All the men involved agreed that it was a very good thing that it would be several more months before Isabel was due. Plans were made to NOT be around at that time until they were told in no uncertain terms that that would NOT happen by their significant others. Charlie was thinking hard about things, but Cynthia put her foot down. She would be due just after Isabel and about a month or so before Liz.

The build up to the Royal Birth was aggravating to Liz. She was still able to do her KATA but made sure she did it inside to keep people from worrying. Where the idea that pregnant women were so delicate came from, she had no idea, but if she ever found out, that person would be a head shorter right away.

Isabel was determined to act like a Princess during her birth. That lasted about one hour, then she was treating Alex like every other male so far. Luckily, her time was only 14 hours. Alex was very grateful after he had Max heal his broken hand.

Cynthia showed some serious spunk by lasting almost 3 hours before giving Charlie the same treatment. But then her birthing lasted almost 20 hours, so Charlie really did not see where he gained anything.

Then the big event came. Liz was very much at the end of her rope, and despite being hugely pregnant, kept carrying her sword around with a very evil glint in her eye. It was amazing how much time she got alone that last month.

Liz was holding onto Max's hand but had remained silent except for groans for 8 hours. Max told her to scream or yell if she wanted, but she just kept shaking her head. 12 hours went by, and then she was able to deliver. A very healthy and noisy baby boy. And Max discreetly went outside to have a healer fix his broken-in-5-places hand.

The entire planet celebrated the birth of the Royal Heir. The party lasted a full three days.

Liz lay on their bed nursing their child. Max was so humbled and so happy, he was unable to say a thing. They had decided to name him Phillip after Max's father. The whole family had been gathered, and only now some hours later were they able to have some time alone. Max had healed Liz so that outside of the extra weight, she was perfectly healthy.

One week later, they had the official unveiling of the Heir to the Throne of Antar. Prince Phillip was blessed by the High Priest and Priestess and remarkably slept through the entire ceremony. Liz was just glad that it was done, and things would start to settle down.

Methos found that he really enjoyed his time on Antar, and talking with the Granolith was especially interesting. They were both around 5000 years old, and that alone made for a challenging conversation. Grace was deep into her research on DNA and genetics, and was already wording some theses carefully so as to not draw attention. Liz tried to spend as much time as she could, and since she insisted on bringing the baby with her, Amanda usually found a reason to stop by. Both Grace and Amanda got positively gooey over Prince Phillip, and not just because he represented the possibility of fulfilling a dream that they both had had for so many years. Duncan and Methos were vastly amused by the way the two old Immortal Women acted around Liz's baby. Though they had to admit that the first baby born to a FORMAL IMMORTAL was of course a great curiosity.

Duncan had started to teach advanced sword play to volunteers and was astonished at how many wanted to learn. He knew that Liz's victory over Kivar had something to do with that, but it was still startling. Even though projectile weapons were now standard issue in the Antarian Army. Amanda had decided that Antaris needed to be spruced up and bullied the Prime Minister into giving her a staff for beautification of the city. Duncan remarked that the poor man gave in just to get some peace and quiet.

Alex and the Granolith believed that they were getting close to the point where they could identify all the differences in the suns' and planets' energy signatures between Earth and Antar. What they wanted was a guinea pig that did not want to have children. Duncan talked Richie into coming to Antar, and of course Courtney taged along. Liz had an idea and talked to the granolith. Then talked with Grace as well.

Courtney was holding Phillip and cooing just like the rest have done. Liz noticed the wistful look on her face as she held the baby and decided it was time to discuss something that she, the granolith, and Grace had discussed.

Courtney looked up and saw that Liz was biting her lip. That was a tip off that she had something to discuss that was more important than baby things. "OK, Liz you got that look on your face, and you are biting your lip, so spit it out."

Liz takes a deep breath. "Courtney, I know you are not exactly enamored of your people and not particularly proud to be part of them."

Puzzled, Courtney nodded. "Never have been, never will be. What's up Liz?"

"I have talked to the Granolith and to Grace, and we have a proposal to offer you. It's kind of out there, but I noticed that you and Richie have gotten close, so that is why I enquired and had the Granolith do some studies and look at possibilities."

Now intrigued, Courtney put Phillip in his cradle and walked over to where Liz was sitting.

"Come on, Liz; just say it."

"We believe we can change your DNA and make you either Human or Antarian."

Courtney's mouth dropped open, and she just stared.

Liz babbled a little. "We think there should be no problems, but it will take some time, and you will have to stay in stasis for the transformation. It will take several months. But all indications are that it should work."

Courtney's mind whirled. She realized that she really wanted this. But which way to go—Human or Antarian. If she went Antarian, she would still have powers; if she went human, she would be just like Richie. She looked at Liz. "I want this. Just not sure which way to go. I need to talk to Richie."

Liz smiled at her. Happy that her way out there idea apparently had indeed struck a chord.

The arrangements to try and change Courtney took some time to put together. Richie had been worried about the whole thing but understood why Courtney wanted to change. She had finally decided to go for Antarian status as that would seem to be the safest choice. The Granolith was confident that nothing would go wrong, but Grace and Liz were less so and demanded the whole process be shown step by step. After more than a month of examination by Liz, Grace, and Methos, they all agreed that there seemed to be nothing left out. The Granolith had shown the plans for the pod, and it was quite similar to the ones used by the Royal Four. The genetic manipulation of DNA was more extensive, and that was the key question—was it too much? Alex and his Antarian nerd-herd built the pod, and the Granolith was satisfied with it. Finally, 3 months after deciding to do it, Courtney was placed in the pod which would be in a small building right next to the Granolith—Liz had made it quite clear that 24/7 monitoring of it by the Granolith was a must. It was expected to take between 4-6 months. Richie made it clear he would be staying for the entire period.

Within one year of taking up residence, all signs of immortality had disappeared from Duncan and the rest, even Methos. Shortly thereafter, they were all gratified and elated when first Grace and then Amanda became pregnant. In the meantime, Tess and Isabel also became pregnant again. Maria announced that she would wait another year for their second child (Michael was not exactly ecstatic but quite in favor of waiting). Liz and Max had decided to let nature take its course, and naturally, Liz soon became pregnant.

It was now two full years since the defeat of Kivar (he had been tried and executed at the one year anniversary—not that anyone had ever had any doubts about his guilt). All the refugees that wanted to return had at the end of the first year, and Antar had settled down to what some might call boring but many would call comfortable times. Indeed, it was the children being born to the Royals that captured the most attention.

Alex had been able to quietly bring several technological advances from Antar to Earth, primarily in the areas of computers and medical diagnostics. Grace had managed to ghostwrite several papers in regards to Microbiology and DNA Genetics that had those two areas whirling and trying to find out who had written them. Max had pushed, at Liz's urging, that many neglected fields of research be reopened as regards astronomy, and advances in power generation and distribution, as well as increased research into Microbiotics, and modification of common food plants to give greater yields.

Several Space Telescopes that had been in the planning stages before the war were dusted off and built and launched. High speed FTL ships were still VERY expensive, and this was a much cheaper way to observe the cosmos. Research was pushed in the area of slower, more simple and robust FTL drives, and progress came quickly. By the end of the first year, a design that allowed travel to earth in one year with minimal energy and cost was tested and shown to work well. The Asteroid belt that was rich in materials but had barely been explored was put on the front burner, and with agreements with the other two planets besides Antar and Granular, mining of asteroids had begun. Max was also pushing an expanded merchant fleet of ships for trade—he envisioned Earth and other possibilities. There had been some contact years ago with other races outside the Pegasus System, but the ongoing war had ended those efforts, and those races had not wanted to approach a system at war. Liz urged that the few ships that Antar had that were very fast head out and make contact again and try and start trading. That would help the Pegasus system develop a larger economy.

Year three after the war began with Grace giving birth to a baby girl, and soon followed by Amanda giving birth—to twins! A boy and a girl. Duncan wished for his immortality again after getting HIS hand broken by Amanda. Max quickly healed it. Methos was smirking since Grace had told him NOT to hold her hand. Liz soon followed by having a daughter, and Isabel and Tess had both had sons.

Liz was nursing her daughter, whom she had named Claudia after her grandmother (who had unfortunately passed away just before Liz left for Antar the first time). Max was sitting next to her, just enjoying their alone time. They did not get enough of that, what with Liz insisting on doing most of the work raising the children (to the chagrin of the Royal Servants, who in past times did most of that), and Max still very busy as King. Due to popular pressure, there still was much that a King had to do, the new constitution making him not only head of state, but head of the Government. The Prime Minister ran the day to day parts, but all major decisions and all bills passed by the Assembly had to be signed by the King.

More good news came soon after as Courtney emerged from her pod a full Antarian with no side effects. It had taken longer than the Granolith thought—almost 8 months—but it had worked beautifully. A very impatient Richie was waiting as she woke up. They immediately started working on their next project—a baby. Duncan and the other former Immortals had gone back to Earth to see if they would regain their quickening. They left shortly after the births of the babies. One thing that they and Joe and Cynthia, as well as Liz, had discussed was whether to quietly tell other immortals about the possibility of having children. Alex and the Granolith had become quite confident that they could build a device that would remove all the energy needed for the quickening so that Immortals would not have to leave Earth. Courtney going into the pod had scuppered the idea of using Richie as the Guinea pig. Duncan had the thought of talking to the Immortal couple that he knew who had been together for almost 300 years. He decided to approach them after they got back to Earth.

At the end of three years, Liz was talking about taking an extended trip back to Earth to regain her quickening or to try out the Granolith's proposal to have the device broadcast the energy to her to see if that worked. After 6 months back on Earth, Duncan had reported that they all had began to get back their quickening. Grace was figuring it would take from 12-18 months to regain it fully. Max pointed out that they could not leave for that long, and Liz could not go alone either. So she agreed to try the device. She had to wear a small transmitter whenever she left the Palace which was annoying, but that was the way it had to be. They had already put together a pod for the couple that Duncan knew—they would be placed in suspended animation and basically frozen in a chamber built to filter out all energies—only basic nourishment and life support would be used. It was thought that it would take only about 6 months this way since all energies would be blocked—on Antar, some similar energies kept the quickening from quickly fading away.

The ships that had made contact with the other races out there had been fairly successful, and trading was beginning. A dozen new merchant ships had been built, and they were already busy; and some ships from those other worlds had begun to trade with Antar and the other planets as well. Max had asked the astronomy experts to figure out as best they could how many advanced races were in this part of the galaxy as the possibility of more trade had come up from merchants on all the Pegasus System's worlds. Max and Liz were also seriously considering letting some of Earth's governments know what was going on in preparation for letting the people of Earth KNOW that they were not alone. Interstellar trade would help both Earth and the other planets, and also there were more than enough habitable worlds out there to colonize. There were several between Earth and Antar, and Max had ordered the speedy ships to fully survey them. While there was no pressure now to do so from the Pegasus side, it was evident that Earth needed some places in the future to take the pressure off of Earth's natural resources.

Unfortunately, the survey ships found some problems with what were thought to be good worlds for colonization. Of the 6 that were suitable, two were found to be geologically unstable, and therefore, out of the question. One more was in a system with a sun that was showing instability—and could therefore send out huge solar flares of terrible radiation that would fry any intelligent life there. The last three were carefully examined and found to be light planets which meant that their atmospheres were thin—and worst had virtually non-existent magnetic belts, which meant they were totally vulnerable to radiation from their suns. Max was discouraged but not without hope; he ordered the ships to look for more planets. However, he was told that they had already looked at all known habitable planets. More would have to be found, but that would take time.

More time passed as it usually does. Courtney became pregnant; Maria decided she had waited long enough and became pregnant as well. Liz found her quickening returning; the couple on Earth found theirs gone and quickly got pregnant as well. Duncan and the others had gotten their full quickenings back, even Methos.

The scout ship called Antarian Freedom was examining a system about 2 light years away from the Pegasus system when it noticed a interstellar rogue moving at a fairly great speed toward the Pegasus system. There had been a binary system in that general direction that had the old red sun go supernova and fling the other sun—a dwarf star—away. This was exceedingly rare, and the scout ship immediately examined the find. The star had gone nova over 50 years ago, but no one had paid much attention due to the outbreak of the Antarian civil war. And there were no other intelligent races around that would have been interested.

The captain of the scout ship asked his astronomy expert if he was sure of what he had found.

"Captain, I have run the formula five times and have rechecked the sensor readings three times and recalibrated them twice. There is no doubt—this dwarf star rogue will miss our sun and the other planets but will pass so close to Antar and Granular that they will be destroyed. It is moving at a tremendous speed—very nearly 1/3 light speed. At that rate, it will hit the Pegasus system in a little over 3 years. It's hard to tell if at its current heading, it will pick up much speed from our sun. Objects of this size and mass might not follow our formulas as well considering the relative speed we are talking. Unfortunately, its course is steady and leaves no doubt what will happen. It will come in at an angle and sideswipe both worlds. Even if the time is off by as much as a month either way, the result will be the same. Even if it is a dwarf star, its heat and energy and gravitational pull will destroy any other planetary body at a considerably farther distance than it will be from either Granular or Antar."

Max received the preliminary report from the scout ship and just sat there in shock. Then he called for a full council meeting with all the group as well. After that, he went to look for Liz. He found her in the room they had made up as a nursery just off of their room. Phillip was chasing a ball on his pudgy 3 year old legs while Claudia was crawling all over. Max stood in the doorway for a moment just taking in his family—drawing strength just from watching them. Liz looked up with a smile that quickly left. Glancing over at Phillip to see what he was doing, she put Claudia back in her cradle and went to him.

"What is it, Max—I can tell it's not good news. I should have picked up on that because you usually signal me when something is wrong—I was too busy with the kids to notice."

Max just reached for his mate and held her. Liz was starting to get really worried—this had to be something big and real bad.

"All our work over the last 3 years and more is all going to waste, mostly. The universe has decided to tip the applecart over."

Liz looked up at him, then pulled him over to some chairs and sat him down with her in his lap.

"Spit it out, Max."

"One of our scout ships has found a rogue dwarf star moving at one third light speed heading for Pegasus. Granular and Antar are right in its way. The other two should be saf, but we are toast."

Liz sat back and blinked. Then she thought. Hard.

"They are sure there is no mistake?"

"The message said they had checked and rechecked and did it again, and the answer remains the same."

"Rogue dwarf star. That makes it a lot harder. A planet does not have the same range of damage, and if worst came to worst, we could probably find a way to blow it up. A star is a totally different story—nothing we can do about that. So if their calculations are correct, then we have to evacuate both Granular and Antar. 400 million people. How long do we have?"

"They say 3 years."

"Ouch—but it could be worse. We are lucky in one respect that we are already building ships and have started mining the asteroid belt. We have a foundation to build on. First thing we need to do is tell Lord Lanar so he has as much warning as possible. Then we need to talk to the Granolith and get it working on the problem. This is a bad thing, but it is not yet the end of everything."

Max held Liz and smiled, somehow when he was down, no matter what, she made him feel better. Even in a situation like this, she had immediately started to figure out what to do to make things better. Max was not religious, but over the last 4 years, he had thanked god many times for bringing Liz into his life.

Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Isabel, Alex, Tess, Kyle, Charlie, and Cynthia were in the Throne room after Max had set a meeting before the one with the cabinet. He had already relayed the original message to Lord Lanar. Liz had contacted the Granolith and had filled it in. It was already working on projections and scenarios.

Max took a deep breath and squeezed Liz's hand. The rest of them saw that and knew without a doubt that this is a big one and not a good one. Maria as usual was first.

"OK, Max, let us have it. We can all see that it's big and bad."

"Just got a message from one of our scout ships. A rogue Dwarf star is on a collision course with Antar and Granular and will hit in about 3 years. There is no hope of either planet surviving. We have to evacuate 400 million people in 3 years and find a place for them. That is it in a nutshell."

The silence that followed that was profound. All involved realized that everything had just changed—and while that was not the first time for this group, this was bigger than all the others.

Alex was already thinking hard and was the first to comment.

"400 million people need a lot of space and resources. Where are we going to take them? The planets that we have found so far are NOT suitable. They are also not subject to terraforming even if we had the current capability. The planets with thin atmospheres are that way due to low gravity, and nothing can really be done about that. The unstable ones—we have no idea how long they might last, so they would be the absolute last resorts. The planets with no magnetic field—we would have to rig shielding that would bring its own problems. And it would be very difficult to do in the time we have. Not to mention that that would divert resources from moving the people. So that means since the remaining two planets in this system are not options either—that means we have to take them to Earth."

Liz nodded. "That is pretty much my conclusion as well. I have contacted the granolith, and it is working on plans right now and examining the initial data to make sure that there was no mistake. But for all practical purposes, there is only one place to take the people, and unfortunately, it's already occupied. Now there are large stretches on Earth that are sparsely populated—and that way for a reason—but still. The Australian subcontinent is one place; the deserts of northern and central Africa; the Canadian Shield. Siberia. Unfortunately, each of those places are not only sparsely populated but have virtually no infrastructure as well. We would have to bring everything and have to be able to support all by what we bring. Raw materials and such can be had, but everything else we have to take care of."

Michael had been thinking furiously. "We have to let the governments of Earth know first. And that can of worms is going to be a lot of fun to open. This is going to cause all sorts of trouble."

Isabel was nodding. "Aliens exist and are coming Here! Invasion! Two headed monsters in your backyard! I can just imagine the media."

Kyle was next. "Max, any chance that we can find a suitable planet a lot closer then Earth? Since we can all pretty much imagine all the trouble that going there will bring."

Max shook his head. "We have had scout ships looking for almost two years now, and the only place they have not looked is in the clusters with our tentative new trading partners. And from what we have been able to find out in other ways, there are no uninhabited planets that we could really go to there. Not to mention the trouble that might cause with the species already in those areas. Anything else is a lot farther away, and even our fastest ships would need time to get there. And time is what we are short of. I am going to send them anyway just in case we get lucky, but we need to start planning now and making preparations right away. And that means Earth. If we find a place better in a year or so, then we can switch—but it would be criminally negligent to count on anyplace else with what we know now. And with all the troubles we can already foresee as regards going to Earth, we have to start working with the governments and people of Earth right away if it's going to work at all."

After the meeting with the Group, Max had his meeting with the government. Needless to say, there were a great many comments after he dropped the bombshell. He directed that nothing be said outside of the room for the time being while they gathered as much information as possible. He knew of course that the word would get out—it was too big not to.

Liz had left the first meeting to go down and converse with the Granolith. She directed the guards to clear the area so that they would have privacy.

The Granolith was humming fairly loudly which was an indication it was deep in thought and calculations. Liz sat on the ground and leaned up against it. She felt she could use the time to gather her thoughts anyway. If she had remembered to bring her sword, she probably would have done her KATA, but then that would have attracted more attention. And they really needed to try and keep things as quiet as possible, though Liz knew that rumors would be skyrocketing as soon as the government was informed.

Liz was still coming to grips with the magnitude of the situation. Even fighting a war had not been anywhere near as daunting as this was. 400 million people. That kept spinning around her head. To be able to transport that many would be an incredible undertaking. The physical scale alone was immense. At an average weight of 125 lbs per every man, woman, and child, that was 50 billion pounds or 25 million tons. At an average of 20 cubic feet, that worked out to 8 billion cubic feet. If each ship was built 1000 feet long and 500 feet in diameter, with 40% taken up by the engines and life support and such, you would need 100 of them just to transport the people with nothing else. They had built 10 of those in 2 years; they would need to accelerate production by 1000%. They would have to bring materials for temporary housing and to support that housing; power and such. Food—they would need to have some stockpiled there—at least a year's worth. They HAD to be self sufficient—anything else was inviting certain disaster.

The Granolith quieted. Liz still sat there thinking. "Queen Elizabeth, what do you require?"

Liz jumped—startled. Then she stood up. "What have you been able to figure out about our situation?"

"Within the current time constraints, it is indeed possible to relocate the combined populations of Granular and Antar to Earth. However, all other activities must cease immediately, and all efforts must be concentrated on the construction of the necessary ships for transport. More detailed plans are available. The current design of ships under construction are adequate for the mission. No change of the basic design will be needed. However, the interior of the ships will need a total redesign. The population will have to be podded and put in suspended animation for the duration of the voyage. Therefore the production of pods will be a critical area. Designs are available."

Liz nodded. "OK, print out your plans for the ship redesign and the pods. Also lay out your recommendations on how to speed up construction. We will need them as soon as possible."

"As you wish, Queen Elizabeth."

Max was holding Claudia and humming gently as she slept. Liz watched him from the door of the nursery. She decided to just wait and quietly went back into their bedroom. She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She had had to make a conscious decision to NOT let this totally dominate all her thoughts and dreams. As big as it was, it was still not the whole universe. She had to hold to that and not let go. And she had to make sure that Max did the same.

Max put Claudia back into her crib. Phillip was sound asleep in his. He walked back into the bedroom and found Liz lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling. He moved over and lay down beside her. She reached over and held his hand. He tugged her over until she was lying on his chest. And then he just held her. Liz enjoyed this but knew she had to keep going.

"Talked to the Granolith. It said that if we organize things right and do not screw up, we should be able to get it done. We just have to ramp up production of the ships by 1000% and make 400 million life support pods to put in them. Nothing really to it."

Max laughed slightly. Liz smiled as that is what she wanted him to do.

"Good to know the Granolith is optimistic. That is more then I could say for the cabinet meeting. Lots of doom and gloom there. And of course we can count on the word leaking out pretty fast. So we are going to have to address the people pretty quick. And of course, we really need to figure out how we are going to tell Earth—GUESS WHAT. 400 MILLION aliens are coming."

"Sounds like a cheap movie."

"Well one thing for sure… NOTHING is going to be cheap about any of this."

"True—but it's not like we could spend it on anything else. Since everything around here has an expiration date."

"I think we need to contact the Sheriff and have him contact that Major Tolner. We could start there. Or on the other hand, we could take one of the ships and land it on the White House lawn. That would be the quick way."

"Yeah, but it would cause lots of panic, and since we are going to be asking for some big favors, that is not the way to try and make nice."

"That is why I think we need to start low and work our way up. We do have time to do this right."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Oh and by the way, I noticed that my quickening is just about to where it was before I came here. Accidentally cut my finger on the corner of the crib this morning, and the blue sparks took care of things in less than a minute. So Alex and the Granolith have figured things out there. Of course, that part is null and void now; though the dampening part for those that want kids is still a very valid thing. I was going to tell you that this morning, but a small thing like the end of the world came up."

"That is good to hear—I always felt better with you as an Immortal. Less worry for me."

"Got to admit that it's a comfort to me, not to mention I no longer have to worry about birth control. Now that I know we can switch it on or off, Immortality no longer seems like a prison sentence like it once did."

That got Max to look at Liz. He had had hints of that before, but this was the first time she had admitted it. He could sort of see both sides of the equation, but to him, now that they had children, he really did like it better that Liz was immortal.

Liz smiled back at him. She knew that that had surprised him a little. But that was really the way she had felt. To live while everyone around you got old and died did not seem like any kind of "prize" to her.

That evening, they went down to the Granolith (for the foreseeable future, Max had ordered it sealed off to the public). Max asked the Granolith to alert the Sheriff for an important message. Liz had figured the time and thought that he would be home right now.

Sheriff Valenti had just walked in the door, where Amy was cuddling 2 year old Samuel at the kitchen table when the buzzer for the transmitter hooked to the Granolith went off. He walked over to the cabinet that had what looked like an ordinary AM/FM radio (Alex had fixed it to do that as well so that it would not attract attention) and flipped on the receive switch and checked the readout. He saw that they were waiting on Antar and pressed the button to show that he was listening.

The Granolith signaled that the other end was waiting. Max took a deep breath.

"Sheriff, how do you read me?"

"Loud and Clear, Max. What's up?"

"This is a big one, Sheriff. Need to get everyone—and I do mean everyone—there as soon as possible. The Seacouver group as well. Will need them at the chamber to give them this one. So let us know when they can be there."

"Got it, Max, and will let you know as soon as possible."

The Sheriff switched off the transmitter and looked at Amy, who looked worried.

"Jim, this does not sound like good news."

"I think you are right. Well I better start to get the word out."

Duncan put down the phone and looked over at Amanda who was fussing with the twins, who had just had their first birthday. She looked up at him.

"Trouble?"

"Just got a call from the Sheriff. Max just contacted him and said something big was coming and to get everyone to Roswell to the chamber for the message. This sounds ominous. I will call Joe, and he can get a hold of Cynthia and Charlie. You call Richie."

Jeff looked up at the Sheriff as he walked in the Crashdown. They were just about to close. The Sheriff sort of jerked his head towards the upstairs and Jeff nodded. He followed the sheriff up the stairs to the apartment.

Nancy looked up from the books as the Sheriff and Jeff walked in. She stood up and faced them.

"OK, I can guess something is up. What is it?"

The Sheriff shrugged. "Got a message from Max that he needed everyone together at the chamber as soon as we could get the Seacouver group here. Said it was big but gave no details."

Methos watched Grace with their son. He had never thought this day would come—5000 years of not even being able to even dream. Nothing he had ever felt or experienced, not his first quickening, nothing compared to this. He had a terrible fear that this was all a dream, and that at any moment, he would wake up. Then the phone rang, and he picked it up to hear Duncan tell him that Max needed everyone in Roswell for a critical message as soon as they could make it. Duncan had already gotten a charter jet that would be able to get them there the next morning. Methos told him they would be at the airport at 9AM. Then he hung up. Grace was looking at him.

"I think we have trouble coming. Max said he needed everyone in Roswell ASAP. We leave tomorrow morning."

Grace sighed. "Things were going much too well. This visit to Seacouver went too well." They had decided for the time being to stay in Roswell as Grace was still involved in her experiments and DNA testing. Methos found that with Grace and Adam (he well remembered the looks he got from Duncan and Joe about that), Roswell was just fine with him.

Joe looked over at Rebecca after putting the phone down. "Duncan said Max wants everyone in Roswell ASAP. Big trouble coming, he thinks. Duncan has a small jet chartered for tomorrow morning." Rebecca had been knitting two small sweaters for the twins, Sally and William. Joe had been totally stunned when Duncan had asked him to be Godfather and Rebecca Godmother to them. And so very honored and humbled. After the return from Antar with the twins, Joe had been torn about what to put in Duncan's chronicle. Amanda's watcher also came to him and asked where they had been. Joe had told her that Duncan had dropped out of site with Amanda and then had reappeared almost two years later with twins. Joe had finally gone to the council and reported everything. They had refused to believe him until he had shown them the video evidence from Antar; and Grace's DNA and genetic research. Needless to say, they were totally stunned. And then when he had reported the couple that had been podded (showing their watchers where they had gone) and their baby, it just floored them. The council then tried to figure out what to do. That was some months ago, and they still were struggling with the situation. That amused Joe to some extent. At least now he had a free hand.

Duncan was just closing up the Dojo when he felt the Buzz. He knew that Richie was with Courtney and the baby; and Methos was with Grace and their child. So this had to be someone else. He waited for the person to come to the door. He thought that he recognized the buzz but was not sure. The knock on the door came, and he went to open it. He was amazed at who was there.

Cassandra had had a dream some months ago about Duncan McLeod and a baby, but it was wrapped up in other images that made no sense. She did a dream search, but that cleared up nothing. Then she had had one about Methos and a child as well. Then a young dark haired woman with a sword in one hand and a baby in the other. Enough was enough, and she left northern Scotland and headed for Seacouver. She knew where Duncan was, and he would know where the others were; of that she was certain.

Duncan smiled at her. He had been thinking about contacting her about the possibilities that Immortals now had. "Welcome. I am glad to see you and had been thinking about contacting you. There have been big changes. There are now possibilities for Immortals that we have never had before."

Cassandra was taken aback by the clear happiness and joy radiating from Duncan. He had never been like this before. She began to suspect that her dreams might have held more literal truth then she had thought. She followed Duncan up the stairs to the apartments. He opened a door, and she followed him in. To see Amanda with twin babies acting just like any other mother. Cassandra stood in shock as the realization hit her. She turned to Duncan and spoke just one word.

"How?"

Richie held young Angie while Courtney got a new diaper. HE had never been so happy and content in his life. Courtney had told him that in many ways, she was a loaner and had never had any kind of a relationship before. He told her that he really had not had a serious one either. Then they had met each other in the craziness of Roswell and Aliens and so on, and they had clicked. She had gone through her transformation, and when she emerged from her pod, Richie had thought he would never be happier. He found out he was wrong when he held his daughter for the first time. He sighed as…

He remembered the phone call he had gotten from Amanda. More alien craziness it seemed. *Well I guess I had to expect things would not stay quiet for long.*

Courtney looked at him as she heard the sigh. She had found out that when she was transformed, she had to learn how to see and hear and feel the world again. Her senses felt totally different. Without the filtration of the skin, everything was more real and vivid. She looked at their child—never had she felt so humble as the first time she held her baby. Feelings and emotions that she had never suspected had crashed through her. And she now knew that for the first time in her almost 70 years, she was really living.

"No point in worrying. We will find out soon enough. Now hand Angie over since we both know who is better at diapering."

Cassandra marveled at the feel of holding little Sally in her arms. Over the millennia, she had held many babies—but somehow this one was different. She had known early on that she could not have children and had had over 2500 years to get used to the idea. Now she knew she COULD have children. And that changed everything. She had asked Duncan and Amanda how they would cope with the gradual aging of their children. Their responses astonished her.

"We will cope with it the way we have always done so. But we will also have the comfort more than likely of grand children and great grandchildren and so on. And who knows what the future may bring. This gift is so precious that to question the future seems wrong."

Amanda was also very clear. "I have wanted this so badly for a thousand years. I tried to bury it deep inside myself and covered it by appearing to not care at all. I perfected that mask over the centuries until I almost believed it myself. Then the chance came, and suddenly nothing else mattered. As Duncan said, we will cope with it—in the knowledge of the generations to come."

Duncan had looked at her. "I want you to come with us to Roswell tomorrow. You need to meet everyone and get to know them. Besides, if what Max has to say is as big as it sounds, we will need everyone's help."

Cassandra was still trying to interpret her dreams. "I have dreamed of a young woman, brunette and small, with a sword in one hand and a Baby in the other."

Duncan smiled. "That was my student, Elizabeth Parker, the first immortal to have a child. And now Queen of Antar. She also took down the dictator that had started a 50 year long civil war. You will probably get a chance to meet her if we go to Antar or they come here."

Cassandra's mouth dropped open. She shook her head. "It just gets more and more complicated and more and more confusing."

Amanda grinned. "Welcome to Immortal Life crossed with Aliens in the 21st Century."
They were all gathered the day after the call came. Once the sheriff had been notified that the Seacouver group would be in by noon, he sent a message and got a reply that Max would be sending it at 5 that afternoon. So they first met at the house, which was barely big enough for the gathering. Duncan, Amanda and the twins; Methos, Grace and Adam; Richie, Courtney and Angie; Charlie, Cynthia and Samantha; Jeff and Nancy; Diane and Phillip; the Whitmans; The Sheriff, Amy and Samuel; Joe and Rebecca; and Cassandra. The Sheriff had arranged for several vans which were needed. At 4, they left and headed for the pod chamber. They got there at just after 4:30. So they had about 15-20 minutes once they got to the pod chamber. Which was just big enough since the wall had left with the Granolith.

At precisely 5, the image of Max beamed into the chamber.

"Glad to see you all could make it. I wish I had better news. Though I guess it could be a lot worse. Here is the problem. About 5 days ago, one of our scout ships spotted a rogue Dwarf Star heading at what for a natural body is incredible speed—almost 1/3 the speed of light—heading towards the Pegasus System. About 50 years ago, a star went Nova, and it was in a binary system. We think it flung this dwarf star out—why it did not destroy it is a mystery, but what is is what is. It will miss our sun but take out Granular and Antar. There is no mistake and nothing we can do about it. A rogue meteor or comet or even planet we could destroy. Nothing we can do to a sun, even a dwarf. We have just over 3 years to evacuate the 400 million people of Granular and Antar. Now of all the planets we have been able to find over the past couple of years, NONE of them are fit to go to for various reasons. So there is only one place we can go that we can survive. I guess you all can figure out what planet that is." He paused to let that sink in.

"We are already starting to accelerate the building of ships for the evacuation. Thank God we started this three years ago and already have proven designs and shipyards started and ships already proven. We have to redesign their interiors, but that is not a major problem. We will be podding the people—suspended animation—since the trip will take almost one year, and there is no way we can take the people and the necessary food and life support means without building twice as many ships, and that is impossible. We can manage that. It will be difficult and close, but we can do it. There will actually be three flights. First one brings material and supplies and such. Second brings food. The last will be the people. We think we can supply everything that will be needed and will not have to depend on Earth for anything but the actual real estate to settle on. And then only until we find a planet elsewhere to colonize. However, we do not know how long that might take. Probably years. We want to be completely self-sufficient for the first year, and then be able to grow our own food after that."

Max paused again and looked at the people there. More than a couple had their mouths hanging open. Well not much of a surprise at that. As Liz said, it was like a cheap Sci-fi movie.

"Now we come to the real problem. The people and governments of Earth. We are looking at the following areas: Outback Australia; the Canadian Shield; Siberia; Central and Northern Africa. The five least populated areas on Earth. We figure to contact the US Government first, and then go from there. Sheriff, we were thinking you could call up your contacts and start there. This of course will be very tricky, and there are lots of pitfalls easily visible. I hate to say this, but we do have the necessary technology to just go to one or two of these places and say that is that, and we can fight off anyone trying to throw us off. BUT that is the absolute last resort. I want this to be a cooperative situation. We can help Earth with a lot of their problems as regards energy and other situations. And I will make it clear that we stay only until we can find somewhere else to go. There are a lot of systems and a lot of planets, and we will find a good one sooner or later. BUT we have to have a place NOW. There is of course a chance that one of our scout ships will find a planet we can go to, and we will not come here. However, right now, that does not look likely. And at a certain point, we will be locked in and have to come here first no matter what. So there it is my friends."

For a few moments there was absolute silence in the Chamber. Then some muttering and finally general conversation. Max let it go on for a few minutes, then asked for silence again.

"OK people, now you know. Any ideas no matter how far out there are welcome. Sheriff, I guess the ball is in your court now."

James Valenti, Sheriff of Roswell, New Mexico, realized that he had reached a critical point in his life. He looked over at Amy and his son and took a deep breath. He looked at Max. "I will contact him tomorrow. Probably will see him the next day. He usually is pretty quick. Of course, he may have been transferred, but someone will come. How do we handle it from there?"

Courtney held her daughter and closed her eyes. Then she handed her to Richie and stepped forward.

"I will be here in the chamber when you bring the officer here. He can see Max and hear him, but I will need to show him that I am an alien to reinforce what Max is saying. Then they can bring a group here next."

Max looked at her. "Are you sure about this Courtney? This could get ugly."

"Yes I am. Without you and your friendship and Liz and the rest, what would I have now compared to what I do have now?"

Max thought for a moment. "As long as you remain in the chamber, the Granolith can pull you out if necessary. So we can give you some cover and protection."

Courtney nodded. "That should be enough."

Richie was torn. Very proud of her but very frightened of the possibilities. And he knew he could not be there since, if the worst came to the worst he would need to take care of Angie. Then he had a thought. "Max, could you arrange to transport me and Angie there just before. That way if you have to pull her in, we will be waiting for her. If things go OK, we can just come back."

Max nodded. "That is no problem, and it's a good idea."

The Sheriff had been thinking. "We might be advised to put most of the Roswell people on the same thing. If things go bad, they will be looking all over town, and we will be the ones that stand out. They look at me, and they find Maria, Kyle and Tess, and then the string goes around to Michael and Max and Isabel and Liz and so on. And their families."

Max sighed. "You are right. We should plan for that contingency." He looked around the chamber. "It's probably a good idea if you all were to come to Antar for the time being. That way, the military and the FBI and whatever alphabet soup that shows up will have no one to grab."

Everyone in the chamber sadly realized that the Sheriff was right.

Duncan had been thinking very hard. His connection to Liz was not great, but it was there. And of course Cynthia had been seen with Liz a lot—not to mention that wedding of Liz's. The wedding picture alone gets all of them. However, Immortals are masters at fading into the woodwork and out of sight. He looked at Max.

"I think we Immortals can safely stay back in Seacouver and just be ready to quickly disappear. We after all have done that many times. That will put less of a burden on you."

Max looked at Duncan and nodded. "Thanks, Duncan."

Jeff and Nancy and the other families had been quietly talking. He stepped forward towards Max. "We are all agreed that we should be there during this. If the military or the government panics or reacts badly, it would get ugly very quickly."

Methos had also been thinking. Grace had a bigger connection due to the house then any of the other Immortals. That connection would be found very quickly. But of course they all had alternate identities that were available for immediate use. So being in Seacouver or somewhere else at that time would be the best thing for them. He was sadly familiar with superstition and witch hunts and frightened mobs and frightened leaders. He looked at Max.

"Duncan is right that we need to be NOT here when this all goes down. As long as we can get some warning if it all comes apart, we will be ok."

Max nodded again. "I will have the Granolith build another communicator right now and have it transported tomorrow. You can take it with you to Seacouver so you can listen in. If it goes bad, then you should have plenty of time to split."

The meeting broke up soon after that. The parents and those going to Antar would do so the next day. And the day after that, things would start.

Lt. Col. Tolner was still getting used to his new rank, and more than that, his new responsibilities. Despite the fact that three years had gone by with no hint of any other alien presence, his position was still considered very sensitive and high visibility to the upper echelons. Though he noticed that with the more time that went by, people seemed to relax more. Of course, more than 50 years had passed from the first incident to the second, so one could look at that attitude with a jaundiced eye. His phone rang, and he picked it up. "Col. Tolner, Assessment Team."

"Col. Tolner, this is Sheriff Valenti in Roswell. Congratulations on your promotion."

"Thank You, Sheriff. I take it you have something for me. I hope the results are slightly less important than they were last time." Tolner knew the Sheriff had been keeping tabs on things and had realized that something big went down the last time. The fact that he had never tried to pry was a positive mark in the book for Tolner.

"Unfortunately in some respects, and maybe fortunately in others, this one is a lot bigger. I need to see you ASAP."

Tolner sat up straight at that. The Sheriff was not one to cry wolf. If he thought it was big, it could very well be huge. "How soon is ASAP, Sheriff?"

"Can you make it to Roswell by 9AM tomorrow?"

"Yes I can. Should I have anyone else with me?"

"Probably not a bad idea. You might need verification and support for your report."

Tolner thought hard at that. Clearly the sheriff was saying he was going to be shown something really big. And might need evidential support to make sure his superiors believed him.

"OK, I will bring two people with me and some recording instruments."

"Sounds good to me. See you tomorrow at the same place as usual."

Tolner put down the phone and thought furiously. He knew who he would take with him; also instruments and video and audio recording equipment. He then picked up the phone to inform higher command that something was again up in Roswell.

The Sheriff was waiting south of town near the site of the Crash. It's where he always met the Major (now Colonel). A non-descript beige van with US Government Plates pulled up with the Colonel at the Wheel. The Sheriff walked over and told him, "It's not too far. Just follow me." The Colonel nodded.

The Sheriff parked at the pod site. He watched as the Colonel carrying a sniffer of some kind followed by a Captain with a video camera and a Lt. with another instrument of some kind walk up to him. He led them up the side of the hill to the pod chamber.

Tolner stared at the pods. After all these years, they had been found. He and the other officers went all over them. After about half an hour, they felt they had taken all the pictures and readings that were needed at the moment. Tolner turned towards the Sheriff. "You said big, and you were NOT exaggerating. We have been looking for something like this for more than 50 years."

The Sheriff had a strange smile on his face. "Colonel, this is just the window dressing. The big one is yet to come." The colonel and other officers looked at each other, then at the sheriff.

The Granolith had been able to put up an illusion of a wall. It now dropped it.

The officers started as the wall opposite the pods disappeared to uncover another chamber where a young woman stood. She was about 5'3", maybe 110 lbs, blond and quite pretty. Probably in her mid to late 20's.

"My name is Courtney. I originally came from a planet near the ones that these pods came from. I was part of the group that you wiped out 3 years ago. I escaped and found my way here. By pure luck, I met the other aliens who came from those pods. Despite the fact that we had been on opposite sides of a 50 year long civil war, we made peace with each other. And they eventually helped me transform from my former being into one like them. Their planet is called Antar. It's part of the Pegasus system out on the Orion Arm about 15,000 light years from earth. The four in those pods had been sent here to grow up in safety and then return to overthrow the dictator that had murdered their predecessors. My group was sent to stop them. Obviously failing. The pods were NOT supposed to take as long as they did—they were supposed to come out only 10 years after the crash—instead it was 40 years. They are gone now, back on their home planet where 3 years ago they did overthrow the dictator and set up a constitutional Monarchy. I guess I am the only actual Alien on Earth right now—at least as far as we know. I have friends and family here now. I consider Earth my home."

Tolner had listened, fascinated. The Captain had been recording the whole speech. The Lt. was using his instrument but looked at the Colonel and shook his head—he was getting no strange energy readings.

Courtney looked at the Colonel. Then put out her hand at a rock sitting on the ground and made it into a Potted Cactus about 3 feet high.

Tolner stared—fascinated. The Lt. spoke "Just got a strong reading on the scale—definitely a strange energy spike." Tolner walked over to the plant and touched it. It felt real and looked real.

He turned toward the young looking alien—which was clear that that was what she was.

"Why are you contacting us now?"

"Well things were going fine on Antar until just recently. Which I guess one should expect—good times do not last. Are you aware of the term Extinction Level Event, or E.L.E.?"

Tolner nodded slowly. "That is a meteor or comet strike or some other event that wipes out all life on a planet. Or at best severely changes it. The meteor that hit the Caribbean and caused the dinosaurs to die out is considered one of those. Are you saying that one is heading towards Antar?"

"Actually, a rogue Dwarf Star moving at almost 1/3 light speed. We think that about the time the civil war started over 50 years ago, there was a Nova in a system about 18 light years away. It was a binary system, and we think this dwarf star got tossed and just decided to head our way. It will miss the son of the Pegasus System but will destroy two of the four inhabited planets. Unfortunately, the two planets that will be fine—one of which was my former home world—have atmospheres that are not capable of supporting Antar's and Granular's people—who are pretty much human with a few additional powers. And none of the other planets that we have discovered over the last few years that we had started to look for again are viable. There are 400 million people on those two planets that will die in 3 years unless we evacuate them. There is only one planet that they can go to at this time."

Tolner slowly nodded. Now he got what the Sheriff had meant. To say this was big was the understatement of the millennium.

"So they have to come here. How are they going to transport 400 million people in 3 years?"

"They are already frantically building the ships. We do just BARELY have enough time to get it all done. It's going to be tight and nothing big can go wrong. But the real problem is of course the reaction of the people on Earth to 400 million aliens showing up. That is why we are here—to start the process to find a way to make it work."

Tolner took a deep breath. "Well needless to say, I have to get back to HQ and start the process of going up the chain of command. They are going to want you in custody, you know."

Courtney nodded. "And I think you can guess that I will not come peaceably and be poked prodded and maybe dissected all in the name of National Security."

Tolner nodded. He could certainly see her point of view and could frankly see that happening. There were some pretty hard types that would have no problem ordering it.

"I take it you will be gone pretty quick after we leave?"

Courtney nodded. "We have the capability to transport by energy beam. Sort of like the transporters on Star Trek. I will be on Antar pretty quickly after this meeting. We can communicate though."

At that point a device materialized beside her. It was about the size of a desktop computer—dark and square. The Granolith had suggested this. "This device will allow you to receive communications from Antar. It does not have the power to generate its own transmission—it is a receiver that, when the connection is made, can transmit. Every day for the next 5 days at 9 AM Roswell time, it will be activated. Of course once the conversation starts, arrangements can be made for other times—this was done in case the decision to talk gets wrapped up in red tape."

Tolner nodded. Then Courtney smiled at him and disappeared.

The Lt. then said, "When the device appeared, I got a much larger spike. When she disappeared, it went off the scale."

Tolner looked at the sheriff. "They are going to want to talk to you for certain, Sheriff. And I hate to say it, but they will be looking for your family and friends as well."

The Sheriff nodded. Pretty much what he had expected. "My Family has already been taken away, and so have all those close to the others who were here. For the record, I can give you their names and such."

Tolner nodded as well. "Well we might as well start. Let's head back to town, and I have to report in. This place will be crawling with techies and everything else by noon."

Duncan and the others had been listening in in Seacouver. He switched off the transmitter and looked at the others. "I think it might be a good idea to be away from town for a while. Joe, can you arrange for some watchers to keep an eye on things—very carefully? Just to see if they show up here looking."

"No problem Duncan. Already know who I am going to use. They are experienced and good."

Col. Tolner found himself pulled in several different directions right away. First, he sent word up the chain of command, and then furnished a secure copy of the video that was taken straight to DC. Then he started the techies towards the chamber, which of course meant sealing off the area and bringing in MP's and so on. Then he took down the Sheriff's statement. That was very interesting. The Sheriff had decided to put it all out there and told Tolner everything—which took several hours. Tolner was astonished at how much had gone on without anyone finding out. He told the Sheriff that a lot of security types were going to be green with envy at his ability to keep this all quiet.

One thing the Sheriff had decided was that the Immortal part would NOT be told. There was no real reason—Max and Liz had just dated, and the rest of them became involved and so on. No need for any Immortal Details.

Colonel Williams was a veteran CID investigator of more than 20 years experience. But this one was so far beyond anything that he had ever imagined that his head was spinning. He had just been briefed in by Col. Tolner that the Roswell Crash had happened, and that there had been aliens on the planet for more than 50 years. It had been decided that for the moment, CID would be lead investigator instead of the NSA since it was hoped they would be less conspicuous. He shook his head, then went to brief in his staff. They were supposed to turn over Roswell with a fine tooth comb and find out everything possible. Though he wondered how much they would find—clearly the Sheriff had done a good job of covering things up, and they already knew his family and the families of the teens who had gotten involved with the Aliens had left already. But they still had to do their jobs.

Major Grissom had a wedding picture in his hands. It was of Elizabeth Parker and Maxwell Evans. Right away after they got the name of those involved, the work of digging out photographs had started, and this one looked like the mother lode. The wedding party was pretty big and already they had identified the Sheriff and his family, the Evans, Parkers, Whitmans. Now they had to see if they could find out who the others were. Since the ones already identified were not around.

Col. Tolner had been summoned to the Pentagon to give his formal report. As he walked into the room, he was not surprised at how much rank was there. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, SecDef, the President's National Security Advisor, the heads of the FBI and CIA and NSA, and the Head of Homeland Security. He took a deep breath and began.

"You have all seen the video of the meeting yesterday with the purported alien. You have before you the initial analysis of the readings from the instruments we had there. Everything we have so far indicates that she was indeed an alien. The Cactus Plant she created has been already examined, and initial test results show that it is perfectly normal with no differences yet found from an ordinary one. So until and unless we find substantial evidence to the contrary, she is an alien."

The National Security Advisor had a question. "I see from the transcript that she was originally an enemy of the Roswell Group but in the end joined them, and she claimed she was transformed. Which kind of alien was she before?"

"The type that we destroyed three years ago. They were from a planet that had a methane dominant atmosphere and had to wear environmental suits to survive here. They were very sophisticated suits and were very heavily armored—it would take a direct hit from an AT-4 or tank round to destroy it. Or a hit from a thermite rd generating several thousand degrees of heat. Of course without a close examination, we cannot be certain of what she said, but at the same time, we do not have any evidence that conflicts with her statement."

"Do we have any verification of this Rogue Dwarf Star?"

"We have checked as much as we can so far—it will take time—but we think we can identify the System that went Nova in the time frame—at least I have been told that. We shall see. But considering the distances involved, I think we will know little more than that."

The Chairman spoke next. "So is this for real, or is it a cover for an invasion?"

Tolner knew he had to speak carefully.

"Sir, they have the technology to get here from there. That alone shows they are so far ahead of us technologically, it's almost pathetic. They do not need to use diversions or ruses. They can come here and take us down with no problem at all. Of course, it would be easier that way for them, but the outcome would be the same no matter what. It would be like a stone age tribe trying to fight Third Army."

The Chairman frowned but made no comment. The SecDef did. "I think no one here is under any illusion that we would have any realistic chance at resistance. This is not like Independence Day where someone with a laptop can take down a mother ship." That got a few tight smiles.

The NSA chief spoke next. "How is the investigation going on as regards Roswell?"

"Sir, we have debriefed the Sheriff who is the only one involved that we have. We have a wedding picture that probably has all the friends and families of those involved. But most of them are already gone, and so far, we have not been able to identify any of the others. I think we will in the next few days, but if they have not already left, they will be in hiding, and I doubt we would find them anytime soon. To be frank, I really doubt that the investigation will contribute anything that really matters."

The FBI head spoke. "We can dance around the real issue as much as we want, but let's get down to it. They are coming, and we cannot stop them. And since from their point of view, it's survival; you really cannot argue with their decision. So that is that. What we have to do is find a way to prevent mass chaos and panic. That means that we have to let the people of Earth know as soon as possible that there is intelligent life out there. They will need some time to come to grips with that before we drop the big one on them that 400 million alien refugees are going to be our guests for at least several years."

The NSA chief had some thoughts. "So do we have any idea what time frame we are looking at as regards their first arrivals?"

Tolner spoke. "The Sheriff said that they would first send ships with equipment and such to establish communities and shelter and the like—power plants and so on. Then the next wave would stockpile food and other supplies. The people would come last. They would be in over 100 ships the size of SuperCarriers and would be in pods—suspended animation—since that way they do not have to furnish facilities for the trip which will take almost one year. He made it clear that they wanted to be able to be fully self-sufficient for at least the first year as regards everything. And after that, only consumables and maybe food of some type. They do not want to be any drain on the Earth's resources. And he said they would be willing to negotiate as regards technological transfers, especially Medical and Energy advances."

That got the attention of the entire room. The Chairman was the first. "So are we talking about massive advances in those areas?"

Tolner spoke. "We have to assume so, General. I do know for certain that they must have incredible energy generating capability. No way they can move or even transmit over such distances at such speed without it. So we could be looking at the answer to all our energy needs."

The NSA chief mused. "That would actually be a pretty steep price for renting areas that few people live on today anyway. Considering the long term benefits of that for this planet, that alone would sway a lot of people. If we add major advances in medical technology as well, then there will be quite a few with welcome signs out."

The FBI chief had to put a damper on things. "But we have to face the fact that a lot of people today are still prejudiced, especially in the third world. And even if they do not look different, the fact is they are, and millions will react badly no matter what. We have to be ready for that."

The SecDef mused as well. "And we have not even got to the effect this will have as regards religions and the religious. No telling how well that will go down."

The Chairman had another thought. "Since all the area's identified are not in the US, the nearest being the Canadian shield, there will be those that think we made a deal to keep them out. I think it might be to our benefit to have some here as well. Since it's clear they are going to come no matter what, we might as well make the best of it. To me it seems that the Shield and the Australian Outback would be the best places for them. Of course, those countries might feel different. Now as regards Africa, there are not a whole lot of people there who would object, and nothing they could do about it if they did. So from that point of view, one could say that that area would be best."

The National Security Advisor spoke next. "Well, we need to tell the president. Then he is going to have to make the decision on who to tell next. And just how we are going to respond?" He turned towards Col. Tolner. "I understand that the transmitter will be useable at 11AM ET every day for the next five days?"

"That is correct, sir."

"Then I guess we need to move along. Does anyone here have anything more to bring up?"

Duncan and the others had gone to ground in Canada up at a ski lodge that Methos had once been to and had been abandoned but was still maintained to a certain extent. Duncan had arranged for the power to be on and basic utilities to be operational. But no one but they were there. They would be able to listen into any conversations the transmitter that the Government had made. It had been 3 days so far, and nothing had been said. Methos rather cynically said that they probably had not even agreed on how to even address Max and the others let alone any kind of substantial answer. Joe's people checked in every day by posting on a website so that no transmissions or phone calls could be traced. So far, no one had been nosing around the Dojo or any of their apartments.

Major Williams had been pretty much frustrated about identifying the other members of the wedding party. They had gotten the name Grace, but no last name; Adam Pierson, but he seemed to be a manufactured identity, so nothing there; then they had finally gotten lucky and gotten a full name with someone with a background: Joe Dawson. A Vietnam vet with an artificial leg. And a member of some kind of shadow organization—at least that was the feeling Major Williams got. Then he sent up enquiries on him, and suddenly red flags appeared all over. This guy was connected. He was also known to have been in the company of one Duncan McLeod, who also seemed to be well connected. Once they got those names, the others gradually came out. This group seemed to be concentrated in Seacouver for some reason. But they had made some trips to Roswell over the last few years.

The Watchers Council was again in emergency session. Joe Dawson was once again the cause. Very high level scrutiny. VERY HIGH LEVEL. He had then sent them the reason for it, and they were once more totally off balance. Aliens coming to Earth by the millions. They had to worry about the immortal secret coming out, but that was really small potatoes. On top of the truth about the quickening and the fact that Immortals could have children, the council was just completely out of it.

The next day on the website, the watchers relayed the information that all of their apartments and the Dojo had been entered and looked over. But it had been a quick in and out and not even thoroughly searched. It was almost as they had been instructed to just go through the motions. Joe thought that that was probably the truth; as things go, the group here were really not that important as far as the government was concerned.

Col. Tolner had been instructed to bring the Sheriff to DC to meet the president. Apparently, President Bush wanted to talk to him.

The Sheriff was a little nervous at meeting the president. He knew that this could be very important to how well, or not well, things turned out.

President Bush had never ever thought it would be up to him to tell the world that Aliens existed. He had talked to his father who probably knew more official secrets than anyone else and was shocked when he was told that as head of the CIA back in the early 70's, he had been briefed in on the Roswell incident. But no president since then had been. Of course, he had been told after the battle with the aliens, but it had been hoped that they could keep it secret. Well, that was out the window now. He wanted to talk to this Sheriff who had apparently known the families and the teens involved quite well. He felt he needed every bit of information possible if he was going to get this done correctly. *Two wars and everything else, and now I have to do this. Who in their right mind wants this job?*

The Sheriff was ushered into the Oval Office where it would be just him, Col. Tolner, and the President.

"Come in and welcome, Sheriff Valenti. Grab a seat. I think this meeting will probably take a while."

About 3 hours later, he left the Oval Office feeling pretty much wrung out and wrung through. The president had wanted him to start from day one and tell him everything. Keeping the Immortals out of it had been harder than he had thought, but he had managed not to slip up. Actually, that made it a much shorter story. But then the president spent the next hour or so asking questions and making notes.

After the Sheriff left, the President told his secretary to hold all calls for at least the next hour. And then he sat and thought. He a hunch that the Sheriff was still holding something back but had decided that the really important information had come out. *Those young people must be extraordinary to have accomplished what they had. At such a young age too. Well, I better get the rest of them in here to get the story.* He then told his secretary to arrange for an immediate emergency cabinet meeting and to make sure the Leaders of the House and the senate were part of it as well.

The Sheriff was sent back to Roswell and told to get back to work. The President countermanded the orders from the pentagon and told them to wrap up their investigation ASAP and stop bothering people. What they were doing now was not important.

Col. Williams was of two minds when told that the President had ordered the investigation halted. As an veteran investigator, he hated being told to stop before it was done, but he had to agree that what they could find out after this was pretty small potatoes and certainly not important enough to waste a lot of resources on. So he obeyed and got the word out.

Joe checked again and then decided to risk contacting the council. They told him that they had been assured that the investigation was ended. Just in time too. Apparently, the American President had decided that enough was enough. Joe then told Duncan and the others they could go home. Amanda was especially happy since there were no shops worth the name for miles around.

It was the fifth day when Max was told that the American Government wanted to talk. So he got everyone together to decide how to respond. When told by both Duncan and the Sheriff that the investigation had been ordered halted by the president, they agreed that the families would head back the next day.

Liz had been going over scenarios with Max and Michael and the rest on how to do this. Maria was of the opinion that as good as Max was at this, Liz was better. And the fact that they knew that Liz was of Earth origin (though of course not the rest of it) might make them feel better. The fact that she was Queen of Antar would be another plus. She recommended that Liz be seen with the Kids as well. Anything that made them look more human and normal. Max had to reluctantly agree, as all the rest of them thought it was a good idea. It was decided that they would both do it. Max leading off but letting Liz do most of it.

The transmitter was installed in one of the conference rooms in the White House. Present would be the President of course, SecDef, National Security Advisor, Sec State, Homeland Security, Attorney General, Vice President, Speaker of the House and House Minority Leader, and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders.

Next to the transmitter, an area of about 10 feet square had been cleared. At precisely 11AM, a young man materialized (or as it had been explained to the occupants of the room—a holographic transmission) with a young woman beside him. They both looked like they were at most 20.

"Greetings, Mr. President and company. I am King Maxwell of Antar and this is my mate and Queen Elizabeth, formerly Elizabeth Parker of Roswell New Mexico. We are broadcasting this from the Royal Palace on Antar in the capital city of Antaris. I have been told that you know all the details and what we need and the background and history of what has happened. We are here to answer any questions you may have."

The President stood up and walked close to the images. "Thank you, King Maxwell. I am told that your queen was the one who took down the dictator that murdered your predecessor. Is that correct?"

Liz answered. "Yes it is, Mr. President. I had gotten fascinated by swords and medieval warfare and had gotten a real sword as a present and had learned how to use if for real. As it turned out, that was a big advantage as Kivar thought he was an expert—turned out he was wrong."

That brought a lot of smiles to the room. Max could see the connection they were already forming with Liz, and once again thanked god for bringing her into his life.

Liz reached behind her and brought out Claudia, who had just celebrated her first birthday and was still cute as a button. Part of Liz hated making use of her this way, but she realized what was at stake.

The President was fascinated by the young child. The technology that made this transmission possible awed him. Real time from 15,000 light years away. The Secretary Of State walked up. Condi Rice was normally very careful about making snap judgments, but something about this young woman just made her feel at ease. "What is her name?"

Liz smiled. "Claudia, named after my grandmother on my father's side."

That really broke the ice, and the questions started coming in quick and varied.

Liz handled the technical questions.

"Antar has figured out how to harness solar energy at an efficiency level of close to 91%. The best that Earth can do now is about 14%. They have Fusion Reactors that are completely safe and self contained and do not emit any kind of radiation or waste. As regards Medical Technology, we have scanners that put Star Trek to shame. Genetic repair and DNA splicing that should cure most chronic diseases. I calculate that Earth would save in the first few years the equivalent of about 3 trillion dollars a year in medical expenses; and about 7-10 trillion dollars in energy expenses. And those savings would increase over time. So much of our money and resources now go towards those two areas—and the great percentage of that would be saved."

Those numbers totally blew away most of the occupants in the room. With Liz's charm and those cold hard numbers, the battle in this room was easily won.