Chapter 42

Half an hour later, all four of the Gelflings had their collars off and were holding ice packs to their necks. Daniel had told Dr. Milldred to run inside and get them some water, which the creatures were now delicately drinking to soothe their throats from the screaming they did from the pain.

"So," Daniel sighed, sitting on a lawn chair as he ran his hand through his brown hair. "What's your plan, Millie?"

"We gotta get them to Palo Alto, and to the ship that brought them here." Dr. Milldred said.

"That's all the way in California." Daniel frowned. "It's gonna take you a whole day to get there, maybe even longer."

"I know." Dr. Milldred sighed. "But it's a risk we gotta take."

"Guys!" Penelope suddenly came running back out of the house, looking a bit panicked. "You guys gotta come in and see what's on the news!"

The two adults and the Gelflings all looked at each other before they followed the little frantic girl into the house and to the living room. Penelope grabbed the remote and turned the volume up for everyone to hear.

"Police are saying that the felon's name is Milldred Hernandez Martinez, a former scientist from the NASA Houston Research Center. She's suspected to have stolen some very important private property from the center. The employees are hesitant to say what exactly that is, but claim that it is dangerous. The center claims that Martinez may be trying to get to Palo Alto, the airport all the way in California. A long distance for a Houston Texas woman to travel." An announcer reported on the screen.

"There ain't no way she ain't gonna be caught." A policeman said into a microphone held up to him. "Getting to Palo Alto will take a full day to get there just by driving alone. We have her license plate number, we got her picture. We're gonna get her."

"Police urge you, that if you see this woman," The announcer continued, a picture of Dr. Milldred showing up on the screen. "Then you should call them immediately."

"We don't know what she may have stolen." The policeman was back. "But if it's the private property of the research center and it's dangerous, then chances are we better get her back as soon as we can."

"Son of a bitch." Dr. Milldred hissed.

"Now Milldred, you knew this was going to happen." Daniel said to her.

"I did, but I didn't think it would happen so fast."

"What are we going to do?" Deet asked in worry. "Is there any chance we're gonna make it to Palo Alto."

"We'll get there, Deet, don't you worry." Dr. Milldred assured her. "But we can't take the Subaru."

"You can take my car." Daniel offered. "And you'll need a new look."

"A new look will take too long." Dr. Milldred shook her head. "We need to get out of here now."

Daniel sighed and shook his head. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

"Daniel, no, it's…"

"Do you think I care about the danger?" Daniel stopped her. "Hell no. I care about your safety and Penelope's safety. Besides, nobody knows me. I'm a part of this now since you decided to get me involved."

"I didn't get you involved." Dr. Milldred frowned.

"You got me involved by asking me for help, but it doesn't matter, I'm not angry, I wanna help."

"There's no time to argue over this." Rian frowned. "Dr. Milldred is right, we need to leave now. You can continue your lover's spat after we're on the road."

The two adults blushed but didn't say another word about it afterwards. Dr. Milldred looked at Daniel and sighed. "Alright, let's go then."

Daniel nodded. "Quick, everybody get in the car."

Everybody nodded and ran back into the garage. They ran up to Daniel's red Ford and piled inside. Daniel got into the driver's side and quickly started the car. He pressed a button and the garage doors started opening. Once it was fully open, Daniel quickly set the car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway. He put the car back into drive and started driving through Houston as casually as he could, trying not to draw attention to them. Suddenly, Dr. Milldred gasped.

"God fucking dammit!" She screamed.

"What is it?" Daniel frowned.

"The collars! They have trackers in them!" She said to him. "They'll be able to track the collars back to your place, and then they'll know that you're helping us!"

"That's a risk we're gonna have to take." Daniel nodded. "We can't exactly bring them with us if they have trackers, they'll be able to follow us that way. If they come to the conclusion that I'm helping you, then we'll just have to get a new car. Just lay low, and don't draw attention to us."

The others nodded and stayed calm, trying to stay out of sight as much as they could, trying not to be spotted from the outside. To look more casual, Daniel turned on the radio. Immediately, the news station came on.

"We just received new reports that the felon, Milldred Hernandez Martinez, may be being assisted by an old friend of hers, Daniel Martin Monrow. Police were able to track Martinez's vehicle to his residence. The place was empty and Monrow's vehicle was missing. Daniel Martin Monrow is now a suspect ally to Martinez, and may be helping her to get to Palo Alto. The police have Monrow's license number and are on the pursuit."

"Shit." Daniel cursed under his breath as the Ford was suddenly being followed by a fleet of police vehicles. "Everybody stay down!"

"We just received word that a fleet of police vehicles have found Monrow's vehicle and are now in hot pursuit of it. Monrow doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, this may be the police chase of the year, folks."

Daniel started sweating as he slammed his foot on the gas, speeding up as he tried to shake the police off.

"This just in. Monrow has accelerated in speed. This has become a high speed chase. We urge all drivers on the road to move to the side in order to avoid being hit. I repeat. This has turned into a high speed chase."

"Be careful, Daniel!" Brea cried as the car swerved a bit as the human man tried to avoid hitting any vehicles in front of him.

"I'm trying!" Daniel shouted back.

"Daniel, we've gotta lose them." Dr. Milldred gasped. "We gotta get out of Houston. They won't be allowed to chase us outside of the city. It's illegal."

"I'm on it." Daniel nodded as he swerved the car to the right onto the Gulf Freeway, driving as fast as he could. He started driving up to the Katy Freeway, veering through traffic as the police still chased them.

"Daniel, you better lose them." Dr. Milldred warned him.

"Hold on, I've got an idea. Hold onto your seats!"

Daniel suddenly veered to the left and drove onto Washington Avenue. He sped up some more due to the low traffic, gaining speed and pulling away from the police behind them. He turned another left onto Arnot Street, before he took another left onto Memorial Drive.

With the many turns he was taking, the police were starting to lose him. Daniel looked up, seeing a helicopter above them, keeping the police updated on where he was going. "Dammit." He turned and went to Woodway Drive, before taking another turn onto Woodway Freeway, taking it back onto Katy Freeway. The police were far behind now, but the helicopter was still hot on their tail.

He kept taking different roads, trying to shake the helicopter off before getting back on the freeway. As he reached the end of the Houston roads, he saw a bunch of police officers and their cruisers, blocking the road into San Antonio. He didn't let that stop him though. He slammed onto the gas and drove at the highest speed his Ford could go, reaching the blockage quickly.

"You're gonna crash!" Penelope cried.

"They'll move!" Daniel assured. "They always move."

And, true to his word, the police moved out of the way of the speeding vehicle, letting Daniel pass, scraping past the cruisers and leaving Houston, where the police couldn't pursue them any longer.

They were home free.

At least for now.