The Night The Dreams Died

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:25 am

The Night The Dreams Died

The Tunnel Of The Bats

Chapter 15

XV

Maria looked down the dark corridor of the unfinished tunnel in both directions…

“What do you think, Isabel? Don’t you have some kind of gut feeling… some kind of alien psychic thing or something… about which way we should go here?”

Isabel shook her head wearily. “No,” she said after a few moments reflection and without any pretensions. “I just don’t know.”

Maria sighed with genuine frustration. “Okay, then, let’s go… right… no, left! We go left.”

Isabel nodded. “Left is good.” She reached down and picked up a small object from the ground. It was a pop top from a soda can or perhaps a beer can.

“Somebody was here,” Isabel said. “Looks like it was a long time ago, though. It’s rusty… or maybe just coated with… something. It’s changed color.” She dropped the pop top back onto the ground and kicked it with her foot, scuffing the dirt with her shoe.

The two girls turned into the bisecting tunnel and followed the left route. It seemed that the corridors had become increasingly damp and dusty since Maria and Isabel had left the larger, developed parts and entered the unfinished tunnels. The developed tunnels were huge corridors. Trucks, even tanks, could drive through some of them, and there were rooms off to the sides… but these tunnels were a far cry from those. Some of these were barely big enough to stand up in… and they were damp and dingy. Maria wondered who had gone through this mountain digging all these tunnels and why they never finished them all.

After an hour of walking in the new tunnel –sometimes crawling, in places where the ceiling was too low- the girls stopped to rest. Maria sat down on the ground then noticed something in the dirt beside her.

“Another pop top.”

She handed it to Isabel, and Isabel looked at it, then she looked at the ground beside it. There was an unmistakable scuff mark on the ground. She buried her face wearily in her hands.

“We’ve been walking in a circle, Maria. This is the same pop top I kicked over an hour ago.”

Maria swallowed silently, as she looked at the scuff mark on the ground and the pop top in Isabel’s hand. She knew Isabel was right. For a moment, Maria almost felt a pang of desperation, but she quickly shut it out, replacing it with a plan that came as fast as the feeling of desperation had fled.

“Okay, then, this time we go the other way… and we mark our trail. If we start seeing any of our marks again, we backtrack and find another route… any other route.”

Isabel nodded.

Unknown to Maria or Isabel, about two miles away, in a larger but equally unfinished tunnel, Max, Michael, and Rahn were also searching for a way out. The one difference was that, with Rahn’s help, they had an idea where they were going and how to get there.

Max sat down on a rock in the tunnel, as they stopped momentarily to assess their position. He looked at Rahn hesitantly, as though he wanted to ask something but was afraid.

“Rahn… do you have any feeling about Maria or Isabel? I mean… Do you think they’re both alive… both okay? Isabel may have been hurt when she was escaping. I keep seeing her over and over in my mind, and I can’t stop thinking about it… but I can’t let it keep us from finding a way out of here. I can’t help any of us if I can’t get us out of here or if we’re caught again.”

Rahn shook his head slowly. “I can’t tell if they’re alive or not. But I thought you could.”

“Well… I can… sometimes,” Max admitted. “I can feel Isabel sometimes, but I stopped feeling her at all for a long time. I didn’t want to say anything, because I was afraid that… that she had died. But I felt her again a little while ago.”

“Is she alright,” Michael asked, immediately concerned. “Is Maria alright?”

“I don’t know,” Max said, nervously tossing a small rock into the middle of the tunnel. “Not for sure anyway. Isabel seems stronger now. Her aura was giving off a very weak feeling before… then I couldn’t detect it at all… for a long time… but now it seems to be back and stronger than before.”

Michael smiled. “And Maria?”

“I can’t really feel Maria the same way, Michael.”

Michael’s smile slowly faded again.

“But I can sense something in Isabel that suggests she’s not alone or desperate or frightened the way she might be if something had happened to Maria. I can’t say for sure, but I believe Maria’s okay… at this moment.”

Michael nodded, taking note of the words: ‘at this moment.’ Michael understood all too well that in a split second and without any warning everything could change for any or all of them.

Rahn stopped suddenly and put his hand up, cautioning Max and Michael to be quiet. He listened. Then he turned back to Max and Michael.

“Did you hear something, Rahn?” Michael asked.

“I thought I did. But now I don’t hear it.”

“Could you tell what it was?”

“Soldiers.”

“How can you tell,” Max asked.

“The sound their feet make… but… I don’t hear it now. Maybe they’re outside the tunnels.”

Max nodded. “Well, we need to be moving anyway. We have to find the place where we can dig out of here.”

“Right,” Michael agreed. “Let’s get the hell out of this place… the sooner the better.”

As Michael stood up, the eerie silence in the tunnel was suddenly shattered by the sound of a rifle being fired nearby. In the confines of the tunnel, the single shot sounded almost like an atomic explosion, and it echoed repeatedly from every direction… Max and Michael both dropped to the ground and rolled against the walls. When they looked up, Rahn was gone.

“Did you see where that came from,” Max asked Michael quietly.

Michael shook his head. “I think it came from down that way. Keep your head down, Max. Somebody out there wants to blow it off.”

“Where’d you get that idea,” Max asked, crawling over to Michael on his stomach, keeping his head low.

“Just a hunch.”

“Where’d Rahn go?”

Michael shook his head. “I don’t know. I dropped to the ground and rolled. When I looked up, he was gone.”

“Yeah, same here.”

Max looked up suddenly, as a bat flew low over his head then ploughed into the dirt like a crashing fighter plane. As they watched, the bat began to grow and change form.

“Rahn!” Max and Michael both whispered at the same time. “Where were you?”

“I went to see who was shooting at us,” Rahn said simply.

“Did you see?” Michael asked.

“Yes. There is one soldier behind that bend over there. Behind him there are four more. Much further down the tunnel, not very close yet, there are at least two dozen soldiers… coming this way.”

“Crap!” Michael said. “We need to get out of here before the others get here, but with this guy holding us down, we’d have to crawl away on our bellies or get our heads blown off.”

“I think I can distract them,” Rahn said, closing his eyes and concentrating. As he did, Max and Michael head noises, sounds of running and a few curses. Max looked at Rahn quizzically.

“They were attacked by a large number of bats,” Rahn said simply.

“You can call bats?”

“No. I made them think they saw them. It is a kind of mind warp. But it works just as well sometimes. Let’s go… while they’re occupied.”

Max and Michael jumped to their feet and ran with Rahn, leaving the soldiers who had been pursuing them ducking and running back the way they had come, swatting and cursing at a thick swarm of imaginary bats. After about thirty minutes, Max, Michael, and Rahn slowed their pace somewhat.

“Do you think they’re still following us,” Max asked.

Michael nodded. “I’m sure of it. They’ll follow our footprints now that they’ve seen us. We’ll have to work fast.”

“Which way?” Max asked Rahn. Rahn pointed down the corridor to the right.

Michael nodded. “Okay, then let’s make footprints down the left tunnel a ways and come back and wipe our footprints away in the right tunnel as we go down it.”

“Won’t they know what we did and come back and go down this tunnel when the footprints run out suddenly in the other one,” Max asked.

“Not necessarily,” Michael replied with a grin. “Watch and learn, Max.”

After the three had walked about a hundred feet down the left tunnel, Michael took his hand and wiped some of the footprints away, making it obvious that they were wiped away.

“They’ll think we’re erasing our tracks, so when they don’t see them anymore, they’ll keep going this way.”

“Okay,” Max nodded. “And what happens after they’ve gone a ways further and still see no more tracks?”

Michael thought about this a moment. “Rahn, could you turn into a bat again?”

Rahn shrugged. “Sure. Why?”

“Fly down the tunnel about two hundred feet then leave some more footprints so they’ll find them and think we’re still headed that way. Then fly back. It’ll look like we erased our tracks for a while, but then they’ll pick them up again. Maybe that’ll confuse them for a while.”

Rahn began to shrink… then black, leathery wings sprouted from his sides. He leapt into the air before his legs had completely shrunk to bat-sized, changing the rest of the way into a bat in mid air, then he flew off down the tunnel. A couple of minutes later, he came flying back again. This time, instead of making a head over heals landing in the dirt, he perched upside down on the tunnel ceiling then morphed back into a man… hanging from the ceiling with bat feet.”

“Lovely,” Michael said. “Don’t you think you’d better change those?” He pointed at Rahn’s huge, bat-like feet.

“Help me down first,” Rahn said. Michael and Max helped Rahn flip over onto his feet. By the time his feet touched the ground, they looked completely “human” again… shoes and all.

“I found out bat’s can’t land on the ground without humiliating themselves,” Rahn said.

Michael nodded. “Yeah, you looked ever so much better hanging there from the ceiling with big bat feet.”

“A lot less painful,” Rahn replied. “Let’s go.”

On this last part, at least, Michael and Max were in total agreement. All three headed off down the right hand tunnel, carefully removing their footprints behind them with power blasts from their hands until they were far enough in so that the footprints wouldn’t be readily seen. Then they hurried in the direction that Rahn had indicated. Several times, Rahn told them which way to turn into a new tunnel, and each time, Michael took a moment to make it appear that they had gone down the other tunnel… or left footprints in both tunnels.

Then Rahn stopped.

“Are we there?” Max asked hesitantly.

“We’re here,” Rahn confirmed. “We need to dig eighteen feet through this wall right here. Can you do that?”

Michael smiled and held up his hand. A blast from his palm removed about two feet of dirt and debris from the wall. Max went next, blasting another two feet into the soft dirt of the tunnel wall.

“Any questions,” Michael asked, looking at Rahn smugly. Rahn shook his head. “Just hurry. My bats will not fool the soldiers for very long. I just hope it will be for long enough.”

Michael blasted another four feet out of the tunnel wall, and Max, not to be outdone, blasted four feet of dirt out after him.

“We should be almost through,” Max said. “You want to give it a double whammy, Michael… both of us together? Punch it out?”

Michael grinned. But before they could blast the final six feet of wall out, they heard noises coming their direction in the tunnel behind them. Rahn shoved Max and Michael down to the ground.

“They’re coming. The soldiers…”

“Damn,” Max said. “We were almost through. Can you make them get attacked by bats again, Rahn?”

Rahn shook his head. “It is unlikely to be effective again. Stay down. I will see what I can do.”

“Try the big anaconda thing again or something,” Michael said. “Scare the hell out of them.”

Rahn leapt into the air and changed into a bat then flew off down the tunnel in the direction of the noises they had heard. Max and Michael both stayed on the ground, keeping their heads low, remembering what had happened before. And they waited. For a long time, they heard nothing.

“Shouldn’t we check and see if Rahn is okay,” Max asked.

“Give him a little while more,” Michael said. “He may be having to digest his… prey.”

Max grimaced. “You think?”

Michael shrugged. They lay there a while longer, and as the time passed, both Max and Michael began to succumb to the effects brought on by insufficient sleep and days of walking and crawling in the tunnels. Neither Max nor Michael was willing to let himself go to sleep right now, even for a few minutes, but both found themselves resting their heads on their arms… and fighting to stay awake… as they waited for Rahn to return.

Neither Max nor Michael was aware of having dozed off, but the next thing they were aware of was the sound of footsteps beside them. Both of them jerked their heads up suddenly to discover someone standing over them… and it wasn’t Rahn.

“Well, isn’t this cute! Here Isabel and I are busting our butts trying to find a way out of this place… and getting shot… and we find you guys all cuddled up together taking a cozy nap. I might have known!”

Michael’s mouth dropped open. “Maria? Maria!” Michael leapt to his feet, no longer feeling tired. “Isabel! Are you okay?”

Max was already checking Isabel’s wound. He pressed his hand to the partially healed wound on her back, and his hand glowed momentarily.

“That feels better,” Isabel said. “But I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for someone else who healed me most of the way already.”

“Someone else healed you?” Max asked.

“Maria,” Isabel said with a nod toward Maria. “I still don’t know how.”

“My Maria? This Maria?” Michael stammered in amazement. “How?” he asked, looking at Maria.

“I don’t know, either,” Maria said. “Every time I touched her wound, it just seemed to get better… and my hands glowed. I thought it was radiation poisoning from the tunnels, but Isabel told me that your hand glows like that when you heal someone, too, Max.”

Max nodded. “I felt someone sourcing my power. Were you calling on my power to heal, Maria?”

“Actually, I was cursing you for not being there to heal Isabel yourself,” Maria said matter-of-factly… “especially when I thought she was going to die.”

“Interesting,” Max mumbled, raising his eyebrows. “I’ll have to remember that method. I guess the emotional stress you were under channeled you to me when you thought of me… I’m glad it worked.”

“No more glad than I am,” Isabel said. “Have you guys found a way out of here?”

“Yeah. We’re waiting for Rahn to return. Where is Rahn?” Max asked, looking at Michael. “He should have been back by now.”

“He went to see how close the soldiers are,” Isabel said. “We saw him in the tunnel, and he told us where to find you.”

“Well, at least he didn’t eat you,” Max said.

Isabel looked at Max and raised her eyebrows.

“Never mind,” Max said. “He can turn into a huge anaconda. You had to be there, I guess.”

Isabel nodded.

As they spoke, a bat flew over their heads and changed into a cat in mid-air. The cat fell to the ground on its feet and morphed back into a man.

“Interesting landing method,” Michael said.

“Cats land on their feet,” Rahn replied… “but it’s still not a perfect solution.”

“Try a bird,” Max said.

“What?”

“A bird. Try changing from a bat into a… a sea gull or something when you land. Sea gulls can land without injuring themselves.”

Rahn nodded. “A sea gull… A sea gull! Yeah. That could work!”

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for,” Max said. “Any time you need morphing advice…”

“Psh,” Maria waved her hand at him. “How about getting us out of here!”

“I can do that, too!” Max said. “Michael? You want to give me a hand?”

Max and Michael both raised their hands, and a blast of power went out from each of them, demolishing what was left of the wall. As the dust cleared, everyone stared through the hole at the other side.

“There it is,” Max said, breaking the awed silence. “Freedom.”

End of chapter 15

tbc…

Coming: Alex and Liz struggle with their situation and discover why Judge Lewis and certain elements in the army really wanted them sent to Crestview. Jim Valenti searches for a way to help Liz and Alex without conspicuously ignoring a state court order. And Max, Michael, Rahn, Maria, and Isabel find themselves in a new place with new concerns and mysteries… and some old ones.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 10:29 am

What a part! I was so tense throughout it cuz I didn't know if Maria and Isabel would come across Max and Michael and then they did I was so happy!

And they're free...i think...they are aren't they??

When can they see Liz and Alex and Kyle again????

And Rahn is just so great! Bat, cat, bird and all!

Post by **roswellkitkat** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:28 pm

Yay!! They found each other!!!! I am so glad they are all together and safe for now....now hurry with another update!

vecastone · Post by **vecastone** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 11:02 am

Great great update !! sorry for the delay , real life and exams were getting in the middle !!

I am so happy they´ve finally found each other !!!

Can´t wait for the next part

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Wed Dec 31, 2003 4:08 am

The Night The Dreams Died

New Surroundings

Chapter 16

XVI

“Alex!” Liz cried plaintively, her voice breaking and her emotion obvious as the door to her room in the Crestview Mental Health facility was closed, separating her from her only comfort. She was alone.

“Don’t worry, Liz… I’ll be here…” Alex’s voice trailed off, as Liz’s door was closed, locking her in her room. Liz sat in her chair for several minutes, asking herself if this was the way it was all going to end for her… locked in an insane asylum… perhaps murdered… after everything they had been through… and bringing Alex down with her. No, she couldn’t let that happen. Not to Alex. He didn’t deserve this. Liz moved herself from her wheelchair onto the edge of the small, white bed and looked around at the room. It was stark, no windows, devoid of any color, devoid of any joy, miserable… just like her. She put her face in her hands and began to cry, but after a moment, she raised her head again, steeled her resolve, and dried the tears.

“I am not letting them get the best of me. They can shoot me, condemn me to life in a wheelchair, lock me up in some God-forsaken hole with only bare walls to look at… but they can’t take my mind and soul… they can’t take who I am. I still control that!” She looked around the small room again and swallowed… “If someone wasn’t insane already, this place would send them there pretty quick!”

Liz breathed a deep breath and resolved to keep her sanity no matter what. “I’ll have to find ways to entertain myself… escape in my mind. But maybe that’s what insanity is… escaping in one’s mind. No… it’s only insanity if one forgets how to get back to reality. I still have to use my mind to keep my sanity.”

In another room, equally stark and joyless, on the next floor up, Alex looked at the white, bare walls that surrounded him. Even the clothes he and Liz had been given to wear were white. Everything was so… sanitized. Alex hated it! He wished he had his guitar… or a book. Any book! Heck, even his old Biology textbook from Roswell High would be welcome right now. At least it would be something to keep him company. One can escape into the pages of a book… But there was no book… only the white walls, the small white bed, the white, loose-fitting clothes…

“I’ll never be able to wear white again,” Alex moaned to himself. “…assuming I ever get out of here.” He sat down on his small bed and thought. “I have to help Liz… but how? Who’s going to help me? I have to get out of here.” Alex stood up and walked around the small, stark room, looking at the walls of his prison as though perhaps he might find a hidden door just waiting to be opened by a magic touch. But there was none to be found. “They can’t leave me in this room alone forever. Someone has to bring me meals… I hope. At least the food should have some color! No… It’ll probably be milk and cottage cheese!” Alex shook his head and groaned.

Meanwhile, in the Sheriff’s Office in Roswell, Sheriff Jim Valenti sat at a table with Deputy Detective Dave Cotter.

“I brought you here because I need a special kind of person, Dave. This is a very sensitive assignment. I’ve spent some time reviewing your personnel files, your original application, your references, your psychological reports, everything about you, even when you were a kid, and the bottom line is, I think you’re the person I can trust for this job.”

Dave shrugged. “I’m here for you, Sheriff… all the men are. None of us would intentionally let you down.”

“I know,” Jim said with a nod. “But this assignment is particularly sensitive. It’s going to require an unusual degree of level-headedness, stability, psychological stamina, and well… loyalty.”

“Like I said,” Dave insisted, “any of the guys…”

“Any of the guys would be willing,” Jim nodded. “But you have what it takes. Do you want to accept the assignment? I’m sorry I can’t tell you what it is before you’ve accepted it. It’s a security thing. I can tell you, though, that it will mean you going undercover for several days… maybe weeks… maybe longer… And during that time, life may not be easy for you.”

“I’m sworn to loyalty, Sheriff… sworn to uphold the law. I didn’t apply to be a deputy or a detective to get out of the hard work.”

Jim nodded. “That’s why I chose you.” Jim plopped a file down on the table and opened it.

“Some of the things you’re going to see in this file, Dave, are privileged information… very sensitive information. It goes to the highest levels of the security of our nation. Even the state police are not aware of this information.”

“How did you get it, sir?”

“Through… sources… I can’t reveal at the moment. But trust me when I say that only a few army generals and some special forces operatives are aware of the information in this folder. It is not public knowledge, and it must stay that way.”

Dave Cotter nodded. “You know you can count on me, sir.”

“Yes, I do,” Jim agreed. “That’s why you’re here at this table now. Dave, how do you feel about extraterrestrial life?”

“You mean like ET, sir? Aliens from other planets?”

“Yyyeah… sort of.”

Dave shrugged. “I’ve never seen any.” He smiled. “But if I can be totally honest, sir, I think this universe is too big and too complicated to assume that we’re the only life in it.”

“That’s a sensible answer,” Jim nodded. “You see, Dave, I have a little more information than you do… and I have seen them… some of them.”

Dave looked up. The surprise in his eyes was obvious. Jim looked at Dave’s face for several long moments, attempting to gauge his reaction. Would Dave’s face reveal disbelief, distrust, doubt? All Jim could see was surprise.

“You see, Dave, some of these ‘aliens’ look just like us, and they’re here… in Roswell.”

Dave smiled for a moment. “Okay, you… you’re not pulling my leg, right, sir?”

Jim shook his head. “You remember what happened at graduation, Dave?”

Dave nodded, and his smile disappeared. “A real tragedy. Those kids were just starting their lives. They didn’t deserve to die like that. They had every right to live their lives out seeking the all-American dream…”

“Or the all-alien dream,” Jim interjected. “Why do you think special forces operatives from the Army shot them, Dave?”

“Well, sir, the official report said that the agents had been drinking heavily and thought they were on a mission back in Viet Nam.”

“Viet Nam was a long time ago, Dave. Didn’t you ever wonder about that?”

Dave nodded slowly. “Yes, sir. I have to admit… I have wondered a lot how this could have ever happened… and why the Army kept everything so secret afterwards… and why the men were only court-martialed and the public was never allowed access to them or to their trial. But you can’t ask the Army what they don’t want to tell you… and I guess it’s none of my business.”

“Well, I’m making it your business, Dave. Those men were never court-martialed. And there are no bodies in those kids’ graves.”

“I heard rumors of that, sir… but some of the men said the bodies were there. You moved us all further away when the coffins were opened. I thought I saw bodies, too. I didn’t think it was any of my business if you didn’t want to tell us what you found.”

“I’m making it your business now. The graves weren’t empty… but what was in the coffins were high-tech, very realistic, how can I say this… mannequins… fakes.”

“Where were the real bodies?”

“That was the mystery, Dave… that, and the other big question…”

“Why,” Dave said for him.

“Bingo!” Jim nodded. “Exactly. Why. Why remove the real bodies and replace them with fakes? And the answer that I found was that they may not be dead after all.”

“But… didn’t you see them… the bodies… after they were shot?”

“I did. And except for the Parker girl, they were all dead. I assumed that the Army took the bodies to dissect them… study them.”

“Okay… but why… what do they care about a few high school kids?”

“That would be a very puzzling question, Dave, except for one little piece of information that I had that most others didn’t. Max and Isabel Evans and Michael Guerin… were not from around here.”

“Yes, sir, I know. They were found in the desert and adopted when they were little. No one knew where they came from. But even if they were Mexican children, we don’t dissect Mexicans… that I know of… We give them drivers licenses, maybe… We don’t dissect them.”

“Mexicans, no. aliens… yes… I gather,” Jim said.

Dave looked at Jim for a moment. “You’re not referring to, like, Mexican aliens, are you, sir?”

Jim shook his head.

“I didn’t think so.” Dave Cotter was quiet for several moments. “That’s a lot to think about, sir.”

“Yes it is,” Jim agreed. “Do you want out?”

“No sir! No sir, I didn’t mean that. I committed to this. I’ll go through with it, whatever it is. It’s just… wow!”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to put it,” Jim said. “You’re in this too far to back out now, anyway, Dave.”

“I know. I’m in, sir.”

“Okay.”

“Was the other girl who was killed… uh, Maria DeLuca… one of them, too…” Dave asked, then his eyes flitted toward Jim as a sudden realization hit him. “She’s… she’s your stepdaughter.”

Jim nodded. “Yes, she is. And no, Maria’s not one of them. She’s from this planet. So is Liz Parker, the girl who survived.”

“What would the Army want with them then?”

“They’re… the girlfriends.”

“Aliens have those?” Dave asked, surprised. Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir, I just, I can’t get ET out of my mind… or ALF.”

Jim grinned. “Well, you will. You watch the wrong TV, Dave. Think Starman or The Visitor.” He shook his head and smiled… “ALF! Michael would love that!”

Dave shrugged slightly. “Should I watch those shows, sir?”

“No need, Dave. I’m having you committed to Crestview.”

“That’s a little radical, isn’t it, sir? I never really believed ALF was real.”

Jim smiled. “Did I say he wasn’t real?”

“No, sir.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re going to meet the real thing… I hope. But first you’re going to do me… and them… a big favor.”

“You want me to spring the Parker girl from Crestview?” Dave Cotter asked.

“Not spring her… not yet anyway,” Jim replied. “Just protect her… and her friend, Alex Whitman. I need someone on the inside there… someone no one there will recognize. You’ve never been on TV or associated with any high-profile cases. I’m hoping no one there will know who you are and you’ll be able to keep an eye on Liz… and Alex… for me… protect them if need be.”

“What do they need to be protected from?”

“The Army has a special unit… the ones who shot the kids the first time. The FBI has a unit, too, and they may be working together. These guys want to finish what they started. They’ve made several attempts already on Liz Parker’s life. Hansen and I have protected her so far, but now that the powers that be have succeeded in separating her from my protection and my jurisdiction, I think you can see the danger she’s in.”

Dave nodded.

“Be careful, Dave. A young orderly at General tried to inject a poison into Liz while she was there. I stopped him. Hansen was taking him in for questioning… but he wound up dead before he could talk. These guys don’t take prisoners and they don’t hesitate to kill, Dave. Your assignment will be dangerous.”

“Duly noted, sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hundred feet beneath a mountain on the far side of the army base, five individuals stepped through the hole made by Max and Michael and emerged from the confines of a series of small tunnels dug by the army throughout the mountain into a much larger natural cave. Max and Michael looked around at their new surroundings, and Michael instinctively placed an arm around Maria. Maria smiled and leaned against him. Isabel smiled at Maria, feeling the same relief Maria was feeling, even if Maria had the benefit of a more personal and physical source of comfort at this moment.

It appeared that they were standing on a ledge overlooking a very large… and very deep… cavern. They would have to follow the ledge to wherever it went. Max looked at Rahn, and Rahn leapt from the ledge into the void, turning into a bat and disappearing quickly into the darkness. Moments later, he returned, changing into a sea gull as he flew back across the chasm.

Landing gently on the ledge at Michael and Max’s feet, Rahn smiled. “That worked pretty well.”

“You’ve got that bat thing down to an art,” Michael said, reaching over to pull a white feather off of Rahn’s arm. “But you may need to practice changing back from a sea gull a few times.”

“Ow!” Rahn yelped, as Michael pulled the feather off. “That’s not a real feather! It’s part of me. Next time just tell me and I’ll change it back.” Rahn held his arm up, and Michael saw that a piece of skin was missing. Max put his hand over it, and it quickly returned to whatever normal is for a shape-shifter.

“Sorry, Rahn,” Michael said, “I didn’t realize…”

Rahn smiled. “No sweat. But I should tell you, the cells in my body are rearrangeable. They flow to wherever they’re needed and can get to the fastest whenever I change. That feather was made up of cells from my arm, but you could just as well have been tugging on one of my ears… or the family jewels.”

Maria snorted, and Michael turned red.

“Rahn!” Isabel said with a grin, “where in the world did you pick up such stuff?”

“Isn’t that the proper term here?”

“Well, I think we all understood it, Rahn,” Max said with a smile. “It’s just not something we’d expect an alien… one who wasn’t born here… to say.”

“Well, I did live on the base, with the army, for nearly sixty years. I learned a lot of your terminology there.”

“Say no more,” Max said, nodding. “Got that, Michael?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, I got it. …Let’s get going. We need to find our way out of here.”

“We should go this way,” Rahn said, pointing to the left. It leads deeper into the cave initially, but it takes us away from the army base.”

“Then that’s the way we want to go,” Max said. The five began to make their way along the edge of the high ledge. It was perhaps three feet wide, wide enough that they didn’t need to hug the wall to keep from falling off… but narrow enough to be very disconcerting. Maria held tightly to Michael’s arm, and Isabel found herself, in spite of her normally independent demeanor, holding onto her brother, Max. If the truth had been known, though, both Max and Michael were happy to have the girls holding onto them. It made them feel a bit more secure themselves as they looked down into the deep crevasse. None of them, after all, had Rahn’s ability to simply turn into a bat and fly away if they accidentally fell off the ledge.

The group hadn’t gone more than two hundred feet when the first soldier appeared through the hole Max and Michael had made. He quickly began calling to the others, and within seconds, more soldiers were piling through the hole into the cavern like rats, one over the other, all with guns pointed in the direction of the five escaping friends. Max and Michael hurried the group along the ledge, just far enough ahead of the soldiers that the soldiers could not see them in the darkness to get off a good shot. But it seemed that the soldiers were gaining on them. Michael glanced back. They were. In fact, the soldiers had covered twice as much ground as the five had in the same amount of time.

Michael turned to Max… “Max, maybe we should blast the ledge behind us. It would keep the soldiers from catching us.”

“We may have to,” Max said, “but not yet. There’s too much risk. We could start a slide or collapse the entire ledge under us… then, too, we’d be burning our bridges as they say. There would be no way back.”

“We’re not going back,” Michael said emphatically.

“Max swallowed. “I know. We don’t intend to… but I’m trying to keep options open… We may wind up having to blast it though, so be ready.”

Michael nodded. The five friends rushed on along the ledge, picking up their pace, but after a couple of minutes, it became obvious that they were not winning this race. Michael looked back and raised his hand, and as he did, a long section of the ledge behind them crumbled and fell into the chasm below. They watched as the section of ledge dropped… down… down… down… disappearing from sight into the darkness below. It seemed to take forever. A few seconds later, they heard a distant echoing crash, as the ledge impacted the ground somewhere far below.

Max looked at Michael. “I was going to say let’s blast it, Michael, but I hadn’t given the order yet.”

“I didn’t do it,” Michael said, looking as surprised as Max at the turn of events. Both of them turned to look at Rahn. “I didn’t make it fall.”

“Well, if Rahn didn’t… and we didn’t…” Max shook his head, then he looked across the chasm at the soldiers gathering on the other side. Whoever –or whatever– had collapsed the ledge, it had had the desired effect. There was no longer any way that the soldiers could get across to them… and there was also no longer any way that they could go back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judge Lewis wagged his finger menacingly at Jim…

“Be careful, Jim. I don’t know what you’re up to… but I know you. You don’t just sit back and give up… That’s what you’d like me to think you’re doing. But you’ve got something up your sleeve. Well, whatever it is, forget it. It won’t work.”

“I know Judge. That’s what I’m doing… staying out of it. I’m following your orders.”

“Yeah, well… make sure you keep your hissing cat away from me, too.”

“Hissing cat?”

That little snippet you married, Jim. You warn her what she’s up against opposing me! She gets all high and mighty with me again, and I’m liable to cut her off at the knees. She’s setting herself up for tragedy if she wants a cat and dog fight.

Jim nodded thoughtfully. “The weenie dog and the tiger… You could be right. It could be tragic.” Then he smiled. “But she’d still be hungry, Horace.”

End of chapter 16

tbc…

Coming up: Alex faces a challenge he never expected as he tries to save Liz; and Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Rahn, searching for a way out of the cave, begin to think that they may have unseen company.

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Wed Dec 31, 2003 5:07 am

Thanks, Isabel, Melisa, and Veca! I really appreciate the feedback! Well, after a lot of RL... and Christmas holidays... I'm back with a new part. So I won 't make you wait.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Dec 31, 2003 1:58 pm

Yay! you're back! I was going to have a Gerry's-fantastic-updates deprevation soon! lol! This was such a great part! I loved how Liz rationalized to herself about not going insane! I loved Alex's remark of milk and cottage cheese. That was so Alex! And I was terribly intrigued by who blasted the ledge?! Could Maria have done it unintentionally? I'm on pins and needles here!

And did the judge refer to Amy DeLuca as the hissing cat?

It's a good thing she didn't hear that!

Post by **roswellkitkat** » Sun Jan 04, 2004 7:39 pm

Awesome, awesome!! i missed your writing!!

Post by **majiklmoon** » Sun Jan 04, 2004 10:41 pm

Gerry,

you are totally fantastic, that's all I have to say!

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 10:08 pm

The Night The Dreams Died

The Silencer

Chapter 17

XVII

The days had passed slowly, agonizingly, for Alex, like thick molasses that just won’t pour from the bottle, since he arrived at the Crestview Mental Facility. He hated just about everything about the place. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an understatement. He hated EVERYTHING about the place. He hated the lack of color, he hated the food, he hated being locked in this small room… The white-suited orderly who brought his meals reminded him of a ghoul with his sickly looking, abnormally pale face and hands. And this was the second orderly he had had in the past nine days since he and Liz had arrived. There was nothing one could do but pass the time with mental exercises. Alex composed songs in his mind. If he couldn’t be free, he would at least let his mind soar free!

Now, as the tune of another imagined song ran through his mind, a slight noise drew Alex’s attention, and he looked up to see the door to his room open. The young, pale-looking orderly entered with a rolling cart. Dinner. The food was covered with banquet-style, spherical metallic lids, each layered with white enamel on the outside; and the cart was covered with a white cloth that reached the floor, hiding any suggestion of color that might lie beneath. Alex stared at the white-clad orderly, the white cart, and the white-enameled lids… and he wondered again where they found orderlies with such pale faces and hands. Then he realized that their faces and hands were probably powdered to make them appear whiter than they were.

“Is someone around here colorphobic? What’s with all the frikkin’ white? What? You can’t have a silver lid or… or a brown cart?”

The orderly shook his head, without a trace of a smile. “White is soothing, Mr. Whitman. It’s neutral. It is more conducive to relaxation… and proper behavior.”

“I assume by ‘proper behavior’ you mean ‘catatonic stupor,’ because if I don’t see something with color in it soon that’s what I’m going to be in!”

“The white will calm you in time, Mister Whitman. You will see.”

“It’ll turn me into a frikkin’ vegetable, you mean.”

Alex lifted the white enamel lid. Beneath it was a white plate, and on the plate were three cloves of cauliflower, a boiled egg, a small bowl of some kind of mush that may have been watery grits, a piece of white bread… with the crust removed… and milk… in a white paper cup. He stared in disbelief for several long moments, then he picked up the boiled egg. This was something new at least. The small end of the shell appeared to have been broken already, and a section about as big around as a pencil eraser was missing from the shell. Alex broke the rest of the shell and peeled it off then broke the egg in half. The yolk was gone.

“You sucked the yolk out of my egg?! I don’t believe it!”

“It wasn’t white,” the orderly said unapologetically.

“It wasn’t white,” Alex repeated sarcastically. “Of course it wasn’t white, you ninny! Egg yolks are supposed to be yellow!”

“Yellow induces anger, Mr. Whitman… and confusion.”

“I’m getting plenty angry NOT seeing it,” Alex said plainly. “I want some real food! Today! If I’m going to be stuck in this place, at least you could feed me some real food. A cheeseburger with biggie fries and a chocolate shake would be a good start. Or… or even regular food. Who runs this place anyway? Attila the Hun? If you wanted to torture me, you could just stick bamboo strips under my fingernails!”

Alex thought for a second and decided maybe he shouldn’t give them any ideas.

“I will be back to take your tray when you’re finished,” the orderly said with no sign of emotion. “Just leave it on the cart.”

“What? You’re leaving your cart here? You’re not afraid I’ll lift the cloth and see… COLOR?” Alex asked with a flair of sarcasm. The orderly shook his head slowly, and Alex could have sworn he saw just a trace of a smile. He lifted the cover. “Of course. It’s all white underneath. What was I thinking?”

“Just leave the tray on the cart when you’re finished eating, Mr. Whitman. I’ll take it away.”

“Leave the frikkin’ white tray on the frikkin’ white cart with the frikkin white sheet that the frikkin’ white-suited orderly brought in with the frikkin’ white food…” Alex mumbled, more to himself than to the surly orderly. “Go on! Get out! At least let me eat without looking at you while I eat. I’m having color deprivation… something… here!”

“It’s for the greater good, Mr. Whitman,” the orderly said, stepping out of the room and closing the door with more haste than usual just as a yolkless boiled egg impacted the inside of the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forty-five minutes later, the orderly returned. He opened the door cautiously but found Alex sound asleep on his bed.

“See Mr. Whitman? You’re calmer already,” he said quietly.

The orderly smiled slightly and wheeled the cart out of the room then locked the door behind him. From there, he walked down to the service elevator, then to the kitchen, where he parked the cart. He returned fifteen minutes later and picked up the cart again. It had been restocked, and the empties and dirty dishes had been replaced. The orderly took the service elevator down to the second floor and walked to one of the rooms. He opened the door with his special key and pushed the cart in.

“Mister Lester. How are we today?”

“I feel fine, William,” the other man replied. “I feel just fine.”

“You are doing very well, Mr. Lester. The treatments have been good for you.”

“Yes. I’m feeling fine, William.”

“Well, I brought you your med’s. Here you go.” The other man placed the four small pills in his mouth.”

“You’re a real success, Mister Lester. Keep up your treatments and you may be able to leave here one day soon.”

The other man smiled. “Yes. I feel fine, William.”

The orderly locked the door back and walked down the hall to the next room, letting himself in again with his key.

“It’s dinner time, Miss Parker.”

“I’m not really hungry,” a girl’s voice said. “I don’t think I could eat.”

“That’s a negative attitude, Miss Parker. If you want to ever get out of here, you have to eat your food.”

“Leave it,” Liz replied. “I’ll see if I want any of it later.”

“I’ll be back in about an hour, Miss Parker. Just leave the plate and cup on the cart… You can roll that wheelchair over here by yourself right?”

Liz didn’t answer. The orderly closed the door behind him and locked it. For several minutes, Liz stared blankly at the wall, her mind miles away from her suffocating present existence. But after several minutes, she decided to at least look at the food. Wheeling her chair over to the cart, she removed the lid from the plate. There were two slivers of white cheese, something that appeared to be scrambled eggs, with the yellow removed, a cup of milk, something bleached white that looked vaguely like artificial crab meat… but that was only a guess. Liz sighed and replaced the lid without taking anything.

“Pretty disgusting isn’t it?”

Liz raised her head and looked around. There was no one there.

“They’ve done it,” she said to herself quietly. “They’ve made me start hearing voices… in only nine days.”

“I could go for a cheeseburger myself,” the voice said.

This time, Liz lifted the cover from the side of the cart. Nestled comfortably on the support bars beneath the cart was Alex.

“Omigod, Alex! What… How…? Alex? Tell me you’re real!”

Alex painstakingly extracted himself from the support frame beneath the cart and stretched his legs out.

“I’m real, Liz.”

Alex bent down to kiss Liz on the cheek and Liz threw her arms around Alex’s neck so tight he was afraid he would be pulled down on top of her in her wheelchair.

“I’m happy to see you, too, Liz, but you better let me go. I don’t want to fall on you.”

“The least of my worries,” Liz said, letting Alex go.

“Yeah! The food around here is definitely problema numero uno,” Alex said with a grin. Liz smiled.

“Well, it’s all we’ve got, Alex. Like it or not, it’ll have to keep us alive.”

“Maybe not,” Alex said, reaching back under the cart and pulling out a couple of hamburgers, some yellow cheese, a couple of soft drinks, and a candy bar.

“They eat real food in the kitchen,” Alex said with a wink and a twinkle in his eye. “They just don’t give it to us crazy people.”

Liz looked at him then at the cheeseburgers. “How did you get those?”

“The same way I got out of my room. I hid under the cart. When it got to the kitchen, I slipped out and looked for some real food then climbed back under the cart. I was hoping they’d get to your room eventually.”

“But… didn’t they notice you weren’t in your room? How did you…?”

Alex grinned and took two round lids from the lower service tray beneath the crossbars of the cart and placed them on the bed. Then he arranged the cover over them and placed the pillow so that, all in all, it did appear that someone was asleep in the bed under the cover.

Liz shook her head. “I don’t know how you got away with it, Alex, but…”

Alex handed Liz one of the cheeseburgers he had made and a cold canned soda. She smiled and took a bite then took a sip of her drink. Then she closed her eyes for a moment.

“You’re an angel, Alex! This is just what I needed. YOU’RE just what I needed! Omigod! You’re the best! I just love you! You couldn’t know.”

“Well, you could be a little more sure about it,” Alex said with a grin.

Liz smiled. “Alex, bend over.” Liz put one arm around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips.

“Whoa! Wow!” Alex gasped, finding his breath again as Liz let him go. “If Max really is still alive, Liz, he’s going to kill me now.”

“He’ll have to go through me first,” Liz said emphatically. “Don’t worry, Alex. Max would understand. And if he didn’t understand… he’d get over it. He’ll understand, though. He’d probably kiss you himself for me.”

“He better not!”

Liz laughed. “Alex, Max will always be my one great love… but you deserved that.”

“If I’d known, Liz… I’d have bought you a cheeseburger franchise a long time ago…”

Liz grinned.

Alex broke the candy bar in half and handed Liz half as he took a bite of the other half.

“You’re unbelievable, Alex. I never know what to expect from you. But I’m SO happy to see you, you just can’t imagine!”

“No more than I am to see you, Liz, believe me.”

“How are you going to get back to your room without being discovered, Alex?”

“My room? I’m not. I’m getting YOU out of here first chance I get. We’ll go somewhere… I don’t know… Change our names or whatever… Try to find Max.” Alex stopped and swallowed then added softly, “…and Isabel. If she’s still alive, too.”

“I think she is,” Liz said. “I can feel her. I don’t know how.” Alex seemed to take on a new glow, and a smile came over his face.

“Alex… getting out of here isn’t going to be so easy. They’ll realize you’re not in your room soon…”

“I know… but maybe not till they bring breakfast in the morning. If we escape tonight…”

Liz looked at Alex, and she knew that what he was saying was dangerous to the degree of being illogical. But after nine days here…

Liz nodded… then smiled. “I’m with you, Alex… all the way. Whatever happens.”

As they spoke, Alex heard the sound of a key being placed in the lock on Liz’s door.

“It’s the orderly,” Liz whispered with a gasp. “He’s back early. Hide, Alex! In the bathroom. Quick!”

Alex didn’t argue. Even though the bathrooms were barely as big as a small broom closet, there was no other place where one could hide. He closed the door of the small room just as the orderly opened Liz’s door. The orderly looked at Liz and at the uneaten food on the tray. Liz carefully hid the soda can behind her back in her wheelchair, leaning back against it to keep it out of sight.

“You’ll never get out of here, Miss Parker, if you don’t eat and get well. Why don’t you follow the rules? It would be so much easier for you.”

I don’t enjoy gagging,” Liz said defiantly.

“Suit yourself.” The orderly took the cart and pushed it out into the hall then locked Liz’s door back.

“You can come out… He’s gone,” Liz whispered. Carefully, Alex opened the door and looked around. Then he stepped out. He had been standing on the toilet bowl.

“That’s one more thing I hate about this place, Liz… the frikkin’ bathroom! It’s so small that you have to be a contortionist to close the door when you’re on the throne.”

Liz giggled. “I don’t think they expect you to close the door when you’re in it, Alex. You’re supposed to leave the door open so your legs can have somewhere to go. The door’s just for when you’re not in there.”

“Oh.”

Liz giggled again. “You shut the door? Where did you put your legs?”

Alex turned slightly red. “Let’s just say there are footprints all the way to the top of my bathroom door.”

Liz put her hand over her mouth to try to stifle the laugh, but it came out anyway.

“Well, I didn’t know you were expected to leave the door open. I like privacy.”

“Well, me, too, Alex. But there are no windows in our rooms… and the door to the room is locked. There’s nobody to see. The orderly only comes at meal times…”

“Now somebody tells me.”

“Alex… how are we going to escape? We’re locked in.”

“I’ll think of something,” Alex said with certainty. “Trust me.”

Liz nodded. Suddenly, there was the sound of a key in Liz’s door again. Liz looked at Alex with panic in her eyes. “Why’s he coming back again? Do you think he knows you’re here, Alex?”

Alex started to run for the bathroom but there was no time. He dove behind the bed and stretched himself out as flat as he could on the floor. Liz stared at her door. It opened, and a man stepped in. But it was not the orderly. This man was not powdered down. He was wearing a white jacket, but under it, he had on something else… military fatigues. Liz gasped. The man looked Liz straight in the eyes for a second, then he reached into his inside pocket and took out a gun and a silencer, which he carefully screwed onto the barrel of the gun.

“Are you… are you… going to shoot me… in cold blood?” Liz managed to ask in a hoarse whisper.

The man pointed the weapon at Liz’s heart, and Alex leapt out from behind the bed. Surprised, the man turned the gun on Alex. Alex slowly moved to the other side of the room in an attempt to draw his aim away from Liz, then he stood there… waiting. The man with the gun stood there, too… staring at Alex… then at Liz… looking deeply into their eyes, as though searching for something. Alex felt a chill run up his spine. He didn’t move for what seemed like the longest time. Then the tension was interrupted by a momentary crackle and a new voice…

“What’s going on, Dan? Have you taken care of it?”

The man stood transfixed, still staring into Alex and Liz’s eyes, without answering.

“Dan? Come back! Answer! What’s happening in there? Acknowledge.”

The man with the gun slowly pulled the walkie talkie on his lapel over to his lips.

“I’m in. Subject is posed. There are two subjects now.”

“Then neutralize them both… and get out.”

“Acknowledged.” The man looked at Alex and Liz again.

“Dan? Dan… Klein?” Alex asked cautiously.

The man refocused all his attention on Alex. “How do you know me?”

Alex was momentarily at a loss for words. The man would never believe him. It would almost be suicide just to try to explain.

“Dan!” the voice came over the walkie talkie again. “Finish the job or I’ll send someone else in to finish it… someone who will! Now!”

Dan lifted the gun, looked into Alex’s eyes again, and aimed at Alex’s heart. There was a soft whoosh, as the bullet flew through the silencer. Then he aimed at Liz’s heart. There was another soft whoosh, and the man turned and left quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A hundred miles away, Max, making his way through the cave with Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Rahn, grabbed Michael’s shoulder hard, and his face paled visibly.

“What is it, Max?”

“Liz,” Max said softly. “Something happened.”

“Is she hurt?”

“I can’t tell… I’m not sure. I felt her fear. It was there all of a sudden… strong! Then it… it was just… gone. Nothing.”

Michael looked at Max, and for a moment he wasn’t sure what to say.

“Maybe she’s not afraid any more,” Maria offered.

“That’s kind of what I’m afraid of,” Max replied.

Michael swallowed. “She may be okay, Max. I mean, you know, you said you weren’t sure of anything, right?”

Max nodded, but he was clearly not convinced… and he remained pale.

“Michael… if something happened to Liz… I don’t think I want to go on.”

“That’s your heart talking, Max. Listen to your head. Well, listen to your heart, too… but not when it tells you to give up!”

Max nodded. “I know, Michael. I know. But all this struggle that we’ve been through… I did it all… to be with Liz. There’s nothing for me out there without her.”

Isabel put her hand on Max’s face to soothe him. “Don’t assume the worst, Max. Liz is strong. She’s a survivor.”

Michael swallowed again. He understood Max’s feelings and the depth of his concern all too well. He knew how he had felt when Maria wasn’t with them. But now he had her back. He hoped and prayed that Max would be as fortunate. Michael decided to try to change the subject.

“We dumped the soldiers, Max. We should be able to travel safely now.”

“We had some help, Michael. Somebody blasted that ledge between us.”

“Maybe it just fell, Max. I mean, it’s possible… isn’t it?”

“I guess… but it’s not likely.”

Michael looked around in the darkness of the cave. “Well, I don’t see anyone in here but us… now that the soldiers are gone.”

Max shrugged. “Yeah, me either. Let’s move on.”

Max looked around in the dark one more time. “Michael?”

“Yeah.”

“Wasn’t the ledge broken off all the way up to that outcrop over there?”

Michael looked at the ledge behind them. “I thought it was. I must have been mistaken. You must have been, too.”

“Yeah… yeah, we must have been. I would swear that that part of the ledge fell down when the rest of it went… but it’s still there.”

“Well, the soldiers aren’t,” Michael said. “That’s the important thing.”

Max nodded.

“You want me to go back and check the rest of the ledge out, Max?”

“No. No, forget it, Michael. We were wrong about this section being out. That’s all.”

“I could go back and check it,” Rahn said.

Max looked at Rahn for a moment then nodded. Rahn leapt from the ledge into the void, changing into a bat again. Then he disappeared into the dark in the direction they had come from. After a short time, he returned, landing at Michael’s feet as a sea gull.

“What did you see,” Michael asked.

“The ledge is still there,” Rahn said. “All of it.”

“What do you mean it’s still there?” Michael sounded alarmed. “What about the soldiers?”

“They’re all standing back at the place where we saw the ledge fall. It… it appears that they believe the ledge is gone and have stopped there.”

“The ledge IS gone!” Isabel said emphatically. “I saw it fall, you saw it fall… We all saw it fall! We heard it fall, too. It’s gone!”

“No… it’s not,” Rahn said. “It’s still there. But the soldiers don’t appear to be able to see it now. They believe that it fell.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Max said. “I want to put as much distance between us and that ledge and those soldiers as possible… as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll second that,” Michael agreed. “Whatever’s going on, we don’t need to stand here wondering about it. Let’s find the way out of here.”

Maria and Isabel both nodded they’re wholehearted agreement.

As the group walked on, they found themselves walking downhill more and more as the ledge began to descend toward the floor of the cavern. By the time they had walked another mile, they were no longer on a ledge at all but on the floor of a larger cavern room. Around them in every direction there was an abundance of huge stalagmites reaching up from the floor of the cavern and stalactites hanging from the high, cathedral-like ceiling. Maria and Isabel looked around the room in awe. Max and Michael touched the tall stalagmites, many of which were twice as tall as they were. Even Rahn appeared to be impressed.

“This place would be a bat’s dream,” Rahn said. “I wonder why there are no bats here?”

“Maybe it’s too far in,” Michael offered with a shrug.

“I don’t think so,” Rahn said. “Bats go pretty far up into caves. But you could be right.”

“Hey guys,” Maria yelled. “I think I found another passage. Maybe it’ll get us out.”

Max, Michael, Isabel, and Rahn walked swiftly over to the area where Maria was standing. Indeed, there was a large passageway behind several large stalagmites that had hidden it from view.

“Way to go, Maria,” Max said. “Okay, this is the way we go then.”

Everyone took another look around the large cathedral-like room then turned back to follow Max into the new passageway. Only now, there was no passageway there. Max pressed his hands to the wall of the cavern. It was solid.

“It was right here wasn’t it, Michael?”

“No, I think it was right about here, Max,” Michael said, running his hands over the wall several feet further to the right. Neither one could find any opening. The wall was solid rock.

“There was a passage there before,” Isabel said. “I’m not going crazy! I saw it.”

“We all saw it,” Max said. “Okay, there are other passageways. We’ll just take a different one. They’re not as big, but any one could be the one that leads us out of here. Come on.”

Max led the group into a second, slightly smaller, but still comfortably large passageway. This one went down for the first couple of thousand feet then began to go up again. But it was easy to walk in. Eventually, the group came to a fork in the way.

“Which way, Michael?” Max asked. “Any feeling about it? Anyone?”

Michael shrugged. “This one looks as good as any, Michael said, pointing to the left passageway, but as the group started to go down it, they found it suddenly blocked by huge boulders.

Max sat down on the path. “Michael, do you get the impression that something… or someone… is making us go the way it wants us to go?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… first the ledge. That kept the soldiers from following us… and us from going back. Then we start to take a large passageway and suddenly it isn’t there any more. We’re forced to take a different one. Now we choose this passage at a fork, only it’s blocked when we get inside. I didn’t see these boulders before.”

“So… you’re saying maybe we’re supposed to take the other route, Max?”

“I’m saying maybe we’re being forced into the other one,” Max corrected.

“So would that be a good thing or a bad thing,” Maria asked cautiously.

“That’s something we’ll undoubtedly find out,” Max replied. “I don’t know if we’re being guided to freedom or herded to destruction. I like to know things beforehand so I can be prepared. I don’t like following ghosts.”

Maria shivered slightly. “Ghosts?”

“Or whatever is leading us in here, Maria. I’m not saying it’s really ghosts. There are other possible explanations.”

“Like?”

Max shrugged. “I’ll think of some… I’m sure.”

Max stood up and dusted himself off. “Okay, since it looks like we’re going to be taking the other fork, let’s get on our way.” The others nodded in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Sheriff’s office in Roswell, Jim Valenti was trying to handle the barrage of questions that he was getting every day now from Jeff and Nancy Parker and from the Whitman’s. Banned from seeing their children, they had fallen back on the one person whom they knew might be willing to help. Jim was doing all he could, but the sad fact was that he had little to go on himself. He, too, had been banned from having contact with either Liz or Alex.

“Jim, there must be something you can do,” Mr. Whitman said. “I can’t even drive my car out of Roswell without being stopped by the state police and quizzed about where I’m going and what my intentions are.”

Jim closed his eyes and pressed his lips together in frustration. “I know. Judge Lewis is playing all his cards to keep Alex and Liz out of our reach.”

“Why?” Mrs. Whitman wanted to know. “What did Alex ever do to him?”

Jim remembered that Alex had busted Judge Lewis’ jaw, but he also knew that that was not the reason for the judge’s behavior.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “The judge is acting on behalf of someone else. I can’t tell you much more than that.”

“Has anyone tried contacting the governor?” Mr. Whitman asked. “I’ll take it all the way to Washington if I have to! Somebody’s got to care about what’s happening to our children.”

“I think somebody does,” Jim said. “But I think it’s in the wrong way. Guys, look, I’m really doing all I can here. I know you want more information. So do I. It’s hard to come by. I’ve told you what I can. Trust me when I say that I haven’t given up. I have… things going that I can’t talk about. Judge Lewis would block me if he knew.”

“Who gave Judge Lewis so much power,” Jeff asked. “He’s just a nothing two-bit little judge!”

Jim raised his eyebrows. “A nothing little judge with some big influence behind him. Influence that reaches up to the state police and beyond… all the way to Washington. Judge Lewis is a pawn. We all know that. By himself, you’re right… He would be virtually powerless. But he has other powers behind him… big ones. That’s the sad truth of the matter, Jeff. At the moment, we can’t touch him. Believe me, I’d like to. Amy’s just waiting for the word to tear him apart herself.”

Nancy smiled. “Well, if anyone could do it, Jim, she could! I say let her have him.”

“There’s nothing I would like better, Nancy… but we have to obey the law here… or at least appear to. I’m afraid that wouldn’t solve anything.”

“It would make us feel a lot better,” Jeff said. Mrs. Whitman nodded, and Mr. Whitman slapped Jeff on the arm with an “Attaboy, Jeff! Tell him!”

Jim smiled slightly. “As tempting as it is, it’ll have to wait for the right time… and now’s not it. But the time will come. If there’s any justice in the world… it will come.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Crestview Mental Health Facility, a young man was running down the hall as fast as he could go. It was the orderly. He rushed to Liz’s room and opened her door with his key, panicking as he turned the key in the lock. As the door swung open, the orderly stared at what he saw…

“Oh my God! Oh my God!”

“Oh great, it’s the ghoul. I guess you came to finish the job or lock me back up, huh?”

The orderly looked at Alex and Liz for several moments.

“Are you both okay? How? I heard shots!”

“Oh, yeah, your bed’s got holes in it,” Alex said.

The orderly stammered and seemed at a loss for words. “I’m… I’m so relieved that you’re both alive.”

“Sure you are,” Alex said, the sarcasm obvious in his voice.

“No, Alex,” Liz stopped him. “I think he’s telling the truth. He looks very shaken.”

“Yeah, his job almost went out the window! Oh wait, there aren’t any windows.”

The orderly wiped the white powder off of his face and hands and opened his white coat. Underneath, he had on a deputy’s shirt… and a deputy’s badge… from Roswell.

“I thought you looked familiar,” Liz said.

“For a ghoul you mean?” the deputy asked with a slight smile. “Deputy Dave Cotter, Roswell Sheriff’s Department.”

“What are you doing here,” Alex asked.

“Jim sent me. He got me this job… through several roundabout connections. Sorry I had to be a jerk. I had to act the part… or be discovered.”

“Where were you when we were being shot?” Alex asked accusingly.

“I got hit on the head and tied up. In the five days I’ve been here, they’ve sent three people to silence you, Alex, and to kill Liz.”

“Silence me?”

“Kill you,” Liz said. Deputy Cotter nodded.

“What happened to the first two,” Alex asked.

“I caught the first one and had security turn him over to the local police, but the army sprung him within an hour. I was watching for the second one, and when he realized he was compromised, he terminated the mission. This was the third attempt since you’ve been here. And that leads me to a very baffling question, Miss Parker. What exactly happened in here? I expected to find you two dead by the time I got the ropes off of me and got up here, especially after hearing the shots.”

“You heard a gun with a silencer?” Alex asked.

Deputy Cotter nodded. “I know the sound… even from a distance. How did you escape?”

“He pointed the gun at Alex’s chest,” Liz said, “and I freaked. I thought he was going to kill Alex.” But he moved it to the side and shot the bed instead. When I realized he wasn’t going to shoot Alex I was relieved. After that, he pointed the gun at me but then moved it to the side and shot the bed again.”

“Strange,” Deputy Cotter said. “He could have killed you both. He didn’t. Why?”

“So you did save us… twice already,” Alex said. “I guess I should thank you. Why did Dan bother to shoot the bed?”

Deputy Cotter raised his eyebrows. “Well, I suspect that was so whoever was listening would think that the job had been done, Alex. Somebody else was there to follow up if he failed. That’s the way they work. A bullet entering the bed would sound pretty much like a bullet entering you. The person listening would know if he’d shot it into the air or into the wall. He didn’t kill you because he didn’t want to. But he made them think he did. I don’t know why.”

“Maybe he found his heart,” Alex said. Liz squeezed Alex’s hand and nodded.

Deputy Cotter shook his head. “I thought those guys pretty much all had those removed surgically or something so they wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Dan may be a little different,” Alex said. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“He’s dangerous. Don’t forget it. He spared you this time. But he’s a trained killer. Don’t forget that.”

Alex swallowed and nodded.

“Well, we have an opportunity here… and a problem,” Deputy Cotter said. “You two are dead… officially. I can have your bodies taken out of here in body bags and delivered to Roswell.”

“What’s the problem, then?” Alex asked enthusiastically. “I’d spend a few hours… heck, I’d spend a WEEK in a body bag any time to get out of this place!”

“You’re going to have to disappear for awhile Alex… you, too, Liz. You’ll both be dead. You can’t be seen.”

“For how long?” Liz asked.

“Just till Sheriff Valenti figures out how to fix everything. Sorry… I don’t know how long that might take… It could take a very long time. I hope not… but you should be aware of that possibility.”

Alex and Liz both nodded.

“Your parents will have to think you’re dead.”

Liz looked up at Deputy Cotter and her mouth dropped open. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she shook her head. “I can’t do that to them! I can’t!”

“Would you rather really be dead and they really had to bury you, Liz? Because that’s the other option. If we don’t make this work, they’re going to finish the job. Then your parents will have to bury you for real. If your parents know you’re not dead, they won’t seem grieved enough, even if they try very hard. Those guys will know, believe me!”

Liz buried her face in her hands and cried. She knew that Deputy Cotter was right… and it was almost more than she could bear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Move it! Out of the way!” a local deputy shouted at the growing crowd, as two body bags were carried out of the Crestview Mental Facility the next day and placed into a waiting Hearst. Deputy Cotter, officially there now on behalf of the Roswell Sheriff’s Department to escort the bodies home, stood beside the local deputy. The managing CEO of the asylum stood beside him, still in shock over the unexpected deaths of two of the clients in his asylum,” especially two who were so young. Like everyone else, he was unaware of the full details of what had taken place.

“I don’t understand. They were in perfect health. They were young… What happened?”

“I think white killed them,” Deputy Cotter said somberly.

The CEO looked at Deputy Cotter for a moment. “Lack of color doesn’t kill, Deputy.”

“It seems a strange way to run a mental health facility,” Deputy Cotter said plainly. “A bit unusual if you ask me.”

“The two Roswell youths were in here for drug abuse that had damaged their brains. Their brains had suffered a sensory overload. The treatment we were giving them was appropriate. It’s called sensory readjustment. The theory is that by depriving them of sensory experiences, especially color, they will become more docile… calmer… their brains will be allowed to rest… and when color is added back later, it will give them what they thought only drugs could give them. They will appreciate reality… without drugs.”

Deputy Cotter nodded. “I still say it’s a sucky treatment. But I’m not a psychiatrist. What would I know?”

“No, you’re not,” the CEO agreed.

The two body bags were laid in the back of the Hearst, and a paramedic closed the doors. Deputy Cotter got back into his patrol car and turned on the lights, then he pulled in front of the Hearst to escort it back to Roswell.

“Are those lights really necessary?” the CEO shouted at Deputy Cotter as he turned to pull out of the drive.

Cotter rolled down his window. “Why? Too much color? I don’t think it’s going to hurt them now, do you, Mr. Herrington?”

tbc

Coming up: The saddest homecoming. Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Rahn find an ally… and a way out.

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 11:06 pm

Thanks Isabel, Melisa, & Tracie! I have a feeling that Amy may have the last word with Judge Lewis. we'll see what happens. But you're right. It is a good thing she didn't hear that. Besides, "hissing cats" usually have "big claws!"

(Lest Judge Lewis should forget).

Here's the next part. And Tracie!

So glad to see you back... and in a big way, too! You've been missed!

Post by **majiklmoon** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 11:25 pm

As always, another awesome update Gerry! I really missed your stories while i was in my self imposed blah's.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 8:48 am

That was one thrilling part! My heart was racing and I was biting my nails throughout! When Dan pulled out a gun I could have sworn I stopped breathing!

I thought that this was it, Liz was going to die but then he turns out to be Dan Klien! I have never been so glad to see him in any story previously as I was now!

And thank god he is a bit like the other version of him!

And Alex's conversation with the orderly (who to my surprise turned out to be Duputy Cotton!

was hilarious! I could just imagine Alex saying all those things about color and food

I never even suspected that the orderly was really the deuputy! Great twist Gerry!

And I see the what you meant about their being a similarity. For all our sakes I really hope it doesn't turn out like my story did!

I don't think I could stand the double tension!

Also one more similarity. Alex and Liz are together and seperated from the group!

You said my part was great?? Your update blew my entire story clean out of the water!

Forget the chapter! Fabulous part! I think it was my favorite from this story yet!

vecastone · Post by **vecastone** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 2:55 pm

Wow !! i came here to leave update and look what i found !! another chapter !!

Awesome update Gerry !! I have to come back to read ch 17 yet.
I am so glad they are finally out of the cave. I ask myself the same question who blown the stone wall ?

Poor Liz and Alex, though they will go through it without any problem, David will help them I know.

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:00 am

The Night The Dreams Died

The Ways To Be Free

Chapter 18

XVIII

Noooooo! No! I won’t believe it! Don’t tell me that! Nooooo…” Nancy’s voice trailed off into heartbreaking sobs. Jeff buried his face in his hands, the tears running copiously through his fingers. Mr. And Mrs. Whitman sat pale and speechless, looking as though they had just lost their only reason to live.

Jim tried feebly to swallow a huge lump that had formed in his throat. His own eyes were red and sore, and Amy, sitting beside him, held his hand for emotional support. Amy had been impossible to deceive. Jim had tried to convince her that Liz and Alex had been killed. Deputy Cotter had even backed him up, but somehow Amy had seen through the deception. Despite this fact, Amy sat here now, knowing the full truth, yet crying very real tears in torrents. Having to see the reactions of the Parkers and the Whitman’s and deceive them this way was tearing her apart inside. She remembered all too well how she had felt when she had been told that Maria was dead after graduation, and she didn’t want anyone else to ever have to go through what she had gone through again. But these were extraordinary circumstances. As Jim had aptly told her, once he had realized that he was not going to be able to convince her of their deaths, if this didn’t work, the likely result would be that this scene would play out again one day very soon… and this time, it would be for real… Liz and Alex would not be coming back. It was a hard pill for Amy to swallow, but she could see that Jim was suffering too.

“How could this happen,” Mr. Whitman asked, his voice breaking. “How, Sheriff?”

Jim shook his head. “I don’t have a good answer for that, Mr. Whitman. Hell, there is no good answer! I wish I had an answer… I really do.”

“But you’re the law here, Jim,” Mrs. Whitman said, wiping her eyes and nose with a handkerchief. “You’re supposed to protect us… you’re supposed to protect these kids. Things like this aren’t supposed to happen here.”

“No… they’re not,” Jim agreed quietly.

“Well, in all fairness to Jim,” Jeff Parker said, “he wasn’t the sheriff when the graduation thing happened… and all of this seems to have come from that. Somebody in City Hall removed Jim from office right before graduation. I say we need to take care of the matter, starting with Judge Lewis.”

“Don’t take the law into your own hands, Jeff,” Jim warned. “Leave it to me and my deputies. We will take care of it. I promise you.”

“It’s a little late for that now, isn’t it, Sheriff,” Mrs. Whitman asked sadly. “Can you bring Alex back?”

Jim cringed. With all his heart, he wanted to say yes, but this was not the time, no matter how much it hurt.

“Cynthia,” Amy said gently, sitting down beside Mrs. Whitman and taking her hand in her own, “I know how it looks right now… but things will all work out. I’ve been there myself. We survive. Life goes on.”

“What kind of life Amy? How did you go on after Maria died? I don’t think I can do it. Alex was… was everything to me.”

Tears began to run down Mrs. Whitman’s cheeks, and Amy found her own tears starting up again.

“Jim, I can’t do this,” Amy said, standing up and leaving the room, the tears flowing unchecked now down her face.

“This has been hard on Amy, too,” Jim said softly. “It’s opening up old wounds for her… bringing back her memories of Maria.”

Mrs. Whitman nodded. “I’m… I’m sorry, Jim. I don’t mean to hurt Amy… or you. You’ve put your own life on the line for Alex and the others over and again since graduation… Don’t think we don’t all know that. I just don’t understand why this is happening. It doesn’t feel real. It’s like we’re living in some kind of… Dodge City… Hell… here.”

Jim cringed again. “I know nothing could ever make things seem okay right now, Gloria… but Amy was right. Life does go on. Trust us. You’ll see.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the Sheriff’s office, Amy was leaning against the wall, shaking, the tears still running down her face, when she noticed Judge Lewis watching from the corner.

“What are you looking at? You not satisfied with what you’ve done? Do you have to see the destruction you’ve caused, too?”

“Things happen, Ms. DeLuca. Don’t blame me. I had nothing to do with it. Maybe if they hadn’t been dealing drugs and had to be put away for their own good…”

Amy’s hands and whole body tightened, but somehow she managed to find enough control to not take Judge Lewis apart piece by piece where he stood. Closing her eyes, she swallowed and breathed deeply, using every method at her disposal to calm herself… which under the circumstances, was a miraculous feat.

“Judge, be thankful I’m too distressed right now to do what I’d like to do.”

“Is that some kind of veiled threat, Ms. DeLuca? Oh, excuse me… Mrs. Valenti! Because if it is, you need to know who you’re dealing with. Don’t bring problems on yourself. I’m still the big dog in this town… in a manner of speaking. That’s a warning you should heed. Maybe that worthless husband of yours doesn’t care enough about you to warn you… but I will. Don’t mess with me.”

Amy gritted her teeth tightly to keep from screaming. She felt like she would burst if she didn’t let something out, but she didn’t want to do anything that might compromise Jim’s plans to help Liz and Alex. She needed to remain in control… for now.

Amy turned and ran back into the sheriff’s office, shaking, and Jim knew with one look that something was wrong…

“What happened, Amy?”

Amy shook her head, but her lips quivered. “Judge Lewis… He’s watching what’s going on in here.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

Amy pursed her lips tightly together and bit her tongue. “Nothing really, Jim. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Why would the judge be watching the goings on in your office, Sheriff?” Mr. Whitman asked.

“He probably enjoys seeing other people suffering,” Jeff Parker answered for Jim. “He put Liz and Alex in that place where they could get shot. He’s to blame for their deaths. We all should keep that in mind.”

“Now, Jeff, I know how you feel and what you’re thinking, but it wouldn’t do Liz or Alex any good for the two of you to get yourselves arrested… or worse… going after the judge. Let me handle the things that are my jurisdiction. That’s what I’m paid to do. I’ll have Judge Lewis investigated… I’ll go all the way to Washington if I have to… but don’t take matters into your own hands or do anything that might get you arrested yourself. That’s what he would like you to do. Judge Lewis is a bully… but he’s a bully who knows how to use the laws to his own advantage.”

Jeff nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep inside the earth, Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Rahn had no way of knowing it, but they had already left the army base behind some time ago. They were technically free now. All together, they had walked a total of fourteen miles through the various corridors and rooms of the cavern. But still, they had not found an exit.

Max sat down on a large rock inside another large, cathedral-like room, which they had just entered.

“Take a minute, guys. Let’s make some plans here… We need some light. It seems to be getting darker and darker in here… I think the natural phosphorescence in the walls must be diminishing the further we go.”

“Maybe we’re just getting further from the base and that warm, friendly radiation glow in the soil,” Michael said with a smirk.

Max smiled. “Could be. Isabel… could you find me some small stones?”

“What are you going to do with them, Max?”

Max held up a partially hollow section of stalagmite that he had picked up off the floor of the cavern a few minutes before.

“I’m going to make a lantern. Michael and I will heat the rocks till they glow then I’ll put them in this stalagmite chunk… or stalactite, whichever one it was.”

Michael smiled. “I’m glad you said you were going to put them in there, Max, ‘cause those suckers are gonna be really hot after we heat them up!”

Max stopped and thought for a moment. “Give me your shirt.”

“My shirt? Why does it have to be my shirt?”

“Just do it, Michael. Come on.”

Michael grudgingly removed his shirt, lifting it over the top of his head. Maria tried to hide her smile, as she watched Michael’s pecs and biceps flex and his chest expand and contract in the lantern light with every movement.

“What ya got in mind, Max?” Michael asked, handing Max the shirt.

Max reached his hand into a small stream running along behind them and scooped up some mud and sand, which he rubbed copiously all over the shirt.

“I want you to know that was a good shirt, Max. I can never wear it again now.”

“You won’t want to, Michael.” Max ripped the shirt into several strips then tied one mud-caked strip into a sling, which he set their makeshift “lantern” into. Next he put an extra-thick layer of wet mud and sand on the second strip then laid the rocks on it.

“Fire away, Michael.”

“It’s gonna burn that cloth up, Max.”

“Maybe. We won’t know until we try.” Max held his hand up and blasted the small stones with energy from his hand, and Michael followed suit, blasting them with energy from his own hand until they glowed brightly in the darkness of the cavern. The mud and sand fused and hardened in the heat, turning into something like glassy brick. It was impossible to know for sure if the strip of shirt inside was still there or if it had been incinerated by the heat, leaving only a flat heat-hardened pole. Max raked the stones off the pole into the makeshift lantern, then he picked the lantern up by the sling.

“We have light, Michael.”

Michael nodded his head. “Yeah… yeah, I guess we do. You owe me a shirt, Max.”

Max grinned then turned to Rahn. “Rahn… you saw the geological maps that showed this cavern system. Do you remember where it comes out?”

“It didn’t show any exits,” Rahn said. “But that’s not unusual. They don’t always show them. There must be exits. We just have to find them. I could fly ahead and search while everyone else rests. I can cover more territory and maybe save everyone some walking.”

Max nodded. “Okay, that sounds like a good idea… you can go whenever you’re ready.”

Rahn shape-shifted into a sea gull then into a bat as he disappeared into the darkness beyond.

“How far do you think we’ve walked, Michael?”

“I don’t know, Max… I’d say at least eight or nine miles… maybe more. Do you think we’re still under the base?”

“I doubt it… Maybe… but I doubt it.”

“I doubt it, too.

“Hey, Max, look at this,” Isabel said, reaching up a couple of feet over her head to get something that had been placed on top of a broken off stalagmite. “It looks like a book or something. What do you think?”

Isabel handed the object to Max, and he turned it over then opened it. The cover appeared to be some kind of thin leather. The pages were… well, he wasn’t sure what they were, but they were definitely unusual… and so was the writing.

“I’ve seen this writing,” Michael said.

“Where?”

“I don’t know… in my mind… and in the Destiny Book! This is the same kind of writing… only different.”

“Different how?”

“Just… different… not the same… not even the same letters… but similar. Probably the same language… or maybe a different language but from the same culture.”

“Or… maybe from the same planet?” Max asked.

Michael nodded.

“If it’s Antarian, maybe Rahn can tell us what it says when he comes back.”

Max thumbed through the pages again. There were no pictures, just the strange writing… and the writing was much smaller than the writing in the Destiny Book. The pages felt waxy. Max closed the book.

“Let’s move on. We’ve rested long enough. Rahn can find us on the way.”

Michael, Maria, and Isabel followed Max into the corridor that Rahn had flown into only a few minutes before, but they found their path suddenly barred, not by boulders or a solid wall or a broken ledge this time… but by a very large gray wolf. Coyotes were better known here, but the animal that stood before them now was clearly no coyote. Still, finding either deep inside a cave had to be considered odd.

The wolf stood silently, defiantly, in the corridor, facing Max, staring into his eyes intently with that icy, menacing stare that only a wolf can muster. Max froze, and the others stopped where they stood behind him. For a moment, nothing happened. Then without a sound, the wolf leapt, its mouth open and its teeth bared, but instead of going for Max’s throat as expected, it grabbed the book.

The moment the wolf leapt at Max, Michael went into protective mode, raising his hand toward the attacking animal. A flash of power from Michael’s hand dropped the huge animal to the ground on its side, and the book fell from its mouth.

Still shaken, Max, Michael, Maria, and Isabel approached the fallen animal cautiously, but before they could determine if it was dead or alive, it began to shimmer… then change… finally settling into the form of a young woman with blonde hair. Max knelt beside the girl and turned her face toward him. Her eyes were fixed in a blank stare, but she was still breathing… barely. Max placed his hand over the scorch wound on her side and held it there for several moments, as a greenish glow appeared between his hand and the wound. After a short time, the girl closed her eyes… then she opened them again and looked at Max…

“You weren’t supposed to see me. It ruins everything.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “What does it ruin? Why shouldn’t I see you?”

“I… I can’t tell you.”

“You’re a shape-shifter,” Max said, half as a question, half as a statement.

The girl shook her head slowly.

“We saw you change from a wolf into… into… what you are now,” Maria said. “You have to be a shape-shifter.”

“No… I’m not,” the girl insisted. “Don’t ask me any more. Please. I can’t…”

You gave up the chance to keep secrets,” Max said, “…when you attacked us. Now it’s our turn to get some answers. First of all, why are you following us? Who are you? What do you want with us… and this book?”

“It’s mine,” the girl said. “and I didn’t attack you. I saved you. Who do you think made those soldiers think the ledge had broken off so they wouldn’t follow you? Who do you think has been guiding you so you wouldn’t wind up so deep in the earth that you would never find your way out? If you had taken the largest corridor at the first junction you would be somewhere near the center of the earth right now, I think. I don’t think it ever comes back up.”

“Why would you help us,” Max asked. “We don’t even know you. And what are you doing way down here inside a cave by yourself?”

The girl looked to one side for a moment but then seemed to have questions of her own for Max.

“He hit me with some kind of blast,” she said, pointing toward Michael. “What is he? How did he do that?”

“Tell me how you can make yourself look like a wolf and maybe I’ll tell you about Michael.”

The girl appeared reticent, but curiosity seemed to overcome her better judgment…

“I’m not a shape-shifter; I just create visions. You merely thought you saw a wolf. I was never anything but me.”

“That would explain the stone wall where a corridor had just been and the falling ledge that never fell,” Michael said.

Max nodded. “So you create visions… in our minds.”

“Yes.”

“Why are you helping us?”

“You need help.”

“But you don’t know us. How did you know we were the good guys?”

“Are you?”

“Okay… Do you make a habit of helping bad guys?”

The girl shrugged. “I can see things in your mind. I knew you needed help.”

“You can read our minds?” Maria asked, alarmed. “Oh, that’s great! Now I’m going to have to watch what I’m thinking.” Maria glanced quickly at Michael standing beside her with his shirt off, his well-toned muscles glistening in the low light, then she closed her eyes and concentrated on counting by nines.

The girl seemed to smile slightly. “I can’t exactly read your minds… I just feel… feelings. I know if your intentions are good or bad… and what you’re feeling.”

“Then why did you hide from us?”

“Do you reveal yourself to everybody who has good intentions? …Does your mother know what you are?”

Max recoiled sharply at this last comment. “I thought you said you couldn’t read minds.”

“I can’t… but I’m pretty good at piecing clues together. I know you’re not who you appear to be. You have things to hide. I can feel that.”

“Alright. So I have things to hide. And so do you. Where are you from?”

The girl looked around the cavern and shrugged, motioning all around.

“You weren’t born here… in this cave.”

“I may have been… I don’t know.”

“Okay, let’s try it a different way,” Max said. “People on earth don’t read minds. Excuse me, I mean they don’t feel other people’s feelings… not the way you do… or create visions in other people’s minds. I don’t know anyone who can appear to be a wolf, either.”

“Not even your friend who flew out of here with the little bat wings?”

“You saw him?”

“Of course. I’ve been watching you.”

“Okay… he’s… different.”

“Well, I know that. What is he? A shape-shifter?”

“I thought you were good at piecing the clues together.”

“So he’s a shape-shifter. What’s your friend… Michael? And what are you?”

“That’s a lot of questions. Like you said, I have things I prefer to keep private.”

“Fair enough, but you promised to tell me what Michael is if I told you about me.”

Max looked at Michael. Both of them felt uneasy about giving away information that they had always kept so closely guarded. They had always known that their lives depended on it.

“You know,” the girl said, “if I hadn’t helped you, you’d be toast right now. You owe me that.”

“Well, we don’t really know that we’d be toast right now as you say. We’d have found our way out eventually… and escaped from the soldiers, too.”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, I guess we do owe you… and you do seem to have it all figured out anyway. I’m sure you know that Michael and I aren’t from around here.”

“Well I know that. You’re from another planet.”

“Why’d you even bother to ask?”

The girl shrugged. “I feel things. It’s not the same as knowing… exactly.”

“You’re not surprised by what we are,” Max asked.

“No. I know I’m different, too. I always knew that I wasn’t from here. I just don’t know where I’m from.”

“You don’t know where your people came from?” Isabel asked.

The girl shook her head. “Do you know? Where you’re from, I mean?”

“Well… yeah… maybe… kind of…” Max stammered.

“So we’re not so different after all, the girl said with a knowing smile.”

“I guess not. What’s your name? You have one, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. It’s A’in ji Lii. I usually spell it ‘A-n-g-i-e L-e-e,’ though.”

As they spoke, Rahn suddenly returned, landing near Max and the girl, who was by now sitting up again. Rahn walked around on the ground for a few moments acting like a very misplaced and lost sea gull, then he hopped on top of Max’s head and stood there shifting from one foot to the other nervously.

Max rolled his eyes upward… “Alright, you’ve got my attention, Rahn.”

“That’s Max’s pet,” Michael said with a snicker. “It thinks he’s its daddy.”

“It’s going to be our next meal if it poops while it’s up there,” Max said sullenly. “Rahn, get down here! She knows already.”

Rahn hopped off onto the ground and shifted back into his human form. “Well, I didn’t know if you wanted me to change in front of her.”

“What’s the matter, Rahn,” Michael asked, grinning, “You shy about changing in front of girls?”

“Shy?” Rahn asked, appearing confused.

“Never mind him,” Max said. “He’s just making a joke. Rahn, check this out.” Max handed Rahn the book. Immediately, Angie Lee leapt for it, but Max blocked her.

“You can’t! You can’t read that… It’s mine!”

“What’s in this book that’s so important?” Max asked. “Does it have to do with us? Is this something else from our planet that we were supposed to get but never knew about?”

“It’s nothing. It’s not important to you.”

Rahn looked at the pages and raised his eyebrows, in a perfect imitation of a human reaction.

“What does it say,” Max asked.

“Well… do you really want to know?”

“Yes!”

Rahn began to read…

“Jeyyal pressed his lips to Mi’chya’s waiting mouth, as she panted with anticipation. To Mi’chya, Jeyyal’s body felt like a warm spring day after a long winter as it rubbed against her nipples, which like three perfect roses rising from the cool white snow, awakened to soak up the warmth of the sun. It had been too long. Mi’chya moaned as Jeyyal kissed her neck then her shoulders, working his way slowly, passionately…”

“What is this?” Max asked, interrupting Rahn in mid-sentence… “some kind of alien porn?”

“I think it’s what you would call here… a romance novel,” Rahn said, silently reading the rest of the passage to himself before closing the book up and handing it to Angie Lee.

“A romance novel!?” Max repeated, turning to Angie Lee in disbelief. “That’s what you’ve been protecting? A romance novel!”

“Three?” Michael muttered, more to himself than to anyone else in particular, his eyes still fixed on the book in Angie Lee’s hand. “How does that work?”

“It’s all I have from my world,” Angie Lee said, her face reddening noticeably, even in the glow of the lantern. “My father disappeared when I was six. I only have Grandfather now… and nothing from my world but this book… and one other one.”

“Another romance novel?”

“No. Something I can’t read. It’s a different writing… but it’s from my world, too.”

“Then you do know where you’re from,” Michael said.

Angie Lee shook her head. “I remember so little. I can read this… but I don’t even know where it comes from, only that it’s another world… somewhere.”

“What about your grandfather?” Maria asked. “You said you have a grandfather. Can’t he tell you where you’re from?”

“He’s not my real grandfather. I just call him that. He’s more like… my protector. He took care of me after my father died… and he sent me to school… and college.”

“You went to college?” Isabel asked, surprised.

Angie Lee nodded. “I started this year. Grandfather is paying for it… with his own money… and… special grants.”

“I didn’t know they had grants for aliens,” Michael said. “They never told me this. What are you doing in this cave?”

“I grew up here. When I’m home from college, I often come here. This is where my father lived with me… before he died.”

“In a cave?”

Angie Lee nodded.

“Where’s your protector? Does he live in this cave, too,” Maria asked.

Angie Lee started to answer Maria’s question, but a shadow suddenly appeared on the wall in the light of the lantern. Everyone seemed to notice it at the same time and turned to look at the wall. The shadow, which appeared to be human for the most part, grew quickly larger and larger until it stood over twelve feet high… and on it’s head, there was a horn.

“Grandfather is here,” Angie Lee said. “He’s looking for me.”

“A’in ji Lii ! Hayu? Ha’and’ah !”

Everyone turned around quickly to look at the source of the voice. It wasn’t a monster. It was merely an old man… an Indian by the looks of him. He had a headband and a single feather –the “horn” they had thought they saw in the huge reflection he had cast in the lantern’s light- Now he stood in the corridor, holding his own lantern in one hand and a spear in the other. The spear was pointed at Max, who was the person closest to Angie Lee.

“Shiitsooyee! Dohohda!” Angie Lee replied to the old man. “Do’o ansi.”
(Grandfather, no! I’m okay.)

“Nnee… Magaa’nnee! Hat’ugha?”
(People… White people! Why?)

“They needed my help, Grandfather. The soldiers were chasing them.”

The old Indian looked fearful. “You will bring the soldiers to us, A’in ji Lii.”

“No, Grandfather. I made sure of that.”

“You are too naïve, little one.”

“We will be safe on the reservation, Grandfather. The soldiers won’t bother us there.”

“Hmmm. You have much to learn of history, little yellow coyote. Let’s go now… before they know where you went. Why do you insist on coming to this cave, A’in ji Lii? It is cursed by the ancestors.”

“Yes… Because of my father… I know. But that’s just a superstition, Grandfather.”

“No, child! It is not. You have much to learn.

“You allowed my father to stay… when I was a child. My father… his spirit… is here… in this cave. I come here to remember. Don’t you like to be near your ancestors, Grandfather?”

“Ni’i nahi’imaa at’e, ya naheeka’ee at’e, A’in ji Lii.”

“What did he say,” Max asked.

“He said, ‘Earth is our mother, sky is our father.’”

“These people with you cannot stay on the Reservation, A’in ji Lii… the warning of the elders… The ancestors’ vengeance will be upon anyone who allows nasedo to stay.”

“Nasedo?” Michael repeated questioningly.

“Nasedo is the Mesaliko word for ‘visitor,’” Angie Lee replied.

“Your grandfather is Mesaliko… Apache? He… you… live on the Mesaliko Reservation?”

The girl nodded.

“That’s where River Dog lives,” Michael said.

“You know River Dog?” Angie Lee asked, surprised.

Max nodded. “Yeah, he helped us out once.”

“River Dog is Grandfather’s brother.”

“River Dog has a brother?” Max asked, surprised.

Angie Lee laughed. “Actually, he has four brothers… and three sisters.”

“Did you know that, Michael?” Max asked.

“What?”

“That River dog had four brothers and three sisters.”

“Oh… No, I still haven’t gotten over that alien nipple thing.”

Maria whacked Michael lightly on the back of the head.

“Hey!” Michael said to Angie Lee, paying no attention to the whack he had just received, “If your grandfather is River Dog’s brother, that makes you, like, family or something, I guess. River Dog helped save my life once.”

“And now I have helped save it,” Angie Lee said, smiling. “I guess it runs in our family.”

“I’ve always wondered something,” Isabel said. “How are the Mesalikos related to the Mescalero Apaches?”

Angie lowered her voice, not wishing to offend her “grandfather” by being too loose with information about his people.

“In eastern New Mexico, there were the Chiricahua Apaches and the Mescalero Apaches. East of the Rio Grande was home to the Mescaleros; west of the river was home to the Chiricahua. But the two groups were very closely related. The Chiricahuas were the tribe that Geronimo belonged to. Because of his raids, all of the Chiricahuas were taken away and relocated in Florida, then in Oklahoma. The Mescaleros, though, were placed on a reservation here. When the relocations started, a few of the Chiricahuas escaped and came here, asking for help from their brothers, the Mescalero Apaches. They hid by living together with the Mescaleros and so avoided being sent to the east with the rest of the Chiricahuas, but they distinguished themselves from their brothers by calling themselves Mesalikos instead of Mescaleros. The names were similar, and apparently, the white man never noticed.”

“Oh! I always wondered,” Isabel said. “You never really see anything about the Mesalikos, but there’s a lot about the Mescaleros and the Chiricahuas.”

“That’s why,” Angie Lee said. “The Mesalikos were part of the Chiricahua band, but they joined secretly with the Mescaleros. They weren’t even known to exist until after the relocations had stopped.”

“So your grandfather and River Dog would be, like, Mesaliko Mescalero Chiricahua Apache,” Michael said.

“Don’t tell THEM that,” Angie Lee said with a smile. “They’re Mesaliko Apache. The word ‘Apache,’ by the way, just means ‘people’ in the ‘Apache’ language, so they’re ‘Mesaliko’ people. You see, when the Spaniards asked them what they were, they said, ‘We’re people.’ Like duh! Then the Spaniards went around asking all the Indians they found, ‘are you apachii?’ and if they understood the word, they said, ‘Of course. What else would we be?’ So everyone who understood that language or a close dialect of it became Apaches, but there are all these different bands, like the Chiricahuas and the Mescaleros and the Mesalikos.”

“Got ya,” Michael nodded. “You know a lot about Indians.”

“Grandfather taught me,” Angie Lee said. “I just wish I knew anything at all about my own people.”

Michael nodded understandingly. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve been known to say that myself a few times, I think.”

“We’re almost to the exit,” Angie Lee said, as they walked along, following the old Indian. “It’s just a few more minutes.”

“Where does it come out,” Isabel asked, straining to see up ahead of the old man who was guiding them.

“On the Mesaliko Reservation. It’s not far from our house. But it will probably be best if you can find some place else to go as soon as possible. Grandfather will believe that he’s being cursed by the ancestors if you stay very long.”

“We don’t intend to stay,” Max said. “Maybe one day… two at the most. We have to make some plans. We have things to do. I have people I want to see… need to see… again.”

“A girlfriend?” Angie Lee asked.

Max nodded. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“Future wife,” Rahn said for him.

Max shifted nervously on his feet. “Well, we don’t know that… I mean… it’s just that… well, I haven’t asked yet. I don’t know if she’ll want me… forever… you know. It wouldn’t be easy being married to… you know, one of us… well, me.”

“No, really?” Angie Lee asked with a tone of sarcasm in her voice. “Is she pretty?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have a boyfriend, Angie Lee,” Isabel asked.

The girl smiled. “No. Well, there’s this boy at college who’s helping me translate the other book I have… with the computers they have there. He’s real nice. His name is Alex Whitman.”

Isabel suddenly lost her footing, stumbled, and would have fallen had it not been for the quick reflexes of Michael, who grabbed her.

“Are you okay,” Angie Lee asked, coming back to help.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine! I’m okay. I just… Alex Whitman? Is he your… boyfriend?”

Angie Lee started to laugh then shook her head. “No. Alex is a very nice boy… a little shy maybe… but like Max said, people like us… like me… need someone different. I like Alex, but he’s just a friend.”

“Good,” Isabel said.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just said, ‘Oh.’”

“Ah.” Angie Lee sighed. “I don’t guess I’ll ever find anyone from my world. I don’t even know where my world is.”

“What about this other book,” Max asked, “…the one Alex was helping you translate. Have you translated any of it yet?”

“Alex put the symbols into the computer and wrote a program that would search for grammatical clues and similarities… based on usage and all. We didn’t get the results back before break started, so none of it is translated yet.”

“Can I see the book?” Max asked. “Do you have it here… at the house or somewhere?”

“You’re just really interested in my books, aren’t you,” Angie Lee asked with a grin. “Didn’t you get enough after the other one?”

“Look!” Maria yelled out suddenly. “There’s the exit right up there! We’re really going to get out of here! Woo hoo!”

“Of course we are,” Michael said confidently. “Would I ever have let you down?”

Maria shook her head and kissed Michael on the cheek. “It wasn’t so bad in there… once we found you, Michael.”

Angie Lee smiled at Maria but said nothing. As they walked out of the cave, the old Indian said something to Angie Lee in Mesaliko. Angie Lee nodded.

“Guys, Grandfather would like for you to wait here until he prepares for you at the house. I think he wants to do a charm or something to keep the ancestors from seeing you while you’re there.”

“Alright,” Max said. “We’ll wait here.”

Angie Lee and her “Grandfather” walked along the path toward a group of small houses that could be seen in the near distance.

“What do you think, Max?” Michael asked. “Do you believe her… I mean, everything she said?”

“Yeah,” Max said after a few moments reflection. “I do… to a point. I think she has a few secrets she hasn’t told us. But more importantly, I think ‘Grandfather’ has some secrets of his own… I think he knows more than he has ever told Angie Lee… maybe a lot more.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell her about her world and her people if he knew, Max?”

“That’s a good question,” Max replied. “That’s a very good question.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<<<<<<>>>>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Roswell, Judge Lewis had just sat down at his desk and begun to shuffle through some old papers when his door opened and three men let themselves in.

“You not locking your door now, Judge?”

“Would it keep you guys out?”

The agents just smiled.

“I didn’t think so.”

“Well, Judge, this is just a social visit,” the first agent said, stuffing a wad of hundred dollar bills into the inside pocket of Judge Lewis’ coat and patting him on the chest. “Let’s just say it’s for a job well done.”

“Yeah… okay… thanks. Are you finished?”

“For now,” The first agent said, nodding. “If we need you again, we can call on you, right? By the way, how did that… ‘reference’ I gave you work out? I take it you went to see him… or did you just stick a cork in it? I see the floor’s still dry.”

“I’m a nervous man, and you guys give me the heeby-jeebys. I can’t help it.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have got involved with us then, Judge. When you jump in water over your head and you can’t swim, you risk ‘drowning,’ you know what I mean?” The other two agents chuckled.

“Laugh all you want. It’s fixed now. He gave me some pills… and stuff. You don’t see me ‘drowning’ now do you? You’ll just have to find someone else to be the butt of your jokes.”

“Well, I guess I can call the wharf and tell them I won’t be needing to charter that boat next time I come here then.” There was more chuckling. “Take care, Judge. Keep the plug in. It’s a ‘good’ thing, believe me.”

Judge Lewis scowled, but as soon as they left, he remembered the money that had been put in his pocket and sat down to count it. Soon, he was smiling again. He put the money away and sat down, but instead of being able to get back to his work, he found himself tapping his fingers on the desktop.

“Something’s not right. I don’t know what it is, but something’s not right.” He closed his drawer and leaned back, folding his hands in front of himself and moving his thumbs around each other idly. “I’ve got to watch Jim closely. He’s hiding something… and I need to find out what it is.”

tbc

Coming up: Jim Valenti finds a place to hide Liz and Alex temporarily… and Judge Lewis realizes what it is that’s bothering him.

Disclaimer: The information about the Mesalikos being Chiricahuas who went to live among the Mescaleros was made up (by me) for this story. The Mesalikos may be a real tribe, but as far as I can determine, they only exist in the Roswell stories, and the name was probably meant to sound like Mescaleros, which are a real band of the Apaches in that area. The part about how the Spaniards asked everyone if they were apachii or not then called them all Apaches is supposition. It could have happened that way. The word “apachii” does mean “people.” So does “nnee.” I’m not sure what the difference is. I’m not Apache. (Oh, wait a minute! I am, aren’t I? I’m “people,” that is!) LOL. In any case, the rest of the information about Chiricahuas and Mescaleros is historically accurate and factual to the best of my knowledge, and the conversation is a close approximation of the Apache spoken by the Chiricahuas and Mescaleros in that part of New Mexico (as butchered by me!

). Wouldn’t want the ancestors to haunt me for factual misrepresentation! Some of my ancestors are Cherokee.

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:58 am

Thanks for the great feedback, Tracie, Isabel, and Veca! Blow Shadows out of the water, Isabel? I don't think so! That's a great story!

Anyway, here's the next part of TNTDD, so I'll get right to it.

Post by **roswellkitkat** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:29 pm

Loved it, loved it,loved it!!!

So they are finally free..all of them. Alex and Liz and now the rest. Can't wait for them to meet up!

Most hysterical line :

“Oh… No, I still haven’t gotten over that alien nipple thing.”

I about spit water all over the screen!

Thanks for the disclaimer...it's always interesting to know whether stuff is totally made up or comes from partial fact.

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Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 3:08 pm

Thank goodness they now know who was helping them! It could have been an enemy for all they knew but Angie Lee and her grandfather look like nice people...but one with many secrets!

I'm curios as to who Angie Lee really is. Is she hybrid or like Rahn? Btw that bit about Rahn the bird sitting on Max's head and his comment on him not pooping on his head was hilarious! I loved the third nipple comment too!

I feel really bad for the parents though since they have to think Liz and Alex are dead. (Look who's talking

And that judge makes me so mad! If I didn't know that Amy would get the lastword I would have verbally flayyed him! Watching Amy do it is more fun though!

But at least he's on ...err...medication let's say!

MagickFantasy86 · Post by **MagickFantasy86** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:24 pm

Oh my goodness. So good. I too loved the third nipple part. Very amusing. And Alex in there. Does that mean he's alive? If he is then yay! The Roswell story needs Alex. Anyway update really really soon. Please

Alex

vecastone · Post by **vecastone** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 2:40 pm

woahhhhhhhhhh !!!

Great updates, both of them 17 and 18. I thought they were dead (Alex and Liz). fiuffff I was glad to see Dan entered the picture.

I am sad for the parents, but what else could they do ?

On the alien side, at first I thought it was Te** and I was almost spiting the screen but then it was Angie Lee, thank youuuu !!

I want to know what`s in the other book !! come and tell us quikly !!!

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