Chapter 12

Max grabbed Michael’s arm, halting his trudging steps up the path. "Michael, it’s not just Marco," he whispered. "There are more here." He glanced around the dark terrain and wondered if they were being watched even now.

Michael blew out a heavy breath. "How do you know?"

"Liz just... connected with me." The group formed a tight circle around the two of them, listening carefully. "She wanted to warn us," he continued.

"I knew this was a bad idea, Maxwell. You shouldn’t be here. They want you, remember?" Michael looked up the rocky incline nervously. "You should let Isabel, Tess and me go up—the rest of you should stay here," he said, his eyes sweeping the circle of friends.

Sheriff Valenti stepped closer. "Max, I have to agree with Michael on this."

Max ran a shaky hand through his hair, and tried to sort through all his conflicting impulses. He trusted Valenti’s experience, and on top of that, a nagging feeling told him Michael was right. He was just so worried about Liz—she was incredibly strong, but he’d felt her fear when they’d connected moments before; and it was hard to stay away when he knew she was in such danger. But deep down he knew it was probably best if he remained behind--he could only pray they wouldn’t harm Liz just to get at him.

Max glanced up at the jagged rocks above, which marked the entrance to the pod chamber. He could barely discern the outcropping in the thick darkness—it was a totally moonless night—but still he saw the faint shadow of the rocks. And felt Liz just near them... was she still in the pod chamber? He couldn’t be sure. But he knew there wasn’t time to debate a course of action any longer.

"The Sheriff, Maria and I will wait here," Max said firmly, noticing a big rock, surrounded by brush. "Behind this rock. If anything happens, you come back for us." He eyed Michael pointedly.

Tess stepped close to Max in the darkness, and touched him lightly on the arm. "Max, I can do a mind warp, and we should be able to go right in for her." She turned to Michael and Isabel. "But remember, I won’t be able to hold it long, so you guys have to be quick."

It was strange to realize that Liz’s life—all their lives—depended on Tess at that moment. He hoped that their trust wasn’t misplaced.

Isabel gave him a quick hug. "Be careful down here, Max," she whispered into his ear, then pulled away.

He could see the worry reflected in her dark eyes. He tried his best to give her a reassuring smile. "You’re the one who needs to be careful," he said softly.


Liz scrambled down the dark hillside as quietly as she could, hoping she could intercept Max in time. It reminded her of another day when she’d run down this same hill, fleeing Max and a future she felt sure didn’t include her. How wrong she’d been—and now their destiny depended on her being able to find him in this pitch darkness. She became more and more frantic as she made her way, staring down into the desert night as she went. She wondered how she’d ever find any of her friends.

As she slid down the path, her foot caught on a hidden piece of brush, sending Liz sprawling forward roughly on her hands. A sharp pain immediately shot through her wrist, and the fall practically knocked the wind from her. Somewhere in Liz’s mind it registered that she’d just broken something, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. Get to Max, she trained her thoughts, forcing herself back to her feet. She glanced quickly over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

Focus, Liz. Keep yourself together. As she gazed out across the miles of darkness, she suddenly felt incredibly small and insignificant, as if she were swimming in an ocean of darkness, groping for some unseen shore. If only she had a light of some kind, something to guide her.

Then she remembered one singular advantage they had over their unseen enemies. And she focused everything within her toward Max.

Marco studied Liz’s descent through his binoculars and wished for about the tenth time that he’d simply gone with her. What purpose could he possibly have in even remaining? Well, he knew the answer to that question. He had to end what he’d started by leading Nicholas to the granilith in the first place.

He rocked back on his heels, and continued watching Liz’s climb down the path through the green haze of the glasses. The binoculars were infrared heat-sensitive, which meant he could detect outlines of figures, as well as their thermal energy. Through the lenses, the cars below gave off a dull glow where the engines were cooling. He could also distinguish between humans and aliens just based on their energy levels: humans registered with a mid-level energy reflection, whereas the hybrid thermal register was always much brighter. And of course then there was Max and Liz, another story altogether.

Liz’s register had always been completely unique, falling somewhere between the human and alien ones.... Her energy was so much stronger than a human’s, yet not as brilliant as that of the hybrids’. And Max’s was the strongest and brightest of them all—it had always bothered Nicholas, with all his power, that he had never registered so strongly.

But that wasn’t the most fascinating thing. What he was watching unfold now was an image he’d witnessed through these binoculars hundreds--perhaps thousands-- of times before, and it never failed to awe him. He was observing the way Max and Liz’s thermal energy changed when they came into contact. Whenever they were within a small distance of one another, their body chemistry and heat index literally changed in composition, assuming an entirely different level than each held on their own.

Over the years, he’d trained his eye to recognize their own peculiar heat impressions so that he could track them, but he’d also quickly learned to track their secondary register—the unique one they created together. Quite simply, when Max and Liz were together they blended, their energy becoming one. He wondered if Liz could feel how close she was getting to Max, because he could certainly see it in the way her thermal energy was beginning to escalate--and so was Max’s, where he was crouching just behind a rock. Marco couldn’t see him completely—could only catch a glimmer of his thermal register, which was changing by the moment as Liz approached him.

Marco’s reflections were cut short when he saw the familiar radiation of three hybrids moving up the hill. He’d been so busy tracking Liz that he’d nearly missed their approach from the side. It had to be Michael, Isabel, and Tess. What did they think they were doing? He looked around quickly, trying to decide a course of action.

But when he gazed back into the binoculars again, he saw something much more disturbing on the path below: three skins off to the side, observing Max... and Liz as she approached. His pulse raced, as old instincts came sharply into focus. They were in terrible danger— all of them—and he had to do something.

Valenti crouched closely beside Max, his eyes trained on the hillside. He had his gun drawn, held close against his chest. Maria huddled on the other side of Valenti, her back against the giant rock. Ahead of them, they heard a sudden noise, and Max sensed a ripple of silent tension spread through the three of them. Maria let out a muffled cry, and he glanced sideways at her. She was waving a tiny vial of cypress oil under her nose, taking deep breaths. They should never have brought her here, he thought, and Max lamented having endangered her like this.

Valenti raised his gun slightly, all senses on alert and ready to move. It was like something from an old Vietnam movie--military unit facing off with their enemies in the thick of night--only this was real, and no one had trained them for any of it. Who were they facing? How many?

The sound was almost directly upon them now, such soft little steps. Max spread his palm on the cool rock where he crouched, steadying himself—and felt his chest begin to burn. It was only then that he focused on a sensation that had been subtly building for a few moments... he could feel an energy growing within him. He hadn’t really keyed in on it—he often felt like this when they were in danger. He knew it was part of his alien nature, this blaze that started to bank within him whenever they were threatened. That’s what he’d thought this was, but he’d been so caught up in the moment that he’d missed what it really was. Liz.

He felt a tiny golden thread weave between the two of them, joining them. The connection became a living stream of impressions and sensations, a gossamer thread leading her straight to him. She was almost on top of him, she was so near.

And then he saw her tiny form appear on a rock just above them, just as their connection opened wide—in fact, they must have spotted each other at the exact same moment. He rose slowly, moving from his position behind the rock, and stepped right toward her.

Liz hurled herself into Max’s arms with such force, that he nearly lost his balance, especially because he was so shaky from their building connection. He pulled her tightly against himself, burying his face in the top of her silky hair. Her familiar scent washed over him—fresh, like desert rain--and he drank it in. He cupped her face in his hand, turning it upward, and her dark eyes silently met his own. In them, he saw the reflection of every emotion coursing through his own body and mind. In those briefest of moments, they had joined, and he couldn’t even be sure where his own emotions ended, and hers began.

"Liz? How did you...."

"I don’t know...." She shook her head, and Max realized they weren’t even speaking out loud—just flowing between one another.

They were quickly interrupted by Valenti. "Max... Liz," he whispered. "What’s going on?"

Slowly, Max released Liz, and knelt down beside Valenti. The connection cooled, but didn’t dissipate entirely... it lay smoldering between them, like an unanswered question left hanging in the air.

"Where are Michael, Isabel, and Tess?" Valenti asked. Liz crouched beside them, and Max noticed that she winced as she used her hand to steady herself. He frowned, realizing she was hurt.

"I didn’t see them," she replied.

"Then how did you get away, Liz?" Valenti asked.

"Marco just seemed to change his mind." She hesitated a moment, staring at the ground, and Max knew there was something more that she wasn’t telling Valenti. "I don’t know why, but he let me go."

Maria shifted uncomfortably next to them all. "You didn’t see Michael?" she asked in a small voice. Of course Maria was just as worried about Michael as he had been about Liz. And Max was frightened for all of them, especially because the others would be searching frantically for Liz at the pod chamber.

"Sheriff, we’ve got to go up and get them," he whispered intently.

Valenti shook his head. "No, Max, you should stay here with Liz and Maria. Someone needs to watch out for them."

Max knew the Sheriff was right, and nodded his head silently. He was uncomfortable with all of them being spread apart like this, especially because even though they’d found Liz, he still couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.

Marco leapt from where he sat and began running down the hill, his boots sliding on the rock as he quickly covered the distance between himself and Liz. And Max. But he quickly pushed away all the confusion accompanying that thought. He kept the glasses trained in their direction, while trying to keep his footing on the rough ground. The three skins were stationary, simply observing Max, Liz and the human. Meanwhile, another human was moving up the hill.

Why hadn’t Max gotten her out of there? What was he waiting on?

But Marco had fought beside Max for too many years not to know the answer. Max never split up the team: he was waiting for Michael, Isabel and Tess to return—and now this other human. Marco grabbed fistfuls of scrappy brush as he slid quickly down the rocky incline, hoping that he wouldn’t be too late to help them.

Max and Liz leaned against the cool rock surface behind them, with Maria sitting quietly beside Liz. None of them spoke, and the air was electric with anticipation. He’d never broken his connection with Liz, and it lay slumbering between them, ready to erupt into an inferno at the slightest provocation.

Valenti had only been gone for a few minutes, but it seemed like hours. In the distance a train thundered, its brakes whining eerily into the night. Maria sighed, laying her head against Liz’s shoulder, and seemed so incredibly vulnerable. He thought about giving them a moment together, and of breaking the quiet connection he and Liz had been maintaining, but he really didn’t want to.

Instead, he settled closer to Liz, taking her hand softly within his own. She winced, and he remembered thinking that she’d hurt herself somehow. Very gently, he closed her hand within both of his own, and felt how swollen her wrist was becoming. He began to rub his fingers lightly across it, releasing healing energy to her. Her eyes flew to his, and he felt a sharp, fleeting answer of pain.

Then there were images... Marco, dark and threatening.

Liz drew her breath in suddenly, gasping for a moment. Maria lifted her head, looking at both of them.

"What?" she asked in concern.

Liz smiled up at him, her features radiant, tears pooling in her eyes, then turned to Maria.
"I hurt my wrist earlier," she whispered. "He just healed it."

"Oh," Maria said softly, and reached a tentative finger to Liz’s swollen wrist. She looked at Liz, her eyebrows narrowing seriously. "You’re okay, right? I mean, this guy Marco didn’t hurt you or anything?"

Max could see Liz smile in the darkness as she placed a reassuring hand on Maria’s arm.

"I’m fine, Maria. I just fell earlier when I was trying to find you guys."

Maria nodded pensively, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. Liz nestled in a little more closely against Max’s side, and an expectant silence fell between the three of them again. Then Max felt Liz beckoning to him—inviting him to go deeper into their simmering connection. She glanced up at him, almost shyly, as if she were asking him to do something else entirely— something very physical. He could have sworn he saw her blush slightly in the darkness. He felt his own face grow hot, knowing just how deep they could go—even with Maria sitting obliviously beside them.

He pressed his lips against the top of her head, and traced his thumb lightly across her cheek. The bond between them grew richer. In the pitch darkness, there was suddenly the brightest sunlight rippling between them, and the gossamer thread came alive between them. He began kissing her, first on her forehead, then her warm mouth, and she released a quiet whimper. He didn’t care that Maria was right beside them, practically part of this. They might never have this moment again—today had shown him that all too vividly.

He couldn’t get enough of just touching her, feeling her, knowing that she was alive and really okay. He tangled his fingers through her hair, and crushed her close against him. He could feel her heart like a drum, pounding out a matching rhythm against his own. She gazed up at him, and they stared longingly into each other’s eyes. Such need for her began to grow within him, it was almost painful. His thumb trailed a path across her cheek, stopping briefly on her lips. Their breathing became fast and labored, and he closed his eyes. He had to get a grip on himself—this was insane. Maria was right beside them.

He pulled back a bit, slipping his arm around Liz so that she fit neatly against him. They both sighed, drinking in one another. He laced his fingers through Liz’s hair, letting his fingers linger at the base of her neck

Then he remembered something, and had an idea. He reached his hand inside the pocket of his leather jacket, retrieving the wedding ring. Without a word, he slipped it on Liz’s finger, closing her hand within his own. She looked up at him, wonder dancing across her features, and he saw tears begin to spill down her cheeks.

"We found it... earlier."

Silence stretched between them, and Liz traced a finger over the ring. She glanced at Maria, who looked down at their locked hands.

"Pretty amazing, Liz," she sighed, and looked pointedly away from both of them, giving them this moment.

"So we were married... in 2002?"

"Wow."Max laughed gently. "That’s pretty tacky, huh?"

Liz nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. "We had a great wedding... you told me so.

"Oh, Liz," he sighed. "I don’t doubt that." They were quiet a moment, then he reached for her again. "That sonnet...."

Liz looked down at the ring, and smiled softly. "You don’t know what that did to me... that day in class. It was the hardest thing in the world, just ignoring you like that."

Max glowed inside and out.

Liz turned to him suddenly. "Max...." She hesitated.

"What?"

He ran his fingers softly through her hair, and pressed his lips against the top of her head. Everything about her felt so soft, so gentle. How could anyone have tried to harm her?

"Guys?" Maria looked at both of them sharply, drawing them from the moment. She turned and looked into the darkness beyond them. "Did you just hear that?"

"No." Max shook his head. "What was it?"

Maria sat up very straight and looked over her shoulder. "I don’t know, Max, but it came from right over there."

Max’s senses came fully alert, and he stared in the direction just past Maria--nothing but silent blackness all around them. He moved away from Liz, crouching as he studied the dark beyond them. He turned to Liz and Maria, and was about to tell them to stay where they were when he saw a quick, blinding flash of blue light.

There was an immediate answer of searing pain in his chest, knocking him backwards to the ground. The shock exploded through every cell in his body in one instant, leaving him gasping for air. Dimly he was aware of Liz, and that she was hurting... their connection--he needed to break it.

Then everything went totally black.

Michael and Isabel raced frantically through the cave. They’d already searched the granilith chamber and the area outside—and they knew they were out of time. They stopped, breathing heavily.

"What are we supposed to do? She’s not here," Isabel whispered, feeling her hands begin to shake.

" Nobody’s here, Isabel," Michael said. "And that means we’ve got to get back down there now."

They ran toward the cave doorway. "What are you saying, Michael?" Isabel hissed.

"This whole thing has been a trap. We’ve gotta get out of here now."

They spotted Valenti and Tess just outside the pod chamber at the precise moment everyone heard the scream. Piercing and shrill, it echoed across the dessert like a gunshot. Isabel wanted to be sick the moment she heard it.

Time suspended as they all stared at one another in horror.

Then they heard a second scream, even more shrill, and the four of them took off running downhill in one singular motion.