A New Beginning

3

Liz crumbled into Max's arms as Michael appeared at Max's side.

"There's a pretty big hole in the ground a few hundred yards ahead, but I don't think-anyone saw anything. Isabel is filling the hole now.”

Old habits die hard, Max thought. He's making a report.

Max simply nodded and held Liz. The others kept a respectful distance, though Max could feel Maria's tension. She was pacing a few yards away. Max was aware of move- ment in front of the van, and Isabel appeared, joining Kyle, Michael, and Maria.

As Liz's breathing returned to normal, he noticed for the thousandth time how small she felt to him. She was the smallest of the three girls, both in height and stature. As she nestled under his chin, Max gently stroked her straight, dark hair and felt a reflexive desire to protect her.

Protect her? Max thought. He had not done a very good job of that in the last three years. She had suffered too much because of him.

When her breathing slowed, he leaned back and said, "Did you have a premonition?”

Liz nodded. "I watched you die, Max," she said.

Michael stepped forward and said, "Where was it? What happened? And what do we have to do to stop it?”

Liz shook her head and said, "It's not that simple…”

"Tell us what you can from the beginning," Max said.

Starting from the beginning of the dream, Liz told about being in school and meeting Max in the band room like they had the day after he had healed her in the Crashdown. "I think you touched my cheek while I was sleeping," Liz said.

Max nodded.

"That's when the dream changed into one of my premoni- tions," Liz said, and told about seeing Michael and Isabel dead. And then seeing Max face the unseen force on his own. "You fought, Max, but…," she said as her voice broke.

Max nodded and kept his expression neutral.

"Maybe it was a dream, at least partly," Isabel said.

Liz thought for a moment and then said, "Partly, yes, but I'm sure I saw Max die, as well as you and Michael.”

"Do you have any idea how far in the future this was?" Max asked.

"Fifteen years," Liz replied immediately.

Max started at that. There was something unnerving about her certainty. "That is pretty exact. Are you sure?”

Liz nodded and said, "I recognized you…" Then she shot a glance at Maria, and something passed between the two girls.

"Future Max!" Maria exclaimed.

"What?" Michael said. "Who is that?”

Maria immediately looked sheepish, as if she had said too much.

Max looked down at Liz and said, "Future Max?”

"Who the hell is Future Max?" Michael said to Maria. "What are you two talking about?”

"Sorry, Liz," Maria said.

"It's okay," Liz replied. Then she turned to Max and said, "There's something I have to tell you.”

"We'll just give you guys a minute," Maria said.

"No," Max said, raising his hand. "This involves all of us. No secrets.”

"This involves Tess and Kyle and…" Liz collected her- self for a moment, and then spoke quickly and clearly. "It goes back to just before you found Kyle and me together.”

The memory of that night came back suddenly, like a blow. He remembered seeing Kyle and Liz in bed together. He remembered the shock and the feeling like someone had reached into his stomach and twisted his insides.

"Max, it wasn't an accident that you saw us. I set that up for a reason," Liz said.

Max felt the beginnings of understanding and said, "You wanted to be free of all this. You wanted a normal life.”

Shaking her head, Liz said, "No. I did it for you, because you asked me to.”

Max could remember few times in his life when he was as surprised as he was now. "I asked you to?”

"The night before you came to visit me, but not you, exactly. It was you from the future, fifteen years in the future," Liz said.

"How?" Max asked, finding things making less and less sense.

"You had used the Granilith. You explained that it had powers we had not discovered yet. You brought a warning and asked me to do something," Liz said.

"Go to bed with Kyle?" Max said, feeling even more confused. He looked over at Kyle, who was keeping his eyes to the ground. The boy looked as embarrassed as Max was confused.

"No," Liz replied. "You described a scene similar to the one in my premonition, where there was a battle and both Isabel and Michael died. And it was all because Tess had left and the four of you were not together for the battle. Max, Tess had left because… ”

"Of you and me," Max said, finally beginning to understand.

"You told me that 1 had to give you up to keep peace between Tess and the group," Liz said.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Max said.

"You told me not to. You from the future told me that you would try to find another way," Liz said. "You said the only way to be sure was if you believed that it was over between us.”

Then the totality of it hit Max. Liz had given up so much… all because he had asked her to. Not who he was now, but some version of him from the future.

"It was all for nothing," Max said finally. "Tess…"He didn't have to say any more. Everyone there knew what Tess had done. She had killed Alex and betrayed them all. She had given birth to Max's son and tried to turn him over to Max's enemy Kevar on their home world. Then, when Kevar rejected Max's son as heir, she had come back looking for shelter.

"You didn't think to mention any of this before?' Michael asked. Then he turned to Maria and said, "And you knew?”

"What good would have it have done?" Liz said.

That stopped Michael in his tracks.

"How would you prepare for some mysterious danger fifteen years in the future?" Liz continued.

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.”

"Maybe third time's a charm, Maxwell," Michael said. It was a surprising attempt at humor for Michael, and Max found himself smiling. The effort won Michael a hard smack in the arm from Maria, however.

"I do have a few other thoughts," Max added. "If what Liz said was correct, then we lost because all four of us, including Tess, were not fighting together.”

"But Max," Liz said, "Tess is dead. She died when the air force base blew.”

Max nodded. In perhaps the only selfless act of her life, Tess had walked into the base instead of endangering the group further. She had chosen to die fighting instead of living out the rest of her life in the Special Unit's White Room. Shuddering from his memory of that place, Max wondered how much of his youth he had left in that room.

How much had been burned out of him by Agent Pierce under those bright white lights? Just about all of it, I guess, Max thought.

Max understood Tess's decision. He had vowed to him- self that he would die fighting before he ever went back there. Oddly, Max had died and had seen things, glimpses of the other side that he wished he could forget. Neverthe- less, he would go there before he would go back to the White Room, because he had seen both death and Hell… and Hell was white.

"I think the three of us have to become stronger, to.compensate for Tess's loss," Max said.

"How do we do that?" Isabel asked.

"By doing the opposite of what we have done up until now," Max said. He saw the light of understanding go on in Michael's eyes.

"Our powers," Michael said.

"What? What about them?" Isabel said.

"Up until now," Max explained, "we have tried to not use them, or to do so only when absolutely necessary.”

"But not anymore," Michael said.

Max nodded his agreement. "The point of this trip for me was to do things differently. We've been hiding our whole lives, denying who we are. Now I'm ready to use my powers to do whatever good I can. We're not hiding anymore and we're not exactly running. I think if we can keep moving we can stay ahead of… our enemies. Maybe as we use our powers more, well gain extra strength.”

"Sounds like a plan, Maxwell," Michael said.

Isabel nodded her agreement, and Max realized that in spite of what he wanted and in spite of what he had just said, he had just mapped out their future. And the others had agreed.

Old habits, he thought. As he approached the van, he sighed and thought, Well, Rome wasn't built in a day. And if took longer than a day to fall, he reminded himself.

As he surveyed the damage to the front windshield, he wondered if the fall took more or less than fifteen years.

Pieces of windshield were scattered on the road and desert around them in a radius of two or three dozen yards. The bits of glass were very small. The force must have been tremendous. He wondered how big the hole in the ground was that Isabel had filled in.

Max waited until three cars passed them and they were alone on the road. Raising his hand, he collected the hun- dreds of bits of broken glass and used his powers to lift them in the air. Bringing them together, he fused them into the windshield and reset the glass onto the van.

When he was finished he could see the problem: a hole about two feet around in the center of the windshield.

"Some of the glass must have been pulverized," Max said.

Liz looked embarrassed.

Maria looked amazed. "Remind me not to make you mad, Parker.”

"There's plenty of sand around, Max," Liz said. Max nodded and reached out with his powers to pick up a small pile of sand. It was simple to heat it to the right tem- perature and make it into a good approximation of the windshield glass. Then he fused the new piece into the hole. When he was finished, he smoothed over the whole piece of glass and saw that it would do.

"Not a bad job, Your Highness," Michael said.

"Michael…," Max started.

"Just a joke, Maxwell," Michael said, smiling. "It's good to see what you can do when you really let loose with your powers.”

Max found himself smiling back. "I also do light house- keeping.”

His smile faded when he saw Liz's face.

"Don't worry, we have a long time to figure something out," he said. "And you can tell us how we're doing. You will probably have a number of flashes between now and…”

Liz gave him a thin smile, and Max saw that she was still afraid. And not just about what will happen in fifteen years, he thought. Her vision had cost Liz something, he knew. The prospect of more like it was not comforting to her.

Another price Liz is paying for being with me, Max thought.

Back in the van, Max drove through the morning, head- ing north. For a moment, he was tempted to get on Inter- state 25… it was the quickest route. And though there was no rush on this trip to nowhere special, he wanted to put as many miles as he could between the group and Roswell as quickly as possible. Then he would relax a bit.

But Max's instincts told him to stay away from major roads, at least for now. They might be watched. They had found that out when Kyle's father had tried to get them out of the state, west to Arizona. Sheriff Valenti hadn't liked what he had heard on the police band, and the group had had to change direction and go north.

Since then, Max had been basically traveling in almost a straight line up from Roswell, which was in the southern part of New Mexico. This route allowed him to steer clear of Santa Fe, which was too large a city, and Los Alamos, where the first atomic bomb was built. It was still a center for nuclear research, with just too much government and mili- tary activity for him. He would feel better when they reached Colorado, which would be sometime that afternoon if they continued at the same speed. He made a mental note to start traveling northwest when they hit Colorado. If he traveled diagonally across Colorado, he would pass well below Pueblo and the Air Force Academy.

He looked over at Liz, who was watching the road speed by. She looked alert, and Max guessed it would be a while before she slept again.

Maybe we can all relax a little when we reach Colorado, Max thought. It was possible, but not likely, he realized.

It won't be long now, Maria thought as she watched the road ahead. She could see mountains out her window in the distance. For years she had been afraid that this would never happen, that she would never leave Roswell, never leave New Mexico.

Maria remembered her school report in sixth grade. New Mexico was one of the largest states in the country (fourth or fifth, she couldn't remember which). But it only had one and a half million people… and over half of those lived in the three major cities, of which Roswell was defi- nitely not one.

And they're about to lose the six of us, she thought. She shot a glance a Michael. They should have been friendlier to illegal aliens.

Michael was sitting in silence, like the rest of them. What drove her crazy was that he seemed almost relaxed, even after that incident with Liz.

Everyone else was on edge. Max seemed particularly tense, with every muscle on his wiry frame taut. And still, somehow he managed to give the impression of brooding even as he drove.

When Michael saw her looking at him, he actually grinned back at her. He was taller than Max, and more thickly built. Now his comfortable frame was sprawled on the seat. Something was definitely going on with him.

Maria knew the other… more normal… members of the group were waiting for the same thing she was. In the dis- tance, she saw the sign. In a few seconds, she could read it: YOU ARE LEAVING NEW MEXICO, LAND OF ENCHANTMENT.

She waited for the exact moment that the van crossed the dividing line.

Then it was over and she saw another sign, which said WELCOME TO COLORADO.

All these years, all that worry of being trapped in Roswell and getting out was as simple as climbing into a van and driving for a few hours.

Colorado wasn't New York. In fact, it looked pretty much like the rocky desert they just left. Still, being there felt good just the same. Maria could tell the others felt like she did. The tension in the car went down a couple of 'notches as soon as they crossed the border. Maybe I'll miss it someday, Maria thought, but not any time soon.

Maria thought about her mother and felt a pang of regret. They hadn't even had a proper good-bye. Well, there will be time far that one day, she thought.

Except for her mom, most of what she liked about home was in the van with her: her best friend, Liz, and then there was Space Boy. What were they to each other now? Was there even a name for it? She shot Michael another glance, allowing herself to think about what might happen to him. What would hap- pen to him if Liz's premonition came true? Whatever he was to her, she couldn't stand the thought of him dying.

"Maybe you don't have to fight," Maria found herself saying out loud.

"What?" Michael said.

"If Liz's dream comes true. Maybe you don't have to fight these aliens. Maybe you can just surrender or some- thing," Maria said, noticing that all eyes in the van except for Max's were suddenly on her.

Michael shook his head. "No way, the other aliens would make fun of us," he said.

Annoyed, Maria said, "This is serious!”

"Yes," Michael replied. "And these people, or whatever they are, are very serious. Our only chance will be to beat them. If it comes to a fight, we go to the mattresses," he said with an air of finality.

Maria was no longer annoyed. Now was angry. "That is such macho crap. What does that even mean?" she shouted.

"It means that when it starts to go down on the street, we don't leave until it's finished," Michael said.

"What does that have to do with mattresses? And I've heard it before. Is it from The Guy Book of Stupid Phrases or something?”

"It's from The Godfather" Max, Michael, and Kyle said in unison.

Maria shook her head. "Do all guys see themselves liv- ing out The Godfather?" she said.

"Yes," said the three guys in the car.

Maria shook her head again.

"Look," Michael explained with forced patience. "All guys see themselves as one of the Corleone brothers: Michael, the quiet but brilliant leader of the family, or Sonny, the hotheaded muscle.”

"Max, you don't buy this, do you?" Maria said, looking for a ray of sanity. "You don't think of yourself as Michael?”

"Well, I am… was King, after all," he said.

"I guess that would make you Sonny?" Maria said to Michael.

"If the shoe fits," Michael said.

Rolling her eyes, Maria turned to Kyle. "What about you, Mister Buddha? Tell me you don't think of yourself as… who?”

Kyle's face took on a serious expression. "It's true that Buddhist philosophy gives me a sense of peace that makes the Mafia metaphor a bad fit. On the other hand, it allows me to take a larger view of important issues, making me… if possible… even more like Michael," he concluded with a satisfied grin.

They are all crazy, Maria thought. Then she remembered something about those movies. "Wait, there was another brother, Free… Frey…," she said.

"Fredo," Michael said immediately. "Yeah, no guy sees himself as Fredo. He was the cowardly, loser brother. Plus, he betrayed Michael.”

"Well, I know plenty of Fredos. I've dated many of them," Maria said sourly, shooting Michael a look.

"Well, no guy sees himself as Fredo, ever," Michael said.

"In fact," Max added, "the more like Fredo a guy is, the less likely he is to see it.”

"You are twisted… sick and twisted," Maria said to Michael. She looked at Max, then at Kyle. "And not just you, the whole gender.”

"You asked," Michael said, "We're just providing information.”

Maria grunted and looked at Liz for support. Her best friend had been completely silent since she'd told them about her premonition. To Maria's surprise, Liz was watch- ing the exchange with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad you find this amusing," Maria said.

The frustration on Maria's face only made Liz smile wider. That made Maria smile herself.

Maria tossed her head back into her seat. "Impossible, all of you.”

Liz actually laughed, as Michael looked on with satis- faction.

Well, Space Boy might be driving me completely crazy, but at least he's good for a laugh, Maria thought.

Another thought quickly pushed that one out of the way. She barely remembered The Godfather, just a few scenes and images. One of them was terrible: Sonny met up with a bunch of guys with machine guns at a tollbooth.

There was a lot of blood, and that was the end for Sonny.

She took a look at Michael and wondered what she was in for with him.

Kyle heard his stomach growl. With all the excitement of leaving Roswell, and then Liz's dream, he had not thought much about food.

"I could go for a Snapple," he heard Michael say.

"Where's the next town, Liz?" Max asked.

Liz took a minute to wrestle with a beat-up road atlas she had found somewhere in the van. The oversize book was coming apart, but Liz located the right map and said, "I don't think this road is on the map, it's too small," Liz said.

Kyle scanned the two-lane road. It was a little less des- olate than the rocky desert that seemed to make up most of New Mexico. Southern Colorado was still a rocky desert, but it was one with more scrub and even a few trees. And the hills in the distance were a promising green.

"There has to be a town eventually," Kyle said, though they hadn't passed one for miles. And he could not see one up ahead on the twisting road that they were traveling.

Suddenly, there was a snap from somewhere in the front, and the van shuddered. Immediately, it began to slow down.. "Something's wrong," Max said. The car was coasting now, and losing speed quickly. He guided it to the road's shoulder… though shoulder was a kind term for the dusty earth next to the road.

A moment later they had come to a stop.

"Out of gas, Maxwell?" Michael asked.

"Not according to the gauge," Max said. "We should have over a quarter of a tank.”

"I think something went under the hood," Kyle said. "I heard a pop.”

Max nodded and said, "I'll take care of it," as he got out of the van.

"I'm going to stretch my legs," Maria said.

Michael followed her out of the car, and then Kyle did himself. He turned back to see Isabel coming. He instinc- tively reached out a hand to take her arm and help her out.

She tensed at his touch, and Kyle was immediately self- conscious. He realized that he could not remember Isabel speaking for hours since they had left.

A look at her face told him why. Isabel was always so controlled; it was strange to see her look… fragile. Her eyes were red… not from crying, Kyle knew, but from keeping herself from doing it.

Kyle hadn't given up nearly as much as she had. In fact, had he given up anything? A job in the local garage, where his boss had laughed in his face when Kyle had suggested that he might eventually become a partner. Kyle hadn't even been a full mechanic. He was just an assistant.

Just three years ago, he had been starting linebacker- running back at Roswell High and had Liz Parker as his girlfriend. He had been student athlete of the month, he remembered, and that had seemed very important to him at the time. It was during that month that things had started to go wrong between him and Liz.

Ultimately, he knew that he hadn't really loved Liz… not like Max did. Still, at the time, he couldn't imagine wanting anyone more. What had happened in the years since then? Well, a lot of strange things tied into the Big Alien Secret. But none of that really had anything to do with his fate later.

He was a good football player… one of the most tal- ented on the team. The coach had given him both offen- sive and defensive positions to keep him on the field more. He had led his division in sacks two years in a row, but it had been a small division. And in the end, no one was beating down his door to give him a scholarship. He was just not tall enough for college ball.

He had also been on the basketball team and the base- ball team. And he was good at each game, for Roswell. Yet, none of those sports would give him any kind of future, he knew. When the opportunity came to leave Roswell, he had jumped at it. He couldn't face spending the rest of his life in the garage. And he didn't belong in the sheriff's office like his dad and his grandfather did, he knew.

So he was in an ancient Volkswagen van with his friends in the middle of nowhere.

And this was the best prospect I had, he thought, with a smile. Back when he was still on the team and still cared about football, he'd thought he could never be closer to anyone than he was to the guys on the team.

A lot had changed since then. Taking a glance at his friends, he decided that this wasn't such a bad deal after all.

By now, Max had the hood of the van opened and was looking inside.

Michael looked up and down the road to confirm that there were no cars approaching and said, "All clear, let her rip.”

Max nodded and raised his hand, which was now glowing with green energy. He put his hand on the engine, concentrating hard for a few seconds. "Try it," he said to Liz, who was in the driver's seat now.

She turned the key; the engine clicked, but refused to start. Max was immediately by her side. "Did you give it gas?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Let me try," he said as Liz moved over.

Max turned the key. Still nothing but a click.

"I'll fix it," Isabel offered, taking a position in front of the open hood. Raising her hand, she used her powers on the engine, and then nodded to Max.

This time, there was a loud snap, then the familiar clicking sound.

Max jumped out of the car and tried again.

Nothing.

Michael weighed in.

Then Max and Isabel tried together.

Michael was shaking his head, "Wow, once unleashed, our alien-powers are truly staggering.”

Kyle couldn't watch anymore and walked over to the front of the van, where Max, Michael, and Isabel were star- ing at the uncooperative engine.

"Let me try," Kyle said.

His three friends looked at him in surprise. Liz came around front and said, "Have you been feeling any… powers?”

"Why didn't you say something?" Max said.

Kyle gave an apologetic shrug and said, "Well, I wasn't ready to talk about it, but… well, I've been an auto mechanic for the last two years!”

For a minute, his friends looked at him in confusion; then, Max gave him an embarrassed smile. "Of course… sorry, Kyle," Max said as the others laughed.

Leaning down into the engine compartment, Kyle found himself laughing too. "Stand back, my auto mechanic powers are pretty incredible," he said.

Taking a quick look, Kyle shook his head. The 1960s VW van was a classic. It represented a whole generation of youth and idealism. It was also old.

"Where did Jesse get this thing?" he asked, turning to Isabel, whose only response was a scowl. Fair enough. I deserved that, he thought.

Checking the back of the van, he found a broken wrench and a screwdriver. "We'll need some more tools if we're going to keep the van," he said to Max, who nodded.

Worse than I thought, Kyle thought as he looked over the engine. Twenty minutes later he looked up and said, "Well, there's good news and bad news.”

"Good news first, please," Maria said.

"The good news is that we've just witnessed a miracle: the van making it to Colorado," he said.

"But what's wrong with it?" Max asked.

"How much time have we got?" Kyle replied. Then, before Max could reply, he said, "Well, just about all of the belts and hoses need to be replaced. I figure you could spruce them up with your powers. However, two of the pistons aren't working. Now, that could be a tune-up, but I would need a shop to be sure. 1 also have a bad feeling about the starter, and finally, the thing that stopped us cold is the timing chain. It's busted.”

"How bad is that?" Michael said.

"On a foreign car? This old? Out in the middle of nowhere? Pretty bad. Even if we could find the part, I would need a full shop and a few hours to put it in," he said.

"But now that you know what it is, can't we just zap it?" Maria said. "In case you haven't noticed, we've been driv- ing all night and all day. I'm hungry and tired.”

"I don't think it's going to be that simple," Max said.

"Compared with putting a windshield back together, this should be easy," Maria said.

"But they know what a windshield looks like," Kyle said.

"To rearrange molecules of something, we have to be able to see it in our minds, or have a sense of how it works.

I think I was engineered with an intuitive sense about how the body works, which is why I can heal people," Max said.

"Unfortunately, an old car is more complicated than a piece of glass," Kyle said.

"How long would it take for you to teach me everything I needed to know to understand all the repairs?" Max asked.

"More time than we have today, and I won't know everything that's wrong until I take some stuff apart. I think we're going to have to get the van towed," Kyle said.

The others looked at Max, who thought for a moment and nodded his head. "Okay," he said.

Isabel and Michael nodded their agreement. For all of Max's protests about not wanting to be in charge, he was still making decision. And the others were still looking to him.

"Well, great!" Maria said. "But we're still in the middle of nowhere." She reached into her purse to take out her cell phone. "Who knows how long it will take for someone to get out here?”

"No," Max said firmly as Michael quickly took the cell phone from Maria.

"Hey," she said, grabbing for it as Michael kept it out of reach.

"Maria, we can't use a cell phone," Liz said.

"What!" she exclaimed.

"They could track us," Max said calmly.

"Who?" she said.

"Take your pick," Michael said. "The various bad guys we're trying to avoid, but my money would be on our per- sonal favorite, the Special Unit.”

"So what are we supposed to do? Just wait around in the middle of nowhere for someone to drive by? Well, I have news for you: It's been a long time since we've seen a car," Maria said. "We could be here for a while.”

Before anyone could respond, a pickup truck appeared in the distance. All heads turned to watch it approach from the direction they themselves had come.

"Or not," Michael said.

Maria squinted at him but didn't say anything.

Max leaned into the road and waved as the truck got closer. The pickup slowed and came to a stop on the side of the road just ahead of them. The group moved closer, with Max in the lead.

There was a single middle-aged man inside. He leaned over and rolled down the passenger-side window as he gave the group and the van an appraising look. "Trouble with your van," he said. It was a statement, not a question, and his expression was neutral.

"Yes," Max said.

"Lucky for you I came by. We don't see a lot of traffic out here," the man said.

"We noticed," Max said. "How far is the nearest town?”

"Stonewall is about five miles," the man replied, point- ing up ahead.

Max gestured to the back of the pickup and said, "We would appreciate a ride.”

"No," the man said simply.

Kyle understood. The man was alone, and they were six strangers.

"I don't know you kids, but I will send Gomer back with the tow truck, though.”

"Thanks," Max said, and the man sped away.

"Well, thank goodness for Gomer," Kyle said, smiling. The others laughed.

"How long do you think, Kyle? For the repairs," Max said.

"Depends on how long it takes to get the parts. A nine- teen sixty-six VW van timing chain…," he said. "The actual repairs I could do myself in maybe a day. The ques- tion is, can we afford to have them all done now? How much cash do we have, anyway?”

"Cash…?" Max said.

"Yeah, I'm assuming that using the ATM is out," Kyle said.

"Uh-oh," Liz said.

Together, everyone started to reach into his or her vari- ous pockets and purses. A moment later they had pooled their resources and Liz had begun counting. "Sixty-eight dollars and forty cents," she said.

"And we'll need gas once we get going," Kyle said.

Michael took a quick inventory of their sour faces. "Don't forget," he said as he reached down to pick up a medium-size rock. Handing the rock to Max, he said, "Powers unleashed, Maxwell. How about whipping up some gold?”

"Gold?" Liz said. "How are you going to sell that with- out attracting attention?”

"A small-town jewelry store or even a pawn shop shouldn't ask too many questions," Michael said. "Besides, getting stuck in this small town with no money will attract attention too.”

Max cupped the rock in his hands, which began to glow a familiar red. A moment later, he opened his hands to reveal two small bars of shiny gold. "Just a couple of ounces," Max said.

"It's plenty. You can always make more," Michael said. "We'll eat well tonight and sleep in decent beds.”

"As soon as Gomer gets here," Isabel said.

Twenty minutes later, they saw a tow truck approach from the direction of Stonewall.

The tow truck backed up to the van, and a tall, beefy guy who needed a shave jumped out. Kyle guessed he was in his early twenties.

"Gomer?" Max said, approaching.

"Trouble with your van," Gomer said, his face serious.

"Yes," Max said.

"It's old," Gomer said.

Max nodded to that.

Pulling on the tow truck's rig, Gomer quickly hooked. the van to it. "We'll get you fixed up. My boss has one of these out back. A junker," Gomer said.

Kyle was immediately relieved. If the garage owner had a junk VW van, they wouldn't have to wait for parts. Kyle could strip what he needed from the other van. Leaning over to Isabel, he said, "About time we caught a break.”

"That'll be fifty dollars," Gomer said.

"But you haven't taken it anywhere yet!" Michael said, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

Gomer stopped and stared at Michael for a long moment, then he turned to Max and said, "In advance. I don't know you folks.”

Shrugging, Max nodded, and Liz counted out fifty dol- lars. Then she handed it to Gomer.

Turning for the van, Kyle said, "Let us get in before you raise it.”

"No," Gomer said, stopping Kyle short. "I can't have you in the van during a tow. It's against the law and it voids our insurance.”

Isabel stepped forward. When she spoke, she sounded firm, assured… more like herself. "You can't leave us all out here, five miles from town.”

Giving her an appraising glance, Gomer said, "I wouldn't do that." Then he gestured to the girls. "You three can ride with me in the truck.”

"No way," Liz said.

"Go ahead, Liz," Max said. "We'll catch up.”

"We'll be fine," Max assured her. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Stonewall might be dangerous, better if you go first.”

Liz smiled. "Okay.”

"Get yourselves something to eat. We'll be along," Max said.

By then, the van was raised, and Gomer was ready to roll. "Come on," he called from inside the tow truck.

The girls got inside, and the truck pulled away.

"This has been a long day," Kyle said as the three boys looked down the road after the van.

"Cheer up," Michael said. "The day isn't over yet. Things could still go our way.”

To Kyle's surprise, there was a small smile on Michael's face. Max was unreadable, as usual. But that smile still seemed out of place on Michael's face. Something was going on with him.

Aliens, Kyle thought, shrugging his shoulders.

Kyle, Michael, and Max started walking toward Stonewall.