Maria silently approached the tall boy sitting on the park bench. Sitting down next to him, she placed the shoebox between them. Alex glanced at her, startled by her sudden appearance. His gaze fell down to the box next to him, and without a word he took the lid off and pulled out the cloth rapped orb inside. Holding it in his palm he stared at it in awe. “Wow” “Yeah…” Maria said half-heartedly “ Maria, do you have any idea what this means?” “One down, three to go?” “No! Well…yes, but it means for the first time we actually have a real chance of surviving this thing!” Maria forced a smile on her face and for a moment there, she shared his elation, but then she remembered that the world she was saving, was one in which she had betrayed Michael. The one in which Michael’s hate and loathing for humans overrode any love he felt. Caught up in their own thoughts neither Alex or Maria heard the person approaching them from behind. Alex passed the Orb over to Maria and she held it for a moment, pure hatred for the object overwhelming her. Suddenly a hand reached between the two of them, and snatched the ball out of Maria’s open fist. “So, what have we got here Cuz?” Liz held the ball up to the sunlight, examining it briefly, before pulling her arm away sharply. Maria watched in horror as Liz dropped the orb onto the grass. Landing with a soft thud, a piercing light exploded from it. Maria reached over the back of the bench, and with her eyes closed against the harsh light, felt around for the object. Grasping it quickly, Maria re-wrapped the orb in its protective cloth and placed it back in the box. Finally able to see again, Maria stared at her cousin who stood completely still, frozen on the spot. “Liz, you…you…” her voice trailed off, Alex gulped, following Maria’s train of thought. “You activated it!” “What? I didn’t do anything!” But Maria and Alex were to busy talking to each other to notice her. “We have to get her somewhere safe!” Maria almost yelled. “I’ll take her back to the Mother Ship, we have safe houses she can stay at.” Liz looked at Alex oddly, not understanding the code name for Project Crashdown Headquarters. Maria nodded, rising from the chair, and handed the shoebox to Alex. “I gotta go tell The Parker’s something to keep them from worrying.” Alex pushed the box back in Maria’s direction. “You keep it, Michael was right, you’re the best person to keep it safe…besides we shouldn’t have the two of them together” Alex gestured at Liz, who stood stupefied not moving, just trying to process and sort everything she was hearing. Maria just nodded. Unwilling to tell Alex she didn’t want anything to do with the damn thing. Now, there was too much was at stake. Glancing at Liz, Maria grinned at the confused expression on the human’s face. “You better fill her in on your way there” Alex moaned slightly, knowing the task that had befallen him. “I’ll call you as soon as she’s safe okay?” Beside them, Liz was mumbling to herself, waving her finger around, first at Maria then at the boxed Orb, then back to Alex and back to Maria again. “Looks like her head might explode” his words brought back her own theory on what might happen if Liz ever discovered the truth. Liz started to retort to this, but Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her away, out of the park towards his car. Maria stared after them, worry for her cousin engulfing her. Would Liz be ready for the news that she was a Warrior, pre-destined to stop the world from ending? Maria shook her head sadly, Liz was going to freak. Turning away from their retreating figures she didn’t see the two men from the other side of the pond put down their newspapers and follow the two humans out of the park. TBC

Part 13