The Seeker

'It's something the hunters use to kill from a great distance,' Ray answered. 'They use their minds as weapons. Their power is staggering.'

'Kill?' Michael exploded. 'Someone's trying to kill Maria?'

'It looks that way,' Ray said.

'But you're saying an alien did this,' Max jumped in. 'Why would an alien target Maria?'

'Good question,' Ray said. 'I don't-'

'I have a better question,' Michael interrupted. 'How do we stop them? What do we have to do to save Maria?' He stared down at her face-and saw her eyelids flutter. 'She moved!' he cried.

He rubbed her hand between his. 'Maria, can you hear me?' Michael demanded. 'Are you okay?'

Her eyes slowly opened. They had lost their horrible blank expression. 'Thirsty,' she mumbled.

'I'll get water,' Isabel said.

Michael brushed Maria's hair away from her face. He smoothed her shirt down over her stomach. He couldn't seem to stop touching her. 'You scared me,' he said.

'Sorry.' Maria's voice was thick and scratchy. Isabel rushed back in and handed Michael a glass of water. He wrapped one arm around Maria's shoulders and helped her sit up enough to drink.

'Do you feel well enough to tell us what happened?' Ray asked.

'I don't know what happened. How did I get here? What-' She was interrupted by a frantic pounding on the front door.

'I got it,' Max said. He hurried out of the room and returned a moment later followed by Alex and Liz.

'Are you okay, Maria?' Liz cried.

'What happened?' Alex half yelled.

'I stopped by Maria's and found her passed out on the floor,' Michael explained. 'She had these red spots all over her.'

Maria raised her hand in front of her face. She gave a soft whimper when she saw the spots.

Michael tightened his arm around her. He knew it was going to be really hard for her to hear the rest. 'Ray says alien bounty hunters were after her.' He locked eyes with Maria. 'They're using some kind of mental weapon on you, but we're going to figure out a way to stop them. Right?' he asked Ray.

Ray didn't give Michael the answer he wanted. He didn't say he knew exactly how to stop the bounty hunters. He just smiled at Maria. 'First I think we need more information,' he said. 'Tell me about your psychic powers-and the spells you get.'

'She doesn't have any psychic powers,' Liz burst out.

Maria looked up at Liz. 'Actually, I do. I was going to tell you. I just-'

'Maria,' Alex said gently, 'just tell us the facts.'

'I… I found a ring in the mall, a ring with a strange stone,' she said slowly.

A ring? Michael thought. Maria hadn't told him about that.

She cleared her throat, and Michael gave her another sip of water. 'The stone helped me tap into psychic powers I didn't even know I had. Healing. And I could touch any object and then see the person it belonged to-know exactly what they were doing right at that second.'

Michael could feel Maria trembling. But she was holding it together, telling them what they needed to know.

'Can I see the ring?' Ray asked.

Maria pulled the gold chain off her neck and handed it to Ray. A ring set with a green-purple stone hung on the end.

Ray ran one finger over the stone. 'It's one of the Stones of Midnight,' he said, his voice hushed and solemn. 'I never thought I would hold one in my hand.'

Isabel leaned over for a look. 'That's Nikolas's ring!' she cried.

'I found it the night… the night he, you know,' Maria said. 'I didn't know it was his.'

It was good to hear her talking. Plus her skin was cooler and those little red dots were gone. He'd been so afraid… Michael didn't even want to complete the thought.

'How could Nikolas have gotten the Stone?' Max asked.

'The Stone was stolen by the stowaway on our ship,' Ray reminded them. 'Maybe someone found it at the crash site. Or somehow it was attached to Nikolas's pod-'

'Who cares about that right now,' Michael snapped. 'We have to stay focused on Maria.'

'Well, now I know why the bounty hunters have targeted Maria,' Ray said. 'They're after the Stone. The consortium must have hired them to track down the fugitive and retrieve it.'

Ray ran his fingers through his thinning gray-brown hair. 'Every time Maria used the power of the Stone-what she thought was her psychic power-she was sending a signal to the bounty hunters, helping them track her down. They've obviously gotten close enough to begin using mental warfare against her.'

Maria cleared her throat again. 'Wouldn't they be able to tell I wasn't an alien?' she asked.

'Not necessarily,' Ray answered. 'The hunters are probably still too far away to tell anything except that the Stone is being used.'

'So if Maria stops using the Stone, it's over, right?' Michael asked. 'If she doesn't use it, she doesn't send out a signal, and the bounty hunters can't find her, right?'

'I don't think they'll be able to find Maria if she doesn't use the Stone again,' Ray agreed.

'Good. Problem solved. I'm taking her home,' Michael said.

He decided he would sleep on her floor. No, not sleep. Lie on her floor and watch her, make sure she was okay.

'I'm fine,' Maria protested. But she sounded awful. And Michael was pretty sure if he moved his arm, she wouldn't be able to hold herself upright.

'What I'm afraid of is that the bounty hunters may have been able to target Maria's general location,' Ray added. 'If they can't find her, they may decide to do something drastic-like destroy the whole town. That way they'd be sure of killing her. And the Stone would still be safe. There isn't a weapon that can destroy it.'

'So we get in the Jeep right now and get as far away as possible,' Michael said.

'And leave everyone else to die?' Liz exclaimed. 'I don't think so.'

'I was so stupid. I actually thought I had some kind of special power. I thought the Stone was just helping me use it,' Maria cried.

'It wasn't stupid. Were you supposed to think you'd found an alien power stone in the mall?' Liz asked.

'So we need a plan,' Alex said. 'Anyone have any ideas?'

'Remember how we got our friend the sheriff off Max's trail right after he healed me?' Liz asked. 'We convinced Valenti the alien he was looking for was dead. Could we pull the same kind of thing on the bounty hunters?'

'Yeah, if they thought I was dead, they'd stop trying to kill me-and there would be no reason for them to hurt anyone else,' Maria said.

'There is a way… but it's dangerous,' Max answered.

Dangerous. That was not a word Michael wanted to hear in connection with Maria.

'Maria could use the ring to call the bounty hunters to her,' Max continued. 'Then I'll use my power to stop her heart. Just for a few seconds, just long enough to convince the bounty hunters she's dead. Then I could start it again.'

Fury slammed through Michael. How could Max even think about putting Maria in that kind of situation? 'There is no way I'm letting you do something like that,' he spat out.

Maria tightened her grip on his hand. 'It's not your decision. It's mine,' she said firmly. 'And I'm doing it.'

*** 14 ***

Maria stared down at her arm. She wished the red dots would reappear. When the dots came back, that would mean the bounty hunters had targeted her again-and that she could get this over with. She hated the waiting, knowing that soon she was going to die.