He was alone. All alone.
Cheyenne, Wyoming 'I don't remember anything more,' Liz said. 'I'm sorry. These precognitive flashes aren't exactly linear. And I can't control when I get them. “
'So the only clue we have is that Isabel is apparently put on a plane first,' Kyle said, wiping fried chicken grease off his fingers. 'Easy. So we keep her from getting on any planes. “
'That's not so easy to do when the reason she was on the plane appears to be because she was in custody' Maria said. 'It sounds like our real goal is to keep her from getting captured in the first place. “
'Brilliant,' Michael said, digging into a tub of soggy coleslaw with his plastic spork. 'I think that's the general idea for all of us. “
Maria glared at Michael but said nothing.
'Knowing that we're in more and more danger the longer we stay in Cheyenne, we need to decide how we're getting out of here,' Isabel said, breaking the momentary silence. She was idly playing with her long braid.
'But we've still got unfinished business here,' Kyle said.
'You're right,' Michael said. 'We left a bunch of stuff at the hotel. Doesn't make sense to ditch what's left of our worldly possessions if we don't have to. “
Kyle shook his head, looking exasperated. 'Who cares about that? There are two people who are in the hospital because of us. Are we really going to just abandon the people who got hurt because of us? “
'Are you still suggesting that Max try to sneak into the hospital and heal them?' Michael asked.
Kyle nodded. 'Why not? It's not like he hasn't done the same thing before. In fact, it seems like every few months back in Roswell he was sneaking into a hospital to heal somebody. And Maria and Isabel have had experience working as candy stripers more than once. “
Max winced. Early in his relationship with Liz, he had failed to heal her beloved grandmother, who was dying. He didn't think she held it against him, but he still felt guilty about having let her down.
'I agree with Kyle,' Isabel said. 'Those people wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for us. I think we can help them and not get caught. Like Kyle said, we've done it before. “
'We've also been shot at before, and I don't want to repeat that experience,' Michael said, his tone acidic. 'I vote no. “
'I vote yes,' Maria said, offering a half-apologetic look to Michael.
Max made a decision. 'It's not up for a vote. We're going to help them. Then we're going to get our stuff. And then we're getting out of Cheyenne. “
'How do we know that deciding to get out of Cheyenne isn't what gets Isabel captured? “
'Don't go there, E. T.,' Maria said, shaking her head. 'We're sunk if we start getting so freaked out about Liz's psychic hot line that we can't make any decisions. “
''We' don't seem to need to make any decisions,' Michael said, leveling his insolent gaze straight at Max. 'Our Mighty King has spoken. “
'Let's not go through this again, Michael,' Max said, an edge of anger creeping into his voice in spite of himself. Less than a year earlier, Michael had challenged Max's leadership one too many times. He'd even managed to steal the Antarian royal seal Max carried embedded within him. But Max had taken it back, and Michael had pretty much toed the line since then.
'Before you go off making pronouncements, there's one thing we haven't really talked about,' Maria said. Max assumed her edgy tone was in defense of Michael. 'When you heal people, you transfer some of your alien essence into them. Look at what's happened to Liz. How do we know it won't happen to Kyle? You've healed him twice now. And how about his dad? Or, for that matter, what about Brody's daughter, and all those sick kids you healed Christmas before last? Or any of the others? “
'We don't know that the power transfer works on everybody' Isabel said.
'Actually, I think it's started to work on me already,' Kyle said. Everyone looked at him, but only Maria's face revealed any shock. Max remembered she had been the only one unconscious back in the mall's corridor. She hadn't witnessed Kyle's surprising psionic episode.
'1 mean, what was going on with me back at the mall?' Kyle said. 'It was like I was inside a bunch of people's heads all at once, but I wasn't, like, telepathic or anything. “
'Didn't Nasedo say that your powers come from the parts of the brain that aren't fully used in most humans?' Liz asked, looking toward Michael.
'Pretty much,' Michael responded. 'He told me that when we were engineered, we were given the capacity to do everything the human brain is capable of. He said that humans were wasteful, that they didn't even reach a small part of their brains' potential. We're programmed to be thousands of years ahead of mankind. “
'Minimal brain use isn't exactly a new theory,' Liz said. 'Science-fiction writers have been using that as a plot device for years. In order to be smarter or more powerful, we just need to use our whole brain instead of only a fraction of it. “
'So Nasedo said that none of your powers come from the fact that you're aliens?' Maria said, looking confused. 'We could do all the things you can do if we just thought harder? “
'I don't think that's quite it,' Max said. 'From what Nasedo said, there are things we can do that were engineered into us. That's clear, given that some of us can do things the others can't. And our corresponding Dupes from New York apparently had the same powers as we do… or at least very similar ones. “
'Not to get too techno-geeky, but the brain runs on electrical impulses, and our thoughts are an extension of those impulses,' Liz said. 'Since I seem to have electrical powers and intermittent precognition, maybe Max's powers jump-started those neural pathways in my brain. “
'That might explain whatever happened to me today,' Kyle said. 'It felt like I was, I don't know, broadcasting everyone's thoughts or… it was weird. “
'So, we know that two of the people Max has healed have started to develop hyperbrains,' Maria said. 'But both of them were shot, and dying. So was Kyle's dad. That's different from all the sick kids he healed. So is it possible they won't develop into the New Mutants because they weren't bleeding from gunshot wounds when they were healed? “
Isabel waved her hands in front of her. 'Okay, enough. We don't know whether everyone Max heals will develop alien powers or not. So the question becomes: Do we risk our safety helping these people or not? “
'We're helping them,' Max said. Michael rolled his eyes. 'But first, we get some sleep. Everybody. “
He turned toward Kyle. 'Please set your watch alarm for two A.M. That's when the bars close. If there's any time the hospital might be busiest at night, that's when it will be. “
'Are you thinking some drunks might get into a car wreck tonight to create a diversion for us?' Michael said, smirking at Max.
'There doesn't seem to be much else for the locals to do in this town at night besides hit the cowboy bars,' Max said. He looked around the van at the others. 'We'll go over everything at two. But first, we all need to get some sleep and recharge our batteries. “
A few minutes later, everyone in the group seemed to have made the best of its situation. Michael and Maria were in the very back of the Microbus, while Max, Liz, and Isabel tried to get comfortable in the center section. Kyle occupied the driver's seat, his body leaning over onto the window, his legs propped up on the passenger seat. It wasn't a comfortable arrangement, but it wasn't the first time they had slept this way. At least this time they didn't have their luggage to contend with as well. Of course, that meant they didn't have their pillows, either.
For some time after everyone else's breathing had settled into the smooth and
