Quarantine

13

“She's okay?" Alan Sosa asked.

Maris narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, she's fine. Though how it happened will remain a mystery, at least to the CDC."

"What do you mean?" he said. "Surely they studied her afterward."

"Yes, they studied her. They used her DNA to fashion a cure for the rest of the people you infected. I just mean that they don't understand what happened… either why it began, or why it ended. There are only two of us who know that, Alan. You and me."

He looked paler than usual, she thought. His hand shook as he lifted the cup of coffee her assistant had brought him. "I'm done with Meta-chem," he said. "I don't want trouble between us, but I think you'll agree that I have more dirt to blackmail you with now than what you have on me. I want to call it even."

"Alan, you spread a dangerous virus around the whole city."

"A virus that you created out of DNA you got from God knows where! I won't let you pin this on me," he said. "I didn't want to test that serum on humans and you know it."

"Nevertheless, you did give it to Liz Parker."

"You forced me to!" His shaking was getting more violent. Maris wondered idly what kind of poison her assistant had put in the coffee. She herself never liked to know the details of these things. That way the assistant could take the fall for it later, if need be.

"Look, you got what you wanted," Alan was saying. "You saw how the serum works in humans… it's a disaster. It won't help your husband."

"That's true. I'll have to find the Healer himself. I can't just use his DNA."

"Well, fine," Alan said. He put down the coffee cup and stood. "Just count me out." He took one step toward the door, then fell flat on his face, dead.

"I'll do that," Maris said.

"I simply don't understand it," Diane Evans was saying as Isabel entered the kitchen.

"None of us does," her husband, Philip, replied. "But I think the firm will be looking at a lot of business in lawsuits from this quarantine."

Isabel poured herself some coffee and tried to act casual. "Hey, Dad, I thought I saw that new lawyer at the hospital," she said. "Jesse Something?"

Her father nodded. "Jesse Ramirez."

"When were you at the hospital?" Diane asked.

Isabel gulped her coffee. "Um, I went there because Max was there with Liz."

"Oh, that's right," Diane said. "Poor Liz; she was the first one sick."

"There's another lawsuit waiting to happen," Philip put in. "I should give Liz's father a call… he's going to be sued by everyone who got sick at the Crashdown. He'll need a good lawyer."

"What about Jesse?" Isabel blurted out, trying to keep the conversation on track. "He had a heart attack, they said."

"A heart attack!" Diane exclaimed. "Why, he can't be more than twenty-six!"

"He's fine now," Philip told her. "His symptoms completely reversed themselves. He told me the doctors said that if they hadn't seen the attack themselves, they wouldn't have even been able to tell he'd had a heart attack."

"But does that mean he'll have one later on?" Isabel asked, still worried. "When he's older?"

Philip shook his head. "They ran some tests, can't even find a single warning sign of congenital heart disease. And it runs in his family. It seems that whatever they used to cure him actually reversed the genetic weakness entirely."

Max's DNA, Isabel thought. It's his healing power, working correctly this time. She smiled. No one in Roswell really understood what had happened… the CDC had taken samples of Liz's DNA, found an anomaly, and used it to create a sort of vaccine. Only Isabel and her friends knew that Liz's DNA had been changed by Max, and that's what had saved them all. "So Jesse is okay?" she asked.

Her parents both looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, he's fine," Philip replied. "I never knew you paid so much attention to my employees and their health."

Isabel gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm just looking out for my dad," she chirped. Nothing could ruin her good mood now… Jesse was back to normal!

"So your mom will be okay?" Sadie asked as she loaded a duffel bag full of Marias old clothes into the car. The city-wide quarantine had been lifted as of this morning, and Sadie and her dad were on their way back to Arizona.

Maria nodded. "They all will. Liz says they gave everyone the medicine they made from her DNA, and all of those diseases reversed course immediately. Its like everyone was miraculously cured at once. Wild, huh?"

Her dad shrugged. "I'd forgotten that about Roswell."

"What?"

"All the weird stuff that happens here," he said. "Everyone gets sick with hereditary diseases they probably didn't know they had. And then, boom! They're all better and the genes carrying those diseases are gone. It's like some giant lab experiment."

If only you knew how right you are, Maria thought. "Was it always like that?" she said out loud.

"Yeah," Richard answered. "There used to be strange murders, and unexplained lights in the sky, and plant life that had unidentifiable DNA. You'd read about it in the paper. But every time something weird would happen, it would just go away a little while later. Nobody ever got an explanation."

Maria grinned. "I guess that's one thing that will never change."

Her father smiled back. "Well, I guess we'd better get going," he said.

"Yeah, I have to get over to Meta-chem to pick up my mom." Maria turned to Sadie and opened her arms.

"I'm gonna miss you," Sadie said with a sniffle as she threw herself into Maria's embrace.

"You have my e-mail," Maria told her little sister. "We might not see each other for a while, but you can keep in touch that way."

Sadie looked up into Maria's eyes. "And we'll always be friends, right?"

"Right," Maria told her. She felt a pricking at the back of her own eyes. It's amazing how attached I've gotten to her in just a jew days, she thought. She kissed Sadie's cheek and pulled open the passenger door. Sadie climbed into the car and shut the door.

Maria turned to her father, knowing that they couldn't keep pretending nothing was wrong.

"Maria," he said. "I know we're not exactly on good terms… "

"Dad, listen," Maria said. "I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad that I know where you are and that you're okay. And I'm glad you had Sadie, because she's amazing."

"I sense a 'but' coming," Richard said sadly.

"But I'm just not ready to say everything is okay between us," Maria went on. "Because of you, I've spent my whole life feeling worthless. I can't get over that so eas-ily."

"Okay," her father said quietly.

"Mom has been my mother and my father for ten years now," Maria said. "And I take her for granted. I'm going to try to make my relationship with her better. Then maybe

I'll want to make a new relationship with you. I just can't do them both right now. I've given this a lot of thought, and I'm not trying to punish you."

"I understand that, Maria," Richard said. "For the record, I'd like to be involved in your life. But I'll leave the time frame up to you. Please promise me you'll at least think about it."

Maria took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll think about it."

Her father gave her a long, serious look. "I do love you, Maria," he said. Then he turned and climbed into the car.

Maria watched them pull away from the house. Half of her wanted to run after the car, and the other half of her hoped she would never see him again.

"You okay?"

She turned to see Michael standing in the doorway of her house. Maria let out a little sob, and instantly Michael rushed over to hold her.

Maria buried her face in his chest and let the tears flow for a minute. Then she took a deep breath. "I'll be all right," she said shakily.

"Good." Michael released her.

"When did you get here?" she asked.

"A few minutes ago. I came in the back; I didn't want to interrupt you guys. I don't think your father likes me."

Maria laughed.

"You know, your mother doesn't like me either," Michael joked.

"Who cares?" Maria said. "I like you just fine."

Liz walked slowly down the stairs to the Crashdown. She'd been home for a full day, but this was the first time

her father was letting her get out of bed. She hadn't minded the rest, actually. The strange symptoms of her sickness were completely gone, but her body still felt exhausted. She pushed open the swinging door to the dining room.

"Surprise!"

Liz gasped and jumped. A little crowd of people had gathered in the Crashdown: Max and Michael, Maria and her mom, Kyle and Valenti, and her own parents. "Hey, everyone," she said.

"Here's the girl with the magic genes," Amy teased, giving Liz a hug. "Are you as happy to be out of Metachem as I am?"

"You know it," Liz replied. "I'm never going back there, scholarship or not."

"Me either," Kyle put in. "I called my boss and quit this morning. I've seen enough of that place to last forever."

"And I won't mind having you home where I can see you for a while," Valenti said, punching his son on the arm.

"I'll second that," Maria joked, punching her mother on the arm.

"Who wants brunch?" Jeff Parker asked, heading toward the kitchen. "It may be a while before the Board of Health lets us reopen, but I can serve you all cold cereal."

"That's just what I'm here to talk to you about," Maris Wheeler said from the doorway.

Liz jumped. She hadn't even heard the bell ring. Maris made her way over to the counter. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion," she said. "I wanted to make sure Liz was feeling better."

"I am. Thanks, Ms. Wheeler," Liz told her.

"I keep telling you, call me Maris," she corrected with a smile. "Liz, I have some news. The CDC's investigation has determined that the chemical spill in Dr. Sosa's lab was responsible for creating a mutation in your DNA that led to the virus. Somehow you must have infected the water you were carrying, and then the water spread it to everyone else."

"That's just what you thought it was," Max said, smiling at Liz.

"Well, there's a reason she's going to be a brilliant scientist," Maris said. "They still haven't figured out exactly what was in that substance you touched. Dr. Sosa didn't turn it over to the CDC, unfortunately. We were clearly very wrong to trust him with such sensitive research… he was using our labs to conduct his own studies on who knows what."

"I never did quite trust him," Liz admitted.

"He's been fired, needless to say," Maris told her. "So I'm afraid we won't have a job for you this summer, Liz. The scholarship money is still yours, of course."

"That's a relief," Jeff said.

"Oh, Mr. Parker, I have news for you, too," Maris went on, turning to him. "Since this virus was created at Meta-chem, I've spoken to the CDC on your behalf. We take full responsibility for what happened; your restaurant can hardly be blamed for Liz spreading a disease she didn't know she had. The Board of Health will want to do a routine inspection, but after that you should be free to open again."

Liz watched her father's face break into a huge grin.

"Thank you, Ms. Wheeler," he said. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

"It's the least I can do," Maris said. "I'll let you all get back to your celebration."

"Wow." Liz watched her go with a smile. "She must be the most honest CEO ever."

Isabel locked the front door behind her and started down the sidewalk. She was supposed to meet up with her friends at the Crashdown. It was a show of support for the Parkers, because everyone was blaming them for the recent epidemic. It was common knowledge that the virus had been spread through the Crashdown.

Just another example of our human friends having to take the blame for something alien, she thought guiltily.

A car slowed down in the street next to her. Isabel ignored it.

Someone whistled at her from the car. She ignored that, too. Why were men always such pigs?

"Hey, Isabel!"

She stopped and turned toward the car. Jesse was at the wheel. "Jesse!" she cried. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"One hundred percent," he replied. "Get in before someone sees us together."

She got in. "Thank God you're feeling better," Isabel said as Jesse drove around the block. "When I saw you at the hospital… "

"I know, it was freaky," he said. "I mean, I knew heart disease ran in my family, but I'm too young to have a heart attack!"

Isabel looked down at her hands. "But you're too old to be with me. Right?"

"That's why I came to find you," Jesse said. He pulled over to the curb and parked. Then he turned in his seat to look at Isabel. "Being sick like that got me thinking. Life's too short to care about stupid things like a little age difference."

Isabel smiled hopefully. "You mean… "

"I mean I think I'm falling in love with you, Isabel," he said, taking her hand. "And if you want to take things slow and not tell your family about us yet, that's fine with me. In fact, I think it's kind of fun sneaking around with you."

Isabel felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Jesse, I was so miserable. You were sick and I couldn't even comfort you."

"You can comfort me now," he murmured. Then he kissed her, and Isabel forgot all about their problems.

"There's still one thing I don't understand," Max said into Liz's hair. They lay cuddled together on her bed that evening.

"What?"

"Kyle said you found alien cells in Dr. Sosa's lab, before there was any chemical spill or any virus."

He felt Liz stiffen. '"That's right. I'd forgotten about that," she said.

"You didn't tell me about it," Max added softly.

Liz sat up and looked him in the eye. "I was avoiding you."

"I know," he said. "Why?"

"Because you're still hung up on finding your son. I thought I wasn't your top priority."

Max didn't know what to say. Liz was definitely his top priority here on Earth. But he did have to find his son; that was his responsibility as a parent. "Do you mean I have to choose between you and my son?"

"It's hard for me to get used to the fact that you have a son," Liz said. "But now I know it doesn't mean that you don't love me. When you were healing me at Meta-chem, I could feel how strong your love was. I don't know how to handle all this stuff with your son, Max. I'm going to have to think about that some more."

"But you're going to stop avoiding me?" he asked.

She pressed her lips to his. "Oh, yes," she answered.

Max held her silently for a moment. There was something else he wanted to ask her, but he wasn't sure if he should.

"What are you thinking about?" Liz asked.

Max smiled. She could always tell when something was bothering him. "Something you said before I healed you," he replied. "I was wondering what you meant. But I think you were just delirious."

Liz sat up and looked at him. "I told you I love you."

"Yes. But you also said something about getting married and making me fall out of love with you."

Liz paled. "I guess I was delirious. I shouldn't have told you about that. I don't know if I can talk to you about it."

"About what?"

She searched his face. "About this… thing that happened last year. An alien thing."

Now Max sat up too. "You have to tell me," he said simply

"Okay." Liz bit her lip. "Well, one day you came to me. But it wasn't you. I mean, it was you… from the future."

Maybe she's still delirious, Max thought. "Um, what?" he said aloud.

"Max, just hear me out. You came back from the future. You said the Granilith could be used for time travel."

Max didn't know what to think. The Granilith was gone, and he'd never known much about how it worked.

"You said we were happy and we were married, but it made Tess feel abandoned, so she left. But you needed her… all four of you needed to be together. There was a threat to Earth, and you needed Tess but she wasn't there."

Max was doubtful. He hated Tess so much lately that he couldn't imagine ever needing her.

"You told me I had to change what happened," Liz went on. "You said I had to make sure you fell out of love with me so that you would turn to Tess. That way, she'd never leave. You said I had to change the future."

Suddenly Max understood. He felt as if all the air had left his lungs. "Kyle," he whispered. "You pretended to sleep with him. You knew I'd catch you."

Liz's eyes were brimming with tears. "I had to make you stop loving me," she said sadly. "It was the only way I could think of."

Max was stunned. He couldn't get his mind around what Liz was telling him. Well, except for one part. "I didn't stop loving you," he said, tears pricking at his own eyes. "There is no way I ever could stop, no matter what you did. You're in my blood, Liz, you're part of me. I will love you forever." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, pressing her against him. "I thought you didn't care

about me anymore. I thought you wanted me to be with Tess," he said. "And all that time you were just trying to help me?"

Liz nodded. "You said it would mean the end of the world if Tess left. I was only trying to do the right thing."

Max closed his eyes and just breathed in the scent of her hair. "Of course you were," he whispered. "That's who you are. That's why I love you."

He hated to think of how she must have felt all those months while he was dating Tess. He'd thought Liz had moved on first, that she didn't love him at all. But in reality her heart must have been breaking every time she'd seen them together. "How can you even be here with me when all I do is hurt you?" Max asked. "I don't mean to, but I always seem to end up causing you pain."

Liz pulled back so that she could look him in the eye. "You do hurt me," she agreed. "But you also heal me. You saved my life at the Crashdown two years ago. And you just saved my life again. When you were healing me, Max, I felt how afraid you were to lose me. I know how much I mean to you."

He kissed her softly, just taking in the amazing feel of her in his arms. "I can't believe you loved me all that time," he said. "But what about Tess?"

Liz stiffened. "What about her?"

"Well, she's gone," Max pointed out. "Didn't you say we had to keep her from leaving or something horrible would happen?"

"Yes," Liz said. "But it might be okay. We changed the time line… things haven't happened the way they would have before. Maybe it will work out differently."

Max wasn't sure what to think… how could he plan for some giant disaster that might never materialize? "I guess we'll just have to put it on our list of possible threats," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "Somewhere between the government finding out about us and global warming."

"Guess so," Liz replied with a smile.

They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. Max sighed happily. "So you don't have feelings for Kyle?" he asked.

Liz burst out laughing. "Kyle?"

"Well, you two did pretend to sleep together. And you were pretty close at Meta-chem. Plus, you told him about the alien cells in the lab."

Liz frowned suddenly. "Why were those cells there?" she said. "Do you think Dr. Sosa was using them for his research? Do you think he knows about you guys?"

Max pulled her back into his arms. "Ms. Wheeler said he destroyed all his research. If he had alien cells, he must have destroyed them too."

"I guess we'll never know what he was doing with them," Liz murmured.

"We'll keep an eye out for him," Max told her. "Just add him to our list of threats too."

"Yeah," Liz said. "I wonder where he is."

Maris watched as the last drum of medical waste was sealed shut. "These are disposed of by incineration, right?" she asked the technician.

The technician nodded. "We take them down to the basement and burn them, then the residue is kept in an airtight container, We can't take any chances with this stuff."

"1 agree," Maris said.

She watched impassively as the dram containing Alan Sosa's body was carted away with the rest of the waste. I'm lucky these science types don't have many friends, she thought. So far no one had questioned her story about Dr. Sosa skipping town, and she didn't expect that anyone ever would.

Maris walked slowly down the Meta-chem hallway to the room where they kept her elderly husband. Clayton was hooked up to about twenty different machines. He couldn't talk because of the tube in his mouth, but the expression in his eyes was as sharp as ever.

"1 have a new scientist working on the DNA from Liz Parker's blood," Maris told him. "His name is Dr. Farrell. 1 lured him away from the CDC."

Clayton smiled with satisfaction.

"Don't worry, darling," Maris cooed. "Sooner or later, we'll figure out the secrets of the Healer."

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