Into the hollow depths of outer space, the Leader's shuttle craft slipped far, far away... Elizabeth Maxwell studied the galaxies as they slid by in a blur. She remembered everything Phillip had taught her, only hours ago, on a computer aboard the Los Angeles mothership. Like a little girl full of excitement and wonder, Elizabeth's heart raced within. She was getting to know the other side of her heritage and was unafraid. For the first time, she would learn about her powers and how to control them. Referred to by most as The Starchild, Elizabeth Maxwell had been conceived by an unsuspecting human teenage girl, in one of Visitor Chief of Science, Diana's "medical experiments". Elizabeth was the offspring between the humans and the visitors, a first crossbreeding of species on any planet Diana hadn't anticipated and could find no logical explanation for was her unusual growth patterns. At only a few weeks of age, Elizabeth had grown into the size of a two year old. By a couple months, she appeared to be an eight-year-old Even though she seemed to understand things at such a young age, Elizabeth had remained in a catatonic state for a while, unable to communicate with those who were close to her. It was in the custody of Diana when Elizabeth uttered her first word..."Pretenama." Diana had tried to teach her strategies of war. But Elizabeth refused those ways, repeating that simple word over and over again. In the Visitor language pretenama means peace. Clearly, Elizabeth understood her own destiny before she reached her first birthday. Peace came to the world when Elizabeth displayed her own special powers to disarm the doomsday device aboard the mothership, saving the earth from complete destruction, only to return to it and find that she had become the centrer of attention in a hellacious media frenzy. The tabloids had dubbed her as a "Freak of nature", while the scientific community referred to her as a "miracle". And like any other miracle, they wanted to analyze her, even kill her and dissect her brain, to learn how her powers worked. Fortunately for Elizabeth, her Grandfather, Anthropologist Dr. Robert Maxwell refused their offers. Elizabeth remembered the day that he had sacrificed his life in order to save the world from yet another threat of destruction.
The Leader's spaceshuttle shook with turbulence, stirring Elizabeth from her memories of Robert. She sensed something was wrong. Her thoughts shifted to an unbearable, soft, ticking sound in the background. She also felt the presence of someone familiar...
#
A rat scurried across the soiled carpet inside of an abandoned fashion store in downtown Los Angeles. It didn't scare Julie Parrish as she lifted a few items for packing, wrapping treasured photo frames in old newspaper. It was undecided as to where the remaining resistance fighters would go. Julie wondered if there was any money left in the saving account she'd left untouched since the Visitors made their attack on Los Angeles following the death of Nathan Bates. Having become a wanted war criminal, the young biochemist had not wanted to leave a paper trail by withdrawing the money.
Mike Donovan poked his brunette head into the tiny, storage room holding out a bottle of champagne. "You're missing the festivities."
Julie nodded, tossing the last few items in her box. "I'll be there in a few."
On the couch in the main room, Rick Hurley sat reading the days paper. "Where's Willie?" he asked, as Donovan and Juliet entered the room.
"He's going home for a while," Julie explained.
"Home?" asked the nurse, Ann, skeptically. The Visitor William had sided with the resistance during the first war and gained U.S. Citizenship just last year.
"He's getting married. They'll be back," Julie answered, accepting a glass of the bubbly stuff from Mike. She moved a pile of papers from the old, Formica table and sat down, putting her glass in their place. She too had questions. "I thought you were supposed to go get Sean?"
"Phillip's bringing him tomorrow." Mike sounded disappointed. The boy had been a prisoner of Diana's for a while now. Julie understood that in spite of Sean's brainwashing by Diana, Mike Donovan remained anxious to get his only child back. In a way she felt sorry for him.
"Willie's getting married?" asked Ann, helping herself to the champagne.
"It was prearranged." Mike grinned.
"Right out of some fairy tale," Julie added. "I can't believe he and Kyle are gone now."
"Kyle?" Ann turned to Mike. "Where is he?"
"He went after Elizabeth." Even Mike couldn't believe his own words.
"Huh?" asked Rick.
Julie shrugged. "We don't know how he did it. But one minute he was there--"
"--and the next he was gone," Mike ad-libbed. "Funny what a guy'll do for love."
"Go into outer space?" Ann made a face. "Wouldn't he need an oxygen tank or something?"
Julie found the scientific question to be perplexing and mulled it over. But the champagne she'd downed was of no help. She felt warm and fuzzy, and couldn't concentrate, leaving the question unanswered.
Mike sat next to Rick who was typing something on a portable computer and asked, "Did you find us a place to stay?"
The twenty year old gazed at his leader through Cokebottle thick glasses. "I don't get it, Man. The Visitors leave and all the motels get booked."
"I got us a room at the Holiday Inn," Ann announced.
"Really?" asked Julie.
Ann looked as if though a cat had caught her tongue as she corrected herself. " Well, just one room. It's in Santa Monica."
"One room?" Julie laughed. "A lot of good that will do us."
The girl shrugged, hopelessly. "Are you looking for a job here in L.A.?"
"I have no idea," Julie said, waving Mike away with his second round of champagne. “Save me some for later, okay?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
Julie considered the prospect of being left here alone with him, and drunk on champagne and muttered, "I didn't mean it like that, Mike."
"Mean what?"
She just shook her head and smiled. "Never mind. I'll bet you're worried about Sean."
He nodded. Indeed, he was and sat in silence for a while, worrying about what seemed like a hopeless future. He had no money help Sean recover at the same time. He didn't want to ask Julie to help. In a way, he wanted to see her make a life for herself. It had been a long time since he'd thought about marrying her and knew that if he kept her around to help with Sean, it would be an awkward situation for the both of them. The last time Sean had been left with Julie, he'd ended up accusing her of trying to replace his mother, and informed her that she never could.
#
Above the soft whisper of the spacecraft's engine, Elizabeth could hear her own heart beating. The flight to a small planet near Sirius was half over. Elizabeth sat in her seat, trying to be patient. But every now and then, there came the overwhelming feeling that something was seriously wrong. Elizabeth tried to calm her fears by thinking about her mother and desperately wondered if she could ever see her again. It had vaguely occurred to her, when she was first summoned by The Leader. But she was afraid to ask. She wondered how her 'other' side of the family could keep her from the people who meant most to her. People like Julie Parrish who had nurtured Elizabeth's spirit for the past year. There was also the Visitor Willie, who Elizabeth loved like a brother. Until now, Willie had always been the one to help her understand that other side of her. And then there was Kyle Bates, the young, dark headed, resistance fighter whom she adored. Elizabeth felt bad, having left him the way she did. She knew she’d broken his heart.
Tick...Tick...Tick...
Elizabeth's mind clouded over with fear as she thought, What is that noise? The Visitors who sat near her didn't seem to notice. Everyone including The Leader remained exceptionally quiet.
"Is there something--?" she started to ask.
One man in red uniform muttered something in his own language. Elizabeth could not understand. Wordlessly, she got up and moved back to the back of the shuttle, and looked around. Behind some storage crates was someone crouched.
"Who's there?" she whispered. "Is that you, Kyle?"
He looked up at her with teary eyes.
"H--how did--?" she asked.
"Shh," He put a finger to his lips.
"Elizabeth?" said the reverberating voice of The Leader.
She glanced toward the cockpit frantically uttering... "I j--just needed to stretch."
With a quick nod, he turned back towards the view ahead. Again, Elizabeth heard the ticking. And in her mind's eye, she could see a small black box with a digital readout on it, counting backwards.
"There's a bomb in here," she whispered to Kyle.
"Are you sure?"
She looked towards the passenger area again and visualized the clock counting...2:51...2:50...2:49...
"There's hardly any time," she said in a more audible tone. "I--I have to find it."
Her commotion caught the attention of one of the Visitors in the passenger area. "Who's there?" he demanded.
Kyle stood up, realizing that if he was about to get blown to kingdom come, then what did it matter?
"There's a bomb aboard!" Elizabeth cried out frantically.
This got the attention of everyone on board.
"Are you certain, Elizabeth?" asked The Leader.
Elizabeth cautiously moved towards the front of the cabin. The Visitor who had been sitting next to her got up quickly and seized Kyle demanding "Who are you?!"
Elizabeth was on her own mission, crawling around on the floor, searching in desperation as the others watched her.
Under the Captains chair, she found the black box. It now read 1:42.
Under the Captains chair, she found the black box. It now read 1:42.
"Help me, Kyle!" she cried. "I don't know how to disarm it."
He held up his now shackled hands, and gave her a look of helplesness
As Elizabeth studied the device, her body began to glow. She touched it and the readout disappeared. They were safe.
