Valenti shouldered his shotgun and fired into the mass of drones again and again. The explosions of gunfire echoed throughout the hillside. The buckshot blew holes through the drones, creating sprays of electrical discharges. Still, dozens of the drones vectored in on the group.
Max struggled to project the shield again and couldn't. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't use his power.
Unfazed by the lightning touching down around him and blasting fist-size craters from the rocky walls of the raving, Michael stepped forward and raised his hands. His hands pulsed with energy for a heartbeat, then he unleashed the force.
Twin funnels of pale blue-white energy sizzled through the air. When the energy bolts touched the drones, they sparked and burst, unleashing still more energy that took out the drones behind them. In seconds the chain reaction created by Michael's attack left the air clear and an absence of lightning bolts.
'Wow,' Michael said in low voice.
Max wasn't too surprised. He'd seen Michael take out a car with his power before, and the drones were a lot smaller and more fragile.
'It was the connection between the drones,' Isabel said. 'However they're tied to one another so that they operate with one mind, that connection pulls Michael's power through them. There must be some kind of electrical bonding. That's how they're able to generate the lightning strikes.'
'Makes them go up like a string of firecrackers,' Michael said.
Valenti reloaded the shotgun with shells from his pocket. He glanced at Isabel. 'How much farther?'
'Not much.' Isabel set off quickly, forcing Valenti to hurry to run at her side.
Max pushed himself off the rock wall. His breath still rasped into his lungs, and he felt light-headed.
Liz looked back at him. 'Are you all right?' she asked.
Max nodded, knowing if she were really concerned she would be back checking on him. The distance between them in that moment felt absolute.
'I'm fine,' he said, and tried not to let the weakness in his legs and knees show as he lurched into motion after them. He maintained a steady jog, alert to any movement around them that might indicate another group of drones had located them. River Dog had told Isabel that what one of the drones knew, they all knew.
Only a few moments later, they reached a jagged tear in the hillside. The opening looked more like a wound than the mouth to a cave. Below, following the line of the grade, a mass of stones and dirt stood out against the desert sand. Some of the dirt still looked damp and dark, like it had been only just dug out.
'They've been working to free the ship.' Isabel played her light over the cave mouth. 'No one comes out here often, so they haven't been discovered.'
'How long have they been working?' Max asked.
'Since the attack,' Isabel answered.
Max shone his flashlight into the gullet of the cave. 'According to River Dog, that attack took place thousands of years ago.'
'The information River Dog has gotten from the travelers is confusing,' Isabel said. 'The drones and travelers have no concept of how much time has passed. Only that the world around them has been changed. River Dog thinks they were in some kind of hibernation.'
'Were they waiting to be rescued?' Kyle asked.
Isabel hesitated. 'Maybe.'
'Guess they didn't know that once you're abandoned here you pretty much stay lost,' Michael said.
'News flash,' Maria said. 'Does anybody know why they haven't attacked us again? I mean, if we're getting close to their nest or whatever, shouldn't they be all over us?'
'Maybe they're scared,' Liz suggested. 'Evidently they're not prepared for Michael's powers.'
Max took a tighter grip on the flashlight he carried. 'There's only one way to find out.' He stepped forward, easing into the cave opening and fully expecting the drones to attack at any moment.
Valenti matched him stride for stride, staying on Max's right and keeping the shotgun at the ready. The beam of their flashlights barely pushed back the black shadows that swelled within the throat of the cavern.
'How did the spaceship get so buried?' Kyle whispered.
'River Dog thinks the ship was mostly buried during the initial impact,' Isabel replied. 'After that the shifting desert buried the ship the rest of the way.'
Max's flashlight picked up patches of rusty steel tracks between the dirt, rock, and debris. A small mine car was only a little farther up ahead, overturned near one side of the tunnel.
'This is one of the dig sites Leroy Wilkins worked,' Valenti said. 'It's on Mesaliko lands, so when the tribal police found him here, they bounced him.'
'Maybe this is where Swanson found the drone he wore in the pouch around his neck,' Liz said.
'Could be,' Valenti agreed. 'Swanson was still around back then.'
Before Valenti's words could die away, the cave throat filled with the familiar hum of miniature winds. Max raised a shield, filling the cave with the energy barrier. The drones slammed into the force field and imploded, leaving bright sparks and their aftereffects.
'Drop the shield, Maxwell,' Michael said, as the drones gathered, obviously trying to regroup.
When Max dropped the force field, staying ready to raise another one, Michael zapped the drones with an energy bolt. The mad rush of exploding drones jumped back and forth, like a pinball trapped between bumpers and getting some serious play. As with the last time, none of the drones survived the attack.
The tunnel took a long, loping turn to the left. Max only had to follow the tunnel a little longer before he found the ship. At least he found where the ship had to be.
The tunnel dead-ended against a tall wall scored with pickax marks. But in between the pickax marks were conical holes that looked slightly like anthills.
'Entrances,' Kyle said. 'The drones must be using those. But none of them are big enough for us. We're stuck.'
Max looked at Isabel. 'Is the ship behind this wall?'
'Yes. I've seen it. In the dreamwalk state, I can walk through that wall.'
Michael stepped forward. 'Fine. It's there. All we've got to do is get to it, right?'
'Maybe we should try talking to them first… ' Max didn't get any further in his suggestion.
Michael threw his hands forward. Blue-white energy cascaded from his palms, meeting the wall in a thunderous explosion. The wall fell in sections, revealing a dulled, fire-blasted, and pitted metal surface behind the rock and earth.
The whole cavern shook with the force of the energy used. For a moment, Max was afraid that the cavern roof was going to come down. Miraculously, the ceiling held, but clouds of dust filled the cavern while debris rained down.
Hacking and coughing, choking on the roiling cloud of smoke around him, Max stared into the cavity that Michael's impulsive actions had revealed. Something slithered within the opening, but he couldn't make out what the thing was because of all the dust and grit in his eyes.
'Look out!' Valenti yelled, pulling the shotgun to his shoulder.
Dazed, Max watched incredulously as what looked like a vine sprung from the cavity in the wall. But the flashlight beams that hit the vine struck a metallic surface. Before Max could move, the vine wrapped his feet and yanked, lifting him from the cavern floor. He upended, falling backward and striking his head on a rock. Blackness clouded his vision and took him away.
19
Max!' Liz screamed. Fear thudded through her, at first nearly stopping her heart, then making her think it was going to explode.
The thing that wrapped Max's lower body looked like a snake, but she'd never seen one that big in the desert. The monstrosity that had captured Max would have dwarfed even South American anacondas.
'Max!' Liz yelled again, and started forward.
