They're each sharing a little scrap of information about my planet, Max thought. This was too cool.
Another presence touched him. He recognized the aura instantly. It belonged to Ray Iburg, Max's boss at the UFO museum, and the only adult who had survived the crash. 'Ray!' Max cried, not sure if he was actually using his vocal cords to shout the name or just his brain. 'Ray, you saved my life. You, and Michael, and Isabel! I never thought you guys would make it back with the communication crystals in time! I don't even know what to say, how to thank you. All I know is we're going to have to have a serious party-maybe at the museum after we close tomorrow night.'
An image filled Max's brain, an image of him and Ray in the museum, both dressed in the goofy sequined Elvis outfits Ray had had made, both laughing so hard, their faces were all scrunched up.
Ray was showing him one of the great times they'd had together. But the emotion Max was getting off Ray didn't match the picture. He wasn't getting anything close to laughter. There was relief, and sadness, and something that felt like a good-bye.
Another presence touched Max, breaking his connection with Ray. The image of the control panel of a spaceship replaced the image of Max and Ray. Knowledge about the mechanics of the panel filled his brain. Max tried to shove it away. He needed to connect with Ray again. What was going on with him? Why was there all that sadness pulsing off him?
'Ray!' Max called. 'Where are you?'
Another new presence touched Max, and the sound of a low clacking surrounded him. With the sound came information-the clacking was a warning that a poisonous insect was nearby.
Max didn't care about that right now. 'Ray!' he shouted. But there was no answer. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
Max opened his fingers, allowing the communication crystals to fall free of his hand. He could still feel the presences around him. Another one touched him, showing him the image of a being changing shape as it stepped out of a spaceship.
'Stop! Just stop!' Max yelled. He sat up in bed and immediately turned to his sister. 'Isabel, tell me what happened to Ray,' he demanded.
'Are you okay?' Liz cried. She pressed her palm against his forehead. 'You look so much better. Are you-'
Max didn't take his eyes off Isabel. 'I'm fine,' he interrupted. 'I just need to know what happened to Ray.'
The devastated expression on Isabel's face told him everything. But he still needed to hear it.
'He's dead. Sheriff Valenti shot him,' Isabel answered. 'Ray was trying to save me, and Valenti shot him.' Tears welled up in her blue eyes, and she wiped them away with a vicious sweep of her hand.
Liz sat down on the bed and pulled Max close to her. He could tell from her breathing that she was trying not to cry. 'I knew,' Max whispered against her shoulder, the wool of her sweater making tiny scratches across his cheek. 'I knew. That's why he was saying good-bye.'
'What about Michael?' Maria asked, her voice quaking.
Max jerked up his head. Michael?
'The last time I saw him, he was fighting off a couple of guards,' Isabel answered. Max could tell she was working hard to keep the emotion out of her voice. Michael Guerin was like a second brother to her. And to Max.
'And you left him there?' Maria cried, her voice climbing into a shriek.
'That's right. I left him there.' Isabel's words came out hard and clipped. 'I knew there was a chance he would survive on his own. But there was no way Max was going to live if I didn't get back here with the crystals.'
Max felt the acid in his stomach start to bubble. Isabel had sacrificed Michael for him. If she'd stayed and helped him take out the guards, would Michael-
'He could still be alive,' Liz said, pulling him away from this thoughts. 'We've got to get out there right now. We've got to-'
'No,' Alex interrupted. 'They'll be expecting us. We'd never make it in.'
'You're saying we should just leave him there?' Max demanded. There was no way that was happening.
'No, we won't leave him there,' Alex shot back, obviously peeved. 'But we have to make a plan, let a little time go by so we can catch them when they're not standing at the front door with an arsenal.'
'I don't care what the rest of you do. I'm going to the compound. Now.' Maria turned toward the door.
'Wait. I'm going with you,' Max answered.
Alex moved to block the door. 'Actually, neither of you is going anywhere.' He turned to Isabel. 'You said Michael was fighting off a couple of guards. That means they weren't using their machine guns on him, right?'
Machine guns, Max thought. Is that what Valenti used on Ray? A machine gun? Max tried not to imagine Ray's body jerking while the bullets hit.
'They were using…' Isabel swallowed. 'I think they were cattle prods. Something that gave an electrical charge.'
'Okay, so they must not want him dead,' Alex continued. 'Best-case scenario, he got away and is heading back here. Worst-case scenario, he's being held prisoner. But alive. We need to give him a little time to show up. If he doesn't, we'll make plans, and we'll get him out.'
'Alex is right,' Isabel said. 'We go in now, it's over for all of us. If we wait until they're not expecting us, we at least have a shot.'
'All right. I hate the thought of leaving Michael in there. But I think we have to do it,' Liz agreed.
Alex glanced from Maria to Max. 'You two, promise that you won't do anything stupid. No one goes to the compound before we come up with a strategy to get us all back out alive.'
'Yeah, yeah. Okay. But we better come up with this brilliant strategy real soon,' Max said.
Maria hesitated. 'I'm with Max,' she finally said. Then she shoved past Alex and bolted.
'Do you all mind just leaving me alone for a while? I'm really wiped out,' Max said. It wasn't true. Connecting to the collective consciousness had left him feeling strong and invigorated. But he needed time to think, to process.
Ray was dead. Michael was captured. And it was all Max's fault. They wouldn't have been in the compound if he hadn't gotten sick.
He couldn't do anything about Ray. But he could do something about Michael. Yeah, he might wait a few days. But he would free Michael.
No matter what it took.
Michael Guerin paced around his cell, studying the glass walls. Well, what looked like glass walls. They were probably made of something a lot stronger. But not strong enough to keep him in if he really wanted to get out. Molecules were molecules. He could crush some of those molecules together and make a nice hole, one big enough for him to stroll through without even ducking his head.
But there was a problem. Make that two problems-two guards with machine guns and those cattle prods or whatever they were. If there were only one, Michael would have taken a shot at busting out. Yeah, one guard would still have the gun and the cattle prod. But Michael had the power to pick a vein, any vein, in the guard's head, then give the lucky winner vein a good squeeze. It would be lights-out for the guard. Uh-huh.
But there were two guards, and both had their eyes locked on him. It's like they didn't even allow themselves to blink at the same time. But if Michael didn't make any sudden moves or anything, for, say, six months or a year, they might start to slack off.
Michael stifled a groan as he flopped back on the bed. Man, there wasn't even a TV in here or anything. The only entertainment he had was a whole bunch of empty cells exactly like his. And the guards.
He sat back up and scanned the floor. Weren't prison cells supposed to come with a mouse or a spider? Something for the prisoner to slowly make friends with? My inmate rights are definitely being violated here, he thought. Call the warden.
At least Max and Isabel were okay. He could focus on that. A while ago, he wasn't sure how long-it was tough keeping track of time in this windowless hellhole-he'd felt a burst of overwhelming joy and relief from Isabel. That meant Isabel got out of the compound safely. And hopefully, that Max made the connection to the collective
