Part 18 - Sheila Hubble

Silence again. Maria shifted uncomfortably. Michael was way too far away over there by the windows. She wasn't sure when his physical closeness had become so important to her, but she felt like she wasn't going to be able to breathe properly again unless she was closer to him. Moving slowly, she got up and walked over to where he was standing, looking out the window still. She didn't touch him, though every part of her body was aching to do so. In the mood he was in, she didn't think that would be such a good idea.

"So they all died," Liz said. "Then what happened?"

That's Liz, Maria thought with some amusement. Always the scientist. Always trying to get information and do research.

"Then the Resistance Movement managed to come up with the plan to clone the Royal Four, mixing them with human DNA for survival purposes, and send them to Earth. We knew that Kivar's troops would reach here eventually, of course, and we wanted to give Zandar a chance to stop them. And we hoped that here, on Earth, away from Antar, you would have a chance to grow up without the past coming back to haunt you. Obviously, given recent events, that hasn't happened. Who told you about Vilandra?"

None of the aliens seemed inclined to answer, so Alex did. "Nicholas and some other Skins told Isabel."

Dagmar nodded as if he wasn't surprised by this bit of information. "The Royal Four were heroes - a rallying point for the Resistance. As long as you existed, they had hope that they could fight back against Kivar and win one day."

Valenti looked at his alien charges. They were obviously in shock. Alex was still holding Isabel tight and rocking her. Michael was staring intently out the window, ignoring them all, even Maria, who was standing only a few feet away. Max was looking down at the carpeting at his feet. And Tess was just sitting there, staring off into space, completely shell-shocked. It was clear that they weren't going to be asking any more questions right now. He still had a few, though.

"I understand why Nasedo killed the FBI agents, and you've explained Atherton's death. What I don't get is why he killed Sheila Hubble." Dagmar looked at him, and started to shake his head in warning, but it was too late for Valenti to stop. "Why did he kill her? She was an innocent woman."

"I really don't think we need to get into that tonight," Dagmar replied.

"Sheila Hubble?" Tess asked. "Who was that?"

"She was a woman Nasedo killed. She was pregnant at the time," answered Valenti.

"That's awful," Tess said. "He killed a pregnant woman? I didn't know any of this when I was growing up." She paused, then continued. "Sheila is the name he put down for my mother's on my official records."

"He really was one sick alien, wasn't he?" Maria asked.

Tess started crying again.

"Tess, what is it?" Valenti said as he came over to the couch. Liz moved over so that he could sit down and put his arms around Tess.

"I'm sorry," Tess managed to get out between sobs. "I hate crying. He always said it was a human weakness, and I shouldn't lower myself enough to do it." She took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. "I just don't understand why I can't remember any of this. You three can, but I can't."

Dagmar sighed. "When the army had the pods in their custody back in 1947, they damaged one - mine. One of the fetuses died."

That got everyone's attention again. All eyes were on Dagmar's as he went on.

"The one that died was the fetus containing the essence of Aveen, the young bride." Tess started to shake her head in denial. "Yes, Tess. When I escaped and caught up with Urza, I was shocked to learn that he had tried to recreate that clone, using some of his essence, some DNA from the original, and some DNA from an unborn human child. That was why he killed Sheila Hubble."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Maria muttered.

"This was when I knew without a doubt that Urza was insane."

"You should have killed him then," Michael remarked calmly.

"Perhaps," Dagmar said, exchanging cautious looks with Valenti. "But like I said, that's not my specialty." Michael just shrugged.

Dagmar looked at Tess. "You may have the physical appearance and the powers, but you don't have Aveen's essence. Ava did, but you don't."

Tess just looked at him in shock again. Liz looked over at Max, who was actually looking at her for a change.

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