Max decided to play it cool, to see what kind of information he could get from her. "You did?" His tone reflected mild surprise.

"Of course I did," she pouted as she reached to touch his face.

Max took her hand and said softly, "I remember the last time we talked." It was leading. Only she would known what she and Zan had talked about last. He was hoping to hit a nerve, praying their last conversation hadn't been about the weather.

Bingo. Liz's dark eyes widened in remembrance and then her eyes dropped guiltily. "Zan..."

He dropped her hand. "Max. Call me Max. We don't go by our true names here, it's too dangerous with our enemies poking around."

She nodded briefly. "Max." He smiled at her, as a reward for complying. "I'm so sorry about that. You can't know how it's haunted me that our last words were in anger. I never meant to imply that I should come before your family or your duty to your people. But it was just so unfair that you were forced into that marriage with a child barely out of the schoolroom. It was wrong and selfish of me to ask that you set her aside. I knew it was a political marriage, and that she meant nothing to you, but don't you see," Rina rushed on, hoping to make her point before he silenced her. "One day, she would have been grown up, and you would have cut me out of your life. Once the vows were consummated, you would never have forsaken her, and I couldn't bear to think of it. I needed you too much. Why should your young bride have you when she's done nothing to deserve you? And I loved you so much."

"Rina," Max had to clear his throat. That was a little more info than he'd been expecting. He immediately needed to make one thing very clear. "A lot has changed since we were sent to earth. I've changed, we all have. You should know that though I do not consider myself married, my loyalties lay with my family. All of my family, including Ava and Vilandra. I will not forsake them for anyone. Including you."

He was telling her in no uncertain terms that she was to watch her step around his sister and former bride. She nodded to show that she understood.

"Good. Then let me introduce you to my family. This is Michael," he said indicating his friend, "And Isabel."

"And you're Max." She asked. She'd barely looked at the other two as they'd been introduced unconcerned with anyone but Zan.

"Yes. Now how about you tell us how you can help us find Zelwin before he puts us in any more danger than he already has."

* * * * * * * * *

"Tell me again what we're doing out here at the crack of dawn," Maria asked crankily.

"We're out here because someone thought we were getting too much sleep on the second day of our Christmas vacation and we clearly needed to get up early and go for a long drive." Alex said confidentially.

"So you have no idea either."

"Not a one." He glanced at Maria, "What did Michael say?"

"Only that we were to check on the granilith to see if it looked like anyone has been out here."

"Without stopping to actually look to see if anyone has been out here?" Alex asked.

"Right."

"Hmmm. Why do I get the feeling that we are about to find ourselves hip deep in alien doo doo again?"

Maria didn't bother to answer. She just tightened her fingers on the steering wheel as they continued down the old dirt road that would take them past the old radio tower.

After a minute, she squinted against the glare of the still rising sun to ask, "Is that a car?"

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Max we need to get going." Isabel whispered. Michael was standing a little ways away talking to Rina. "Brody will be here soon, and Liz is still a fugitive."

"I know," Max whispered back. "I just don't know what to do now that she's taken over Liz. I mean we can't be seen with her, and we can't just leave her. How are we going to search the town for Larek's cousin with Rina?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Wait for Tess. When she gets here, we'll work on coming up with another plan."

Right on cue, they heard the outer door open. The group froze for a moment and turned to see who it was.

They all sighed as Tess came into view. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"You know, just the usual," Michael answered with irony.

"Oh good, 'cause I was worried," Tess wasn't sure if he was kidding. Max's phone call had been pretty cryptic. All she knew was that she'd been needed at the UFO Center. And so here she was. In a glance, she took in Michael and Isabel. And Liz Parker. "Well, hello, Liz. I take it you're feeling better." Tess couldn't even pretend surprise that the missing girl had apparently been hiding out with Max for the past day and a half.

"That's not Liz," Michael said as Rina asked Max in a confused voice, "Who is that?"

Max easily handled the introductions. "Tess, you remember Larek, don't you?" The other girl nodded, remembering having met the alien who'd taken over Brody at the summit. "Well, this is Rina. Larek's niece. Rina, this is Ava. She goes by the name of Tess on this planet."

Max held out his hand for Tess to take. Those few short words Max had used clued her into a lot of what was happening. This was another alien from their home planet, and Max would want her to be careful of what she did or said in front of her. She was to follow his lead.

Without question, Tess stepped forward to take his hand.

"Ava? This is Ava." Rina asked in disbelief. "But... But she was just a child."

"Not anymore. We're all the same age on this planet."

Tess watched in confusion as tears welled inexplicably in the other girl's eyes. "Do you... do you love her?" Rina asked, her Liz-voice breaking in sadness.

Max answered solemnly, "Yes. Not as a wife but a sister. But you were right what you said before. I could never turn my back on Ava now. Despite whatever happened or didn't happen before, she's a part of my family now, and I would never turn away from her."

Rina made a visible effort to get herself back under control. She looked up at Zan's soul watching her out of this handsome stranger's eyes and found the strength she needed to keep going. She would do what she had to do in order to help him. So what if his bride was all grown up, and Rina's chances with him were non-existent? He still needed her and she wasn't about to let him down.

Taking a deep breath, she said simply, "Ok." Accepting that the past was done, and there would be no going back to what she'd once shared with the passionate leader of their planet. She'd been without him for so long now that it didn't seem to make any difference now. It was just that for a few shining moments, she'd thought they could have picked up where they'd left off. Before Vilandra's betrayal, before their deaths.

Now that her rational brain was functioning, she realized that she'd been contemplating the mother of all long distance relationships. But it would have been worth it. A small bittersweet smile touched her lips as she gazed in his dark eyes. Yeah. It would definitely have been worth it.

"So, what's the plan, Max?" Tess interrupted the long silence to ask.

"That depends on Rina." Max answered. He looked at the alien in Liz's body. "Larek told us you could help us track down his nephew, Zelwin. I won't force you to stay if you'd rather..."

She cut him off, "No, Max, it's ok. I'll help." His consideration of her feelings was so typical of her beloved Zan that she had to swallow back a flood of tears. As soon as this was over, and she was back home in her bed she promised herself she could cry for a week, but not now. Zan needed her, and she would force herself to stay calm for his sake. "Me and my cousin share a special connection and I should be able to sense him, even if he's taken over a human body here. Just give me a moment. I should be able to get an idea of where he is."

Max smiled at her. "Take as long as you need. We'll wait right here."

* * * * * * * * * *

Maria pulled up behind the red mustang convertible that was left abandoned on the side of the road. "Isn't this Kyle's car?"

"Looks like it," Alex agreed. He got out and peered into the windows. Spotting the letterman's jacket on the passenger seat, he said, "It's his car all right, but where's Kyle?"

"Maybe he ran out of gas, and is walking back to town." Maria suggested as Alex got back in the Jetta.

"We would have passed him." Alex pointed out. "And, if he was that low on gas, he knows better than to go down this road. The next gas station isn't for forty miles, after it hooks up with Highway 42. He'd have been better off turning around and returning to Roswell. It's closer."

"Well, since we haven't passed him, he should be in front of us, right? Let's just keep going, and keep an eye out for him." She put the car in drive, and they continued down the road.

"What on earth would he be doing out here?"

"There's only one thing on this road that I know of." Alex agreed. "Maybe Tess asked him to do a drive-by today, too."

"Maybe," Maria agreed. "We should call them. Michael said to tell him if we saw anything strange out here, and I think this definitely qualifies."