"A psychic clone," Michael suggested.
"A master-slave system the way computers are set up," Maria said.
"Doesn't matter," Valenti said. "We'll have to accept that River Dog is in more than two places. However he's doing it."
Max stared into the darkness ahead. Off-road now, Valenti's SUV sped across the dirt road, raising a giant fog of dust that trailed after them like a predatory beast. Metal glimmered in the night, turning dusky gold from the SUV's headlights and occasional silver from the moon.
"There," he said, pointing.
Valenti looked at the tiny shimmering bits of silver and gold. "Could be dust picked up by the headlights."
Then the cloud of spots shifted directions, whipping around and heading on an interception course with the SUV
"Or not," Michael said.
The eeriness of the attack, Max decided, was the absolute quiet. The shimmering things closed rapidly, changing direction as if gravity had no effect on them. Hugging the terrain, they sped for the SUV without hesitation.
"How did they find us?" Valenti asked.
"I don't know," Isabel answered.
"How did River Dog know?"
"There wasn't time to ask."
"Doesn't matter," Michael said. "Just keep the speed up. What are those tiny things going to do? Shatter against the truck? They're stupid."
"They don't think," Isabel said. "They were designed to react."
Tensely, Max watched as the drones unerringly closed in on the SUV The cloud of attackers was broken up into patches, like formations. In the next instant the lead formation smashed into the truck.
The drones sounded like grit in a sandstorm peppering the SUV's body. Metallic pings echoed hollowly inside the truck, sounding virtually inoffensive. Then Max spotted the tears in the sheet metal of the hood just before the first of the drones smacked into the windshield.
More drones struck the windshield, penetrating into the glass. Spiderwebbed fractures ran across the glass instantly. As the safety glass broke into cubes the way it was designed to do, some of them blasted over Max and Valenti. The glass cubes weren't harmful, but they served to let Max know that the windshield wasn't going to stand up to the battering. If the attack kept up, the drones were going to tear through the glass and rip like arrows into the flesh-and-blood targets on the other side.
"Max," Isabel called, maintaining control with effort.
Understanding, Max threw up his hand. Energy and blue-white light pulsed from his hand, creating the force field he'd used before. He started with a surface on the other side of the windshield, watching as the drones struck the shield and burst into brief, sparking wisps that died almost at once and sounded like popcorn popping.
Valenti cursed, not at all happy with how close the attack had come. One of the SUV's headlights burst in a muffled explosion.
Max kept the shield in place, straining himself and making the protective surface bigger, bending it until it became a bubble that protected them all the way around.
Keeping the shield intact while aboard a moving vehicle made it even harder.
The SUV slowed slightly.
"Drive," Max said.
"People," Valenti groaned. "There are people ahead."
Gazing ahead, trying to keep focused enough to maintain the force field, Max saw figures suddenly lurch and stumble from the shadows. The single cone of light that remained from the SUV's headlights played over the swaying figures of men and women. Blood covered their faces. Some of them were missing arms and legs, and others dragged their broken bodies with their hands.
18
Freakin' zombies," Michael griped from the back of the SUV
Looking at the sprawling group of undoubtedly dead people who filled the dirt road ahead, Max silently agreed. The zombies turned like a pack of predators and started toward the SUV even though it was racing toward them. Max kept the energy shield in place, aware that more drones smashed to pieces against the glowing barrier.
Valenti pulled his foot from the accelerator and shoved down on the brake. The SUV stuttered across the uneven surface of the dirt road, scratching up bigger clouds of dust. Realizing that the vehicle wasn't going to stop in time, Valenti started cutting the wheel, slewing the SUV sideways.
"Max!" Liz called. "I don't see anything. I don't see any zombies."
Shuddering across the rough dirt road, the SUV rocked to a stop. The motor growled. The cloud of dust caught up in their backdraft suddenly blew by them, playing out like a wave washing up onto the beach.
Max kept the force field in place with effort. The number of drones shattering against the energy barrier were almost nonexistent, but some still came, leaving miniature fireworks to mark their destruction.
Beyond the energy barrier, though, the zombies lurched toward the SUV
"You see them, don't you, Max?" Valenti asked. He stared at the crowd of dead people. "You see them."
"Yeah," Max said, "but… "
"We've got to get out of here." Valenti threw the transmission in reverse, looked over his shoulder, and floored the accelerator.
The SUV bucked in protest, but the tires slashed through the desert dust and caught hold of the road.
"No," Max said. "They're not real." He put his hand on Valenti's shoulder.
Valenti hesitated, braking again. He stared at the approaching figures. "They're real, Max."
"No. It's an illusion."
Valenti shook his head weakly.
"Think about it," Max said. "You have to know those people. Who are they?"
Valenti wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Accident victims. People I've seen die or already dead along the highways. Automobile accidents. Fires. Murders and suicides. All those people died hard."
"They can't all be here," Max said. "This isn't real."
"It looks real."
"This isn't real," Max repeated calmly.
"Dad," Kyle spoke from the back, "I can't see anything. Nothing's there but empty road."
"The drones are trying to scare us off," Max stated, staring Valenti in the eye. "Just like they're trying to scare off the Mesaliko and the people in Roswell." He reached out and slipped the transmission into drive. "We go through them. We're not stopping. We're too close to quit, and we may be the only chance there is to shut this down."
Valenti wiped his mouth again. His eyes looked fever bright. He nodded. "Okay. Okay, let's get this done." He put his foot on the accelerator and roared forward again.
Straining, brain hurting from the effort required to maintain the energy shield, Max watched as the SUV barreled down on the lurching zombies reaching toward them with outstretched arms.
"Not real," Valenti said under his breath, barely audible over the roaring engine. "Damn it, they're not real!"
Max halfway expected the zombies to disappear when his force field touched them. Instead the zombies passed through the energy barrier and hurled themselves at the SUV
Valenti started to take his foot from the accelerator. Max grabbed the steering wheel with his left hand and jammed his left foot on top of Valenti's foot, keeping the accelerator pinned to the floorboard. "No," Max said. "We're going through."
Incredibly the zombies caught hold of the SUV They clung to the vehicle and peered in with dead eyes through the shattered glass as they writhed and tried to crawl through. A woman with half her face missing stared at Max.
Almost unnerved himself despite knowing the drones were creating the illusion, Max stopped projecting the force field and reached for Valenti. He pressed his palm against Valenti's temple, thinking that if the drones were using whatever powers they had against Valenti that the force had to somehow be neural, biological, or chemical in nature. As such, he hoped the effect was compatible with his healing powers.
He poured energy into Valenti's mind, feeling the wrongness there, like a thorn embedded in tender flesh. The thorn held only a moment before his healing touch, then it crumbled. As soon as the thorn vanished and Max couldn't feel it anymore, the zombies disappeared as well. He took his hand away from Valenti's temple.
Glancing around, Valenti said, "Not real. They weren't real after all."
"No," Max said, slumping tiredly back into the seat. He scanned the night for more of the drones but didn't see any.
"Not much farther," Isabel said. "One more turn and we're going to be on foot."
Max got out of the SUV at the base of the tall hill Isabel's directions had brought them to. The encounter with Valenti's zombies was five miles back, and now they were at the end of even the dirt trail they'd been able to use.
The forlorn promontory was all windswept rock, a place apart even in the isolated desert. The moonlight silvered the sand, but the ridge left a lake of shadows where it blocked the moon's glow. The wind moaned in the distance, racing across the broken terrain as dark clouds scudded and obscured the starlight.
"Creepy, huh?" Liz asked. She stood on the other side of the SUV.
"Not as creepy as it was the night the storm hit," Michael said as he vaulted from the rear of the SUV He landed on the sand and was actually smiling a little, like he was enjoying the thought of the coming confrontation. "Compared with that, this is practically a walk in the park."
But it's not a walk in the park, Max thought. The travelers and the drones were somewhere up ahead.
Doors slammed behind them as Valenti and Kyle got out of the SUV Valenti carried a shotgun.
"Not exactly the 'I come in peace' look," Michael commented.
Valenti looked a little self-conscious about the shotgun. "Those things aren't exactly the type to go in peace. Figured I'd share a little old-fashioned destruction with them."
"Fine by me," Michael said.
Max looked at them. "I don't want anyone hurt."
Valenti and Michael stared back at him.
"Those things weren't exactly rolling out the red carpet back there, Maxwell," Michael growled. "And I don't think you'd find that the Mesaliko or the general population of Roswell are any too protective of them."
"The travelers are stranded here," Max pointed out. "Like we were. Like we are. Maybe they had no choice about mixing into the local population and hiding out."
"Yeah, well they could have summoned up friendly illusions," Michael said. "They're getting back what they've been giving."
Max started to argue, feeling tired and frustrated. No matter which way he turned lately, it seemed like he could do nothing right. Everything that he'd seen that was good in his life had slipped through his fingers. He'd never felt more alone in his life.
"Michael's right, Max," Liz said. "However we do it, the travelers have to be stopped."
Valenti stepped forward, snapping on a flashlight. "All this talk is putting us behind. And it could just be water under the bridge. If we get up there and have a look at that ship, it's real possible that we're not going to be able to handle it. We may be sending for the military ourselves." He paused, looking around the group. "Let's start with a look, then see where that takes us."
No one argued with the logic Valenti presented. Max nodded.
"I've got extra flashlights in the back of the SUV," Valenti said. "Let's break them out and get to it."
Valenti led the way through the craggy ravines that wind and water had cut through the hills in years past. Isabel walked at his side, giving directions as they were needed.
Max brought up the rear of the line, watching as Liz and Maria trailed Michael. Kyle followed them, gazing nervously all around.
"Why aren't they attacking?" Kyle asked.
Before the words finished echoing slightly through the ravine, a flitting hum filled the chill night air. The sound approached quickly, coming in from ahead of them.
"Maxwell!" Michael called.
Only a split second behind in reacting, Max shoved his hands out and poured energy into the force field. Before the drones reached their position, lightning blasted the rocks in front of the group and thunder exploded from the hillside.
Max held the barrier in place, not knowing what would happen if the lightning struck the force field, but knowing only bad things could come of the lightning hitting humans or alien hybrids. Moonlight glinted against the metallic edges of the flying drones. The leading edge of the attack struck the energy barrier and burst into bright sparks.
Then a lightning bolt zigzagged into the barrier. Max flew backward, feeling as though he'd been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. He crashed against the rock wall behind him and felt the wind driven from his lungs. His vision blurred, but he clearly saw that the barrier was no longer there to protect them.
Valenti shouldered his shotgun and fired into the mass of drones again and again. The explosions of gunfire echoed throughout the hillside. The buckshot blew holes through the drones, creating sprays of electrical discharges. Still, dozens of the drones vectored in on the group.
Max struggled to project the shield again and couldn't. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't use his power.
Unfazed by the lightning touching down around him and blasting fist-size craters from the rocky walls of the raving, Michael stepped forward and raised his hands. His hands pulsed with energy for a heartbeat, then he unleashed the force.
Twin funnels of pale blue-white energy sizzled through the air. When the energy bolts touched the drones, they sparked and burst, unleashing still more energy that took out the drones behind them. In seconds the chain reaction created by Michael's attack left the air clear and an absence of lightning bolts.
"Wow," Michael said in low voice.
Max wasn't too surprised. He'd seen Michael take out a car with his power before, and the drones were a lot smaller and more fragile.
"It was the connection between the drones," Isabel said. "However they're tied to one another so that they operate with one mind, that connection pulls Michael's power through them. There must be some kind of electrical bonding. That's how they're able to generate the lightning strikes."
"Makes them go up like a string of firecrackers," Michael said.
Valenti reloaded the shotgun with shells from his pocket. He glanced at Isabel. "How much farther?"
"Not much." Isabel set off quickly, forcing Valenti to hurry to run at her side.
Max pushed himself off the rock wall. His breath still rasped into his lungs, and he felt light-headed.
Liz looked back at him. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Max nodded, knowing if she were really concerned she would be back checking on him. The distance between them in that moment felt absolute.
"I'm fine," he said, and tried not to let the weakness in his legs and knees show as he lurched into motion after them. He maintained a steady jog, alert to any movement around them that might indicate another group of drones had located them. River Dog had told Isabel that what one of the drones knew, they all knew.
Only a few moments later, they reached a jagged tear in the hillside. The opening looked more like a wound than the mouth to a cave. Below, following the line of the grade, a mass of stones and dirt stood out against the desert sand. Some of the dirt still looked damp and dark, like it had been only just dug out.
"They've been working to free the ship." Isabel played her light over the cave mouth. "No one comes out here often, so they haven't been discovered."
"How long have they been working?" Max asked.
"Since the attack," Isabel answered.
Max shone his flashlight into the gullet of the cave. "According to River Dog, that attack took place thousands of years ago."
"The information River Dog has gotten from the travelers is confusing," Isabel said. "The drones and travelers have no concept of how much time has passed. Only that the world around them has been changed. River Dog thinks they were in some kind of hibernation."
"Were they waiting to be rescued?" Kyle asked.
Isabel hesitated. "Maybe."
"Guess they didn't know that once you're abandoned here you pretty much stay lost," Michael said.
"News flash," Maria said. "Does anybody know why they haven't attacked us again? I mean, if we're getting close to their nest or whatever, shouldn't they be all over us?"
"Maybe they're scared," Liz suggested. "Evidently they're not prepared for Michael's powers."
Max took a tighter grip on the flashlight he carried. "There's only one way to find out." He stepped forward, easing into the cave opening and fully expecting the drones to attack at any moment.
Valenti matched him stride for stride, staying on Max's right and keeping the shotgun at the ready. The beam of their flashlights barely pushed back the black shadows that swelled within the throat of the cavern.
"How did the spaceship get so buried?" Kyle whispered.
"River Dog thinks the ship was mostly buried during the initial impact," Isabel replied. "After that the shifting desert buried the ship the rest of the way."
Max's flashlight picked up patches of rusty steel tracks between the dirt, rock, and debris. A small mine car was only a little farther up ahead, overturned near one side of the tunnel.
"This is one of the dig sites Leroy Wilkins worked," Valenti said. "It's on Mesaliko lands, so when the tribal police found him here, they bounced him."
"Maybe this is where Swanson found the drone he wore in the pouch around his neck," Liz said.
"Could be," Valenti agreed. "Swanson was still around back then."
Before Valenti's words could die away, the cave throat filled with the familiar hum of miniature winds. Max raised a shield, filling the cave with the energy barrier. The drones slammed into the force field and imploded, leaving bright sparks and their aftereffects.