Greg Cox
Loose ends
(Roswell’-01)
From the television series developed by Jason Katims
TV Series Placement: Not Available
Eight hundred feet underground…and deep into danger.
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Be sure to look for new titles in this suspense series Available from POCKET BOOKS
Don't miss any books in the original series: ROSWELL HIGH
#1 The Outsider
#2 The Wild One
#3 The Seeker
#4 The Watcher
#5 The Intruder
#6 The Stowaway
#7 The Vanished
#8 The Rebel
#9 The Dark One
#10 The Salvation
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The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as 'unsold and destroyed.'
Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this 'stripped book.* This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 ISBN: 0-7434-1834 -4 First Pocket Books printing May 2001 POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon amp; Schuster, Inc.
Thanks to Ingrid van der Leeden and Samantha Schutz for providing plenty of editorial support, and assistance, and to my agents, Russ Galen and Anna Ghosh, for working out the legal details. Also, thanks to the talented cast, crew, and creators of Roswell for supplying both inspiration and enjoyment, and to the helpful folks at alt.tv.roswell and CrashDown.com for much invaluable information on Roswell lore and trivia. Finally, thanks as ever to Karen and Alex, for help on the home front while I was writing this book.
PROLOGUE.
What are you doing? I told you never to call me here. It's too dangerous!'Shut up. This line is secure, believe me. Have you got it?'
'Not yet, but I will. I know where it is, and I know how to get to it.'You'd better. There's a lot at stake here, for both of us. Don't screw it up.'I won't! I promise! Everything's on schedule, just like we planned.'Good. You know where to meet me. Be there on time, and don't even think about double-crossing me. You know what happened to the last guy who tried that…'
1.
'Oo, you really think Hilary might be a Skin?'I'm not saying it's for sure. I'm just saying that it's a possibility.'Max Evans and Michael Guerin huddled over a copy of USA Today, intently examining the day's news in search of hints of hostile alien activity. Max didn't need a highlighter to mark the article in question; he just ran his finger over the black-and-white newsprint and the selected headline acquired a bright yellow background. 'What about Kathie Lee?' he asked, turning to the next page of the paper. 'I always thought there was something kind of unnatural about her.'Says my favorite human-alien hybrid, Liz Parker thought silently. But that wasn't really fair, the petite brunette admitted to herself; in many ways, and despite his extraterrestrial origins, Max was the most human person she knew. As she knew better than anyone else, there was nothing alien at all about his heart.
It was a quiet Thursday afternoon at the Crashdown Cafe, Roswell, New Mexico's finest alien-themed diner, and the gang's usual after school hangout. Watercolor paintings of strange alien creatures decorated the walls while a mannequin in a silver spacesuit greeted customers by the front door. Liz sat at one of the restaurant's rear booths, opposite Max and Michael, while Max's sister Isabel, and their friend Alex Whitman, occupied the adjacent booth, close enough to take part in the proceedings if they felt like it. Liz knew that Alex would have preferred to have had Isabel all to himself, but guessed that he'd settle for just sharing the same booth with her. Hope things are going okay between them, Liz thought. Isabel can be pretty moody sometimes.
'Kathie Lee?' Maria DeLuca asked, rolling her large olive-green eyes. Her silver waitress's apron mimicked the unearthly countenance of your standard-model alien abductor as she stood beside the two rear booths. Shiny tinfoil antennae bobbed above her long, strawberry-blond hair. The dinner rush hadn't started yet, so Maria was free to kill time with her friends. 'Don't you think maybe you guys are getting a wee bit paranoid?'Michael bristled indignantly, not unlike his unruly brown hair. 'This is serious business. Maybe you can joke about it, but some of us can't afford to overlook any possibilities.' Empty bottles of Tabasco sauce littered the table-top, evidence of his and Max's strenuous strategy session. 'You can never tell where the Skins might strike next.'
'Hey, you don't need to bite my head off, alien-boy,' Maria retorted. Scanning quickly to make sure that no new customers had arrived, she slid into the booth beside Liz. 'I know all about the evil alien invasion, remember?
