The Vanished

think I'm gonna have much luck, though. I don't have the right software. And I don't think it's anything we can pick up at The Wiz.'

Adam flipped open the screen and hit the power button. The computer whirred to life. 'You don't need software,' he said. 'I used to do this all the time at the compound.'

He opened up one of the files, and it flashed onto the screen-a jumbled mass of gibberish.

'Wait a minute,' Michael said, shifting in his tight seat. 'What do you mean, you don't need software?'

Adam smiled. 'You guys are going to love this,' he said. He loved it when he could show his friends a new power. At least then he didn't feel like the world's biggest two-year-old, asking stuff like, 'What's Elvis?'

'It's like that Magic Eye book Ray had in the living room,' he explained. 'All you have to do is stare at the code for a while and eventually your brain sorts through the garbage and you can read the file.'

'Seriously?' Isabel asked. 'It's that simple?'

Adam shrugged. 'Well, it takes some concentration, but it's not that hard.'

'Cool. We have a secret weapon,' Maria joked.

Taking a deep breath, Adam gazed at the screen. You can do this, he thought. Sheriff Valenti hadn't exactly been a candidate for Father of the Year. But Valenti had been good at teaching Adam how to use his powers in many different, useful ways, even if most of those ways were violent. Adam had always been told that those practice exercises were 'games,' when actually Valenti was training him to be a living weapon or experimenting on him like a lab rat.

What a difference it was to use his powers to help his friends instead of to destroy Valenti's enemies.

For the next ten minutes Adam stared at the screen. His eyes started to burn, and a little pinprick of pain started digging into the back of his neck. But nothing was coming together. No pattern emerged. Frustrated, Adam closed the file and opened another in the folder.

'Tough going?' Michael asked.

'It's like the most complex code or cipher I've ever seen… times ten,' Adam explained.

'Well, keep at it,' Michael said. 'You're the only one of us who can even begin to make sense out of that garbage.'

Adam nodded, hoping Michael couldn't see how much what he'd just said meant to Adam. He concentrated on the new file and felt a little jolt as the symbols in front of him seemed to separate into distinct layers. The first four layers were just screens to confuse anyone who got their hands on this file, but the fifth layer…

The fifth layer had words.

As Adam read, his stomach turned over in revulsion. He couldn't believe that there were people on this planet who would do such a thing… plan such a thing. The very idea of what he was reading made him want to cry, scream, tear out his hair-and fight back.

When he had finished, Adam sat for a moment, absorbing the magnitude of the horror he'd just read. How was he supposed to tell his friends?

'Um… you guys?' Adam called out, interrupting various conversations floating around the Jeep. 'I managed to decode one of the files.'

Instantly he had everyone's attention. The way Liz's eyes focused on him made Adam swallow with nervousness, so he turned to look at Michael.

'It's plans for a weapon,' Adam said. 'A chemical weapon.'

'What does it do?' Maria asked.

Adam closed his eyes.

'It recognizes alien life-forms-and destroys them.'

***

Maria's heart was slamming against her rib cage as she dug in her woven purse for her vial of cedar oil. She knew it would calm her down, and she'd never needed calming more badly than she did at that moment.

'A chemical weapon?' Isabel said faintly.

'It looks like all they have to do is release this gas into the air and it takes effect immediately,' Adam said slowly. 'But only on extraterrestrial cells.'

'What is wrong with these people?' Isabel asked. 'Why do they hate us so much?'

Maria found the bottle she was looking for, unscrewed the cap, and inhaled. She tried to picture herself walking through a forest of the ancient trees, but all she could see was people she loved lying dead on the ground.

'Houston, we have a problem,' Michael announced. 'Another one.'

Maria followed his gaze and caught a glimpse of flashing lights. Red and blue lights. A police cruiser was approaching up the highway. With a gasp Maria spilled the entire contents of the vial into her lap.

'Max, you'd better pull over,' Liz said.

'Can't we just blow out the police car's tires, too?' Adam asked.

'Not a good idea,' Michael answered. 'They could just radio ahead and get someone else to stop us.'

'Maria, can't you do something about that smell?' Isabel asked. 'It's gagging me.'

'We're in a Jeep. Deal,' Maria snapped as Max slowed down and drove onto the shoulder.

The cruiser pulled up behind them, and Maria was stunned to see Sheriff Dodson climb out of the police car and stride up the road, carrying a lumpy, rolled package.

Is she Clean Slate? Maria thought frantically. Is that one of the Major's chemical weapons she's carrying?

'This is all we need,' Isabel whispered.

The sheriff stopped next to Maria and nailed her with a cool glance that made Maria want to confess everything, even stuff she hadn't done. 'Hi,' Maria said in a rush. 'I know we're not supposed to ride with two of us in the front seat like this, but the Jeep was the best car to take camping, and-'

'No, you're not supposed to ride like that,' Sheriff Dodson said. 'But that's not why I'm here.' Then she handed Maria the package she was carrying. Maria just stared at it in her hands, unable to recognize it for a moment.

'It's your sleeping bag,' the sheriff said. 'You forgot it, and I told your mom I'd track you down and give it to you.'

'Oh, thanks,' Maria said. She wondered if she sounded as dumbfounded as she felt.

Then Sheriff Dodson got a whiff of the cedar oil. 'That's some interesting perfume you're wearing, Maria.'

Maria giggled uncontrollably. A voice in the back of her mind told her she was acting like a freak, but she was too nervous to stop. 'It's cedar oil,' she exclaimed through her laughter. 'It was an accident! I'm going to smell like this all day! Maybe even for the rest of my life.'

Shut up, she ordered herself. Please, please, just shut up and let Sheriff Dodson go.

'Are you okay?' Sheriff Dodson asked, peering through the window at the rest of Maria's friends. Maria's heart pounded. The sheriff was probably thinking her bizarre behavior was drug induced or something.

She took a deep breath. 'I'm fine,' she said. 'I just feel like an idiot… You know, making you come out here with my bag and spilling oil all over me.' She paused and looked into the sheriffs amused face. Maria blushed. 'Sorry.'

'That's okay,' Sheriff Dodson said. She patted the side of the Jeep. 'You kids have fun.' Then with a small wave she turned and headed back to her cruiser.

Maria pressed her hands to her forehead and groaned.

'I feel like I just swallowed a pair of spiked heels,' Isabel said.

'That was pretty intense,' Max agreed. He waited for Sheriff Dodson's car to pass them before he headed back out onto the road.

'Maria,' Michael said, 'I'd suggest you start checking that sleeping bag for some sort of tracking device.'

Maria giggled, clutching the bag to her chest.

Michael just looked at her. 'I'm not kidding.'

***