spying.'
'Huh?' Kyle could think of nothing else to say.
'They're working on a cure for cancer. Every other pharmaceutical company on Earth would like to steal their research and come up with the cure first,' Liz explained.
Kyle hesitated. 'You don't really think this Dr. Sosa is
going to find a cure for cancer,' he said. 'I mean, is that even possible?'
'I don't know,' Liz said. 'But if they've found an alien they think is a cancer patient, it will definitely lead them down the wrong road, research-wise. We need to stop them before they realize what they're actually studying.'
'Not cancer, just extraterrestrials,' Kyle agreed. 'And that is research even the government would want to steal.'
'Exactly.' Liz stopped in front of another chrome door. 'This is where he keeps all the sensitive material. Can you unlock it?'
Kyle pulled out his handy passkey. 'Of course. Even secret laboratory closets need mopping, right?'
He stuck the key card in the slot over the doorknob and waited for the beep. Nothing. Kyle turned the key around and stuck it into the slot again. Still nothing.
'What's wrong?' Liz asked.
'I dunno.' Kyle tried sticking it in upside down. Nothing. 'It's not working.' He looked up at Liz's frustrated face. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I think you need Max for this.'
Liz gave a deep sigh and sank down onto the floor. Kyle, surprised, sat next to her. 'What's up?'
'It's Max,' Liz admitted. 'I don't want to get him involved.'
'Uh, Liz, if this is about aliens, Max is involved whether you like it or not. You can't always protect him, you know.'
'It's not that,' Liz said. 'I just don't want… I don't want to see him.'
Kyle was stunned. Liz and Max were soul mates, it was clear to everyone who knew them. Something huge must
have happened. 'You don't want to see him… ever again?'
Liz shrugged. 'I just want to figure out how I feel before I talk to Max. I need to know what I want for myself and my future. As soon as I start talking to Max, it all gets blurry.'
'You're only eighteen. Why do you need to know what you want your future to be?' Kyle asked.
'Because Max knows his future. He knows his son is out there somewhere and he has to find him.' She leaned her head on Kyle's shoulder. 'It's like he just grew up about ten years faster than me. He has a child, Kyle. I don't know if I'm ready for that.'
Kyle nodded. 'That's a tough one.' He didn't know what else to say, but he had a feeling Liz just wanted a friend right now. He slipped his arm around her shoulders. 'We'll figure out a way to do this without Max for now,' he said. 'I'll get Michael to come with me tomorrow and open this lock. Or Isabel.'
Liz smiled. 'Thanks, Kyle.'
Suddenly a bright light shone in their faces. 'What's going on here?' a deep voice demanded.
Kyle was struck dumb with fear. This was it, the moment he'd been expecting ever since he'd found out about the aliens. This guy would turn them over to the police… or worse. Maybe he would bring them to the special unit of the government and they would do experiments on him because he'd interacted with aliens. He'd even been brought back to life by an alien…
'What are you, Housekeeping?' the voice boomed.
That didn't sound like a threat. 'Uh, yeah,' Kyle said. 'My friend here works in this lab, and she… '
'You kids should fool around on your own time,' the security guard said. He turned the flashlight away from their eyes, and now Kyle could see that the guy was barely older than they were. 'Why don't you go make out in your car instead of in here?'
He walked back out into the hallway. Liz shot Kyle a relieved smile, then got up and followed the guard.
'I will never get used to this cloak-and-dagger stuff,' Kyle muttered as he pulled the door closed behind them.
Max paced up and down on Liz's rooftop. Where was she? It was after one in the morning, and Liz was not in her bed. She wasn't downstairs in the Crashdown, either. He decided to check out Maria's house… Liz could be sleeping over there.
As he turned to go, he heard a car pull to a stop down in the alley. Max crept up to the edge of the roof and peered over. Below him was Kyle's pickup. Liz sat in the passenger seat, earnestly talking to Kyle.
Why are they out together in the middle oj the night? Max thought. He liked Kyle, but every so often the old jealousy reappeared.
Liz kissed Kyle on the cheek and climbed out of the pickup. Max backed away from the edge of the roof and sat down next to the window that led to Liz's bedroom. She would be up any minute.
He leaned back against the brick wall and stared into the sky. His son was up there somewhere. Tess was there, on a planet he'd never seen but that he was supposed to save. It didn't seem fair sometimes. He couldn't remember being a king. Before Tess, he couldn't remember Antar at all. There would be vague visions occasionally, but no
concrete memories. And now he didn't trust the things that Tess had helped him remember. With her mindwarp powers, she could have planted things in his mind whether they really happened or not.
But the baby was real. He knew that. He had connected with his son while he was still in Tess's womb. And then there was that vision last week… 'What are you doing here, Max?'
Liz had come up to the window without his even hearing her. He jumped to his feet. 'Hey! I was worried about you. Why were you out so late?' Did that sound overbearing? Max wondered. Did I sound like some possessive idiot? I'm not even officially her boyfriend… do 1 have the right to ask questions like that?
If he was any judge of Liz's reactions, she was thinking the same things. 'I was at Meta-chem,' Liz said.
'I saw Kyle drop you off,' Max added. Instantly, he wished he hadn't said it. Now he sounded like a jealous possessive idiot.
Liz raised her eyebrows. 'Just how long have you been up here?' she asked.
Max could feel his face getting hot. 'Only a few minutes,' he lied. He'd been here for at least half an hour. 'I was just climbing up the ladder when I saw Kyle's car pull up.'
Liz studied him. He wondered if she knew he was lying.
'So why were you with Kyle?' he asked, doing his best to sound curious but not jealous. It didn't really work.
'Because he works at Meta-chem too, Max. Remember?'
'But why were you there so late?' Max pressed. 'You're supposed to be home by five. That was eight hours ago.'
Liz averted her eyes. 'Um, I forgot something in the lab,' she said. 'So I wanted Kyle to use his passkey to let me in.'
'Oh,' Max said. That seemed like a perfectly reasonable explanation. 'Must've been something important to go back in the middle of the night,' he commented.
'Yeah,' was all Liz said. There was an uncomfortable silence.
'1 had a dream,' Max told her suddenly. 'It was more like a nightmare, and I wanted to see you after it. I thought if 1 could see you, I would feel better.'
Liz's beautiful brown eyes met his for an instant, filled with love and concern. 'Oh, Max, you poor thing,' she murmured. 'What was the dream about?'
'My son,' he replied. 'He was here on Earth, and all of a sudden I realized… '
'You know what, Max? I'm actually kind of tired,' Liz interrupted. 'Do you think this can wait?'
Max felt as if she'd slapped him. Here he was, trying to share his worries with her, and she didn't even want to hear them. 'Sure,' he said shortly. 'It's not important.'
'Okay,' Liz said. 'I'll see you later.' She gave him a brief smile and closed the window, shutting him out.
Max turned slowly toward the ladder. I shouldn't have mentioned my son, he thought sadly. Liz doesn't want to hear about that part oj my life.
But he still had to find his son. No one… not even Liz… had as much claim on Max's responsibility. Would Liz
