Journal entry #27, September 9th, 2011

Home.

Getting back into my apartment after the roller coaster I just went through for the past five days is strange, to say the least. It should feel welcoming, but I'm too worried about the upcoming days to even marvel at the fact that I'm back here, in my own room, let alone my own bed.

I'm worried about where John is and what's been happening to him, of course, but I'm worried too about Max's condition. About his lack of powers. I'm worried something terrible might happen to him.

I'm worried that once he gets back into the base, he'll never come out again.

Chapter Fifty-Nine
Change of Plans

"Still nothing?" Liz asked, coming out of the kitchen with two mugs of coffee in her hands. Max was gone to get supplies, and Anne was on her front lawn, making calls to her office.

On her living room, Alex shook his head.

"I've been trying to get into the security system for three days and…still nothing," he said, deflating.

"What about what Max said? About looking for backdoors or something?"

"Well, I know John's alive, that much I can tell you. Food provisions doubled, a bunch of soldiers was transferred there for security reasons, and basically, the whole place is in lockdown. They wouldn't be in lockdown for a dead body, right?"

"Right."

"But then again, John activated a darn spaceship. A spaceship. I can only imagine who you call when you have an active spaceship in your hands."

"So, what you're saying is that the security might not be only for John?"

"Maybe…" Alex said, looking concerned while his fingers flew over the keyboard. "But it makes sense to have your alien and his spaceship close by. I mean, John activated it, right? So…"

"So, he might be able to do more than just light it up. But Max said John wanted to destroy it. If he managed to do that, he might be in worse trouble than we can imagine."

"I just wish we could understand what John was planning," Alex said, sipping his coffee. "I refuse to believe he didn't have an escape plan."

"For what Max told me, it sounded like John wanted to fly the ship out, but it wouldn't really respond."

"If he'd flown the ship up, there would be a hole over the base and a lot of construction equipment to cover it up. Plus, you know, a spaceship lying around. There have been no road blocks or the kind of stuff you'd expect to hear to keep people away."

Her phone rang, making her jump. Unfortunately, it was work. Her mundane life was calling her back to the reality that she didn't live in a world where aliens existed while she had all the time in the world to run with them.

Since John owned the labs where Liz worked, Anne had called to say she'd borrowed Liz for a project. Still, tons of unfinished business still laid around in her office, and people were calling her at all times to ask questions.

Maybe I'll just escape with Max for a little while, she thought as she talked with one of the technicians about using the equipment. The expensive one. In fact, it was the equipment that she'd ordered to get to the bottom of Max's drug problem.

"You know what? I'll go to the office and explain it there. No, really, it's no trouble at all. I'll see you in half an hour."

She hung up, looking at herself in the mirror. She wasn't wearing fancy clothes, but it would suffice.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked as he saw her taking her keys.

"I'm going to my lab. I have to destroy every single piece of evidence that Max was ever there. Call me if you find anything about John."

It should have been obvious, really. She kept berating herself for not thinking about this before. Once Max was gone—in the next few days if things worked according to plan—everything she had about him had to be gone, too.

She had a dozen samples from him and John in her office. Her computer was filled with data and formulas she'd been working on, that although odd to the average scientist, would be obvious to someone with knowledge on hybrid biochemistry.

If things went wrong, just slightly wrong, the military would descend over this place and she had to be able to deny any involvement. She had to burn it all, figuratively speaking. There could be no link between Max and this place, because this place belonged to John and Anne Herschel, so they had to be kept out of the whole thing as well.

She arrived at her lab and parked. It felt so final, somehow. As if this was her last day on the job.

Next week, Max will be out of my life forever.

The thought was depressing.

Shaking her head, she got out and into the building. It took her the better part of two hours of talking to her boss and her technicians before she had her office to herself.

She made one master copy of her files and then deleted everything. She thought about actually formatting the entire hard drive but then thought better of it. If she wanted to look innocent, then things had to be running as normal.

While her computer was deleting files, she got to destroy the actual samples and any printouts she'd made. Stacks of folders piled up on her desk as she got everything out. She'd gotten a lot of information out of Max's cells and their healing capabilities, and after biting down her lip, she decided to keep the most important findings.

Maybe not tomorrow, and maybe not next month, but in a few years, she could do a lot of good with all of it. It was just a matter of hiding it really, really well for a little while.

By the time she was done, night had fallen and the lab was empty. Just like she liked it.

Alex hadn't called, but it was time to go home. Get some Thai food on her way, too. Have one last meal with Max before he disappeared.

She turned the lights off on her small office and walked to the main lab. The lab stations were not only familiar but welcoming. A sense of normalcy invaded her. Science would always explain the world to her, and through the lenses of those microscopes, she'd deciphered how to get Max free.

"The things I would do to you if you would let me," she thought with a smile and the folders in her hands. How many things she would love to understand about Max and his brain? How many hidden treasures were waiting to be understood in his body?

"Finally!" someone said, startling her.

By the doorframe, Max waited for her.

"What the hell took you guys so long?"

"Wait, John? Oh my God, John!" she went to him—and then through him.

"I'm projecting myself, but my range is rather limited while I'm trying not to die in here. Call Max. I need to talk to him and this is the farthest I can reach. It's time for me to go home, Liz, but I can't do this alone."