Then Max understood the final piece. Liz had taken all of that on herself. She had once accused him of taking too much on his shoulders, and now she was doing the same.

She turned to him and said, "I hoped that so many things had changed that there was a chance that that had changec too. And I didn't think you needed any more weight to carry You blame yourself for things that happened on another planet and in another life. You blame yourself for Alex and everything that happens to every one of us.”

Max shook his head. She didn't think he could have borne another burden. So she had taken it on herself.

He marveled at this small, slight girl in front of him. She had tried to protect him. Unfortunately she could not pro- tect him from the truth. He had been responsible for the fall of their home planet. He had been responsible for Alex's death and the pain his friends and his sister had suffered.

"What now, Max?" Isabel asked.

Max realized that everyone was looking at him… looking to him. He knew what they wanted. They wanted him to lead. To solve the problem. To keep them safe. Well, his track record on that score hadn't been very good so far. Max shook his head. "I don't have any answers here," he said.

"So we just chalk it up that in fifteen years we're going to take second place in a duel to the death?" Michael asked.

"I told you, Michael… I told you all before we left: I'm not the leader of this group anymore. And from what Liz is telling us, it's under my leadership that everything goes to hell," Max said.

Isabel was looking at him with a look of disbelief in her face. After a long moment, she said, "Well Max, as a mem- ber of this group, do you have any thoughts at all?”

"Yes," Max said. "I think it's very important that I not make all the decisions here. I honestly think that following me will lead us to ruin again. I brought us there on our home planet. I bring us there in the future that Liz describes.”