Wrath Of Innocents
Chapter 7
VII
Judge Lewis looked up when his door opened and three men let themselves quietly into his chambers.
"That door was locked. How'd you get in? Don't you guys ever knock?"
Judge Lewis got no answer to his questions; the three men simply ignored them. All three wore street clothes, but Judge Lewis recognized them. He should… they had left enough money on his desk and in his pockets recently.
"You were supposed to get rid of the Parker girl, Horace," one of the men said calmly, his face stony and emotionless. "You didn't do that. The Brass isn't happy."
"Hey, look, guys, I tried! You know I've done everything in my power, but the sheriff is always in my way. And if it's not him, it's that deputy of his. And the girl doesn't seem inclined to want to leave Roswell."
"Well, you see, Judge, that was your job. You were supposed to incline her… or solve our problem for us in some other way."
"What problem… What way," Judge Lewis sputtered, feigning naïveté, but the men again ignored him.
"The Brass doesn't like ineffectual agents, Judge… and they don't like failure. We've been told to… rectify the situation."
The blood temporarily drained out of Judge Lewis' face. He was good at feigning ignorance or pretending not to know what was going on when it served his purposes, but his face said that he understood all too well what the agent was saying.
"Rectify… how…" he stammered.
The agents remained silent for several long moments… allowing Judge Lewis to sweat. Then one of them checked the door to make sure that it was locked. All of them looked around cautiously, then the first one reached inside his jacket. Judge Lewis dropped behind his desk and scooted under it quickly. Crouched there, he waited for the inevitable, but what he heard sounded like something being plopped down above him. Cautiously, Judge Lewis emerged from under his desk and looked at the new pile of money stacked neatly on his desk.
"You… you're giving me a bonus?"
The second agent patted Judge Lewis gently on the chest in a feigned gesture of friendliness; then suddenly, with no warning, he twisted the judge's collar tight, cutting off his airway. Judge Lewis wheezed momentarily and tried to protest, but by then nothing would come out and no air would go in. After a few seconds, the agent released the judge's collar and patted him again in a friendly way.
"Not a bonus, Judge. Let's call it an 'incentive.' The bonus will come if you fail us again… if you're eager to get a bonus, we can explain the plan."
Judge Lewis shook his head vigorously. "No! No bonus… I don't need a bonus. You've been very generous! I'll do what I can."
"You'll do what has to be done," the third agent said. "iWhat you can/i is irrelevant."
Judge Lewis nodded.
"And Judge," the first agent added before closing the door behind them, "That's a real nice sofa you've got over there. I'd change those pants before I sat on it."
**********
It was dark. The area around them was damp and muggy… and miserable. Maria couldn't see her own hands, but she knew that Isabel was still beside her. And she could hear a faint iplink, plink, plink,/i as water dripped somewhere nearby.
"Iz, don't give up on me now… Not here. We've come so far…" Maria felt Isabel's face. It was clammy. "Damn! Max, I really need you! Why did you and Michael go back and try to hold them off for us? If they caught you, it won't matter that you helped us escape. Isabel will die here, and I will, too… eventually… one way or the other."
Maria reached out in the dark and pulled Isabel to her. Isabel was shaking. Maria knew that at night it could get very cold here. They had huddled together in these underground tunnels through… well, Maria had lost count of how many nights. She wasn't even sure that she always knew when it was night or day. The only difference was that at night it got very cold. But it wasn't cold now. Actually, at the moment, it was uncomfortably warm… and Isabel was shaking.
"I'm so sorry, Iz. I've done everything I know how. I can't heal bullet wounds and bring people back like Max did for us after they brought us here." Maria pulled Isabel close to try to warm her, and as she touched Isabel's back, she felt blood trickle over her hand. "Damn, the wound is open again!" She laid Isabel back against the wall then reached down and tore another piece of her own pants leg off and pressed it tightly against Isabel's back, pushing it gently into the hole left by the bullet that struck her as they were escaping. "I've got to try to stop the bleeding…
Max, I need you… Oh, God, I need you!"
Maria pushed the cloth carefully into the wound. She had no tape… nothing with which to make a bandage. Several days before, she had half-torn, half-cut the waist band off of Isabel's pants with a small piece of broken glass she had found and then pulled the waist band up to her lower back to hold the previous "plug" in place. Now she pulled the band back over the new plug. It seemed to be working… for the moment. The bleeding had stopped again.
"Iz, I still need you. Don't give up now. You've got to teach me how to dreamwalk without you helping me. You promised, remember? You have to hang on. A promise is a promise, Iz. You can't go back on a promise. We…" Maria choked back tears. "Just don't give up, Iz. We'll make it. You've just got to hang on."
Maria reached over to pull Isabel back against her own body again to warm her, and as she did, she saw a flash of bright light… and a glimpse of someone hiding… someone familiar…
"Mom?" Maria started to yell, but she realized that she couldn't. It might give them away if anyone heard her… and secondly, she realized that what she had seen was a vision… Her mother could be anywhere.
"Did you do that, Isabel?" Maria asked. Isabel didn't answer. Maria pulled Isabel close again and closed her eyes, concentrating. "Isabel, help me out here if you can hear me."
Suddenly, Maria saw Amy clearly. She was crouching behind a large stack of steel storage drums. Then she sneaked out and ran to a new hiding place, passing behind two soldiers who were talking to each other.
"Mom, it is you," Maria whispered. "You're here! But how? Where are you?" Maria concentrated harder. "Mom, try to see me. Try to see me."
Amy stopped and looked around momentarily with a puzzled look on her face. "Maria?" Then she shook her head and ducked underneath a large craft of some kind. As she did, the two men turned and looked around the room. Knowing that she would be seen if she couldn't find a place to hide quickly, and noticing that the craft was open on the bottom, Amy climbed inside. The two guards looked around the large room a couple of times and, seeing nothing amiss, resumed their discussion.
Amy stood up and looked around the interior of the craft. It seemed large for an airplane, but she guessed that this was because all the seats had been removed… or not put in yet. In any case, there was a lot of room to move around inside. Amy walked along the wall on the left side until she came to a door. She knew that she probably shouldn't, but curiosity had always been her biggest weakness. She reached for the door but found no door handle. Feeling certain that there had to be some way to open a door, Amy felt around the wall and on the door itself for any evidence of an opening device. Then, frustrated, she sat down on the floor in front of the door and stared at it.
After a few minutes, Amy stood up again and looked around. The only thing she could see was a square outline of some kind on the wall near the door. But there was no handle on the square… nothing to pull or push… not even any evidence of a sensor of some kind. But the square was the only thing around… there was nothing else… so Amy pushed on the area inside the square. Nothing happened. She hadn't really expected anything to happen, but she had hoped that maybe…
Not to be defeated so easily, she pressed it again, placing the palm of her hand flat against the area inside the square. This time, there was a flash. Amy suddenly saw Maria.
"Mom, try to see me! I'm here, Mom!"
Amy looked around frantically. "I hear you, baby. Where are you? Oh, God!"
Amy looked around for several moments but saw nothing. "Maria? Where did you go? I heard you! I didn't imagine it…" There was no reply. Amy turned back toward the door and saw that it was now open… and in the square outline beside the door, a handprint had appeared. She put her hand against the print again. It didn't seem to have any effect. Somehow the door had opened at the exact moment she got the flash of Maria calling her. She had had her hand against the square when she got the flash… and at that precise moment, the handprint had appeared and the door had opened. It had to be connected. Not one to question the whys for too long, Amy quickly walked into what appeared to be a control room… but not like any she had ever seen. She reached out and touched the console… then her hand came upon a large crystal that was inserted into a niche in the console. The crystal moved. Carefully, she extracted it from its cradle and looked at it. Then she slipped it into her pocket.
Amy sat down in one of the control seats and looked around her at all the sophisticated gadgetry and sensors. She had seen the cockpit controls of a 747 once. They had been unbelievably impressive. This was less… cluttered… but somehow more impressive. She wasn't exactly sure why. It seemed somehow… otherworldly. As Amy thought about it, she noticed something glimmer above her head. It was a tiny device of some kind, and it appeared to be attached to a small rod near the ceiling magnetically, so she detached it and looked at it. It looked very much like a tiny spycam, but it was no bigger than an average-sized setting in a ring, and that set Amy's mind to thinking. She placed the tiny camera-like device on her ring, and it stuck. Then she ran her hands over the console to see if there was anything else that looked unusual. Not finding anything else that looked like it might be useful to her, Amy sat back in her seat and thought for a while about what she should do next.
Amy knew that if she was going to find Maria or the others she needed to be moving. She had probably already sat here for twenty minutes. That was long enough. She turned in her seat and stood up… and found herself face to face with six soldiers with their rifles all pointed at her heart.
For several moments, no one spoke and no one moved. Then Amy swallowed.
"I must have taken a wrong turn off of 285. Imagine that! I'll just be on my way if you gentlemen will move aside."
It wasn't working. Not that she had ever entertained any real thoughts that it would.
A young corporal showed up at that moment and staked out a position between Amy and the six armed soldiers. "General Hawkins wants to see you… Now!"
"Well, really guys, I don't think we hit it off so well the last time we were together. That was kind of a relationship that just wasn't meant to be, you know what I mean? If you'll just tell the General that for me, I'm sure he'll understand, and…"
The young corporal stepped out of the way, and the rifles all went to ready.
"Okay, okay. I'm going! But I'm telling you, this is not my idea of a good time. The General needs to find a girl who's more into S&M. I'm more plain vanilla… Okay, maybe raspberry, really, I guess, but…"
"Move it!" the young corporal harfed in an annoyed tone. "And shut up."
"Doesn't anyone in this placed have any manners," Amy asked abashedly. The young corporal gave her a stabbing look.
**********
The door opened, and Amy walked into General Hawkins' office suite, followed closely by the six soldiers with their rifles still pointed at her. This time, the General was not smiling, and he did not request that the soldiers put down their guns or leave him alone with her.
"Mrs. DeLuca," General Hawkins said, in a very annoyed tone, "You have done what no one else has ever managed to do in all the years I have been in the military. You have made me look like a complete fool."
Amy shrugged. "It was nothing, sir, really."
General Hawkins bristled but ignored Amy's comment.
"Mrs. DeLuca, what am I going to do with you?"
"Well, sir, I tried to tell these boys that it just wasn't going to work out between us. I'm really not looking for the Romeo and Juliet thing right now, you know…"
"Romeo and Juliet wasn't what I had in mind, Mrs. DeLuca. I was thinking more along the lines of Henry the eighth."
Amy swallowed. "You wouldn't do anything to me, General. Too many people know where I am."
The General shook his head. "Your car was seen driving off the base about three hours ago. It went over the side of Bald Mountain near the upper pass. That was a drop of about 700 feet, I believe. I understand it was a very fiery crash. The sheriff of Copper City is on the site now, but no remains have been found. The fire was so intense, you know…" The General smiled and waited for Amy's reaction.
"You can't just get rid of me, General…"
The General nodded. "Corporal, take Mrs. DeLuca away… and make sure that her departure is bpermanent./b"
"Permanent, sir?"
"bPermanent/b, Corporal. You heard me."
Amy looked at her ring. "General, do you know what this is?"
"A ring? You think I'm worried about your husband? You don't have one, Mrs. DeLuca. Don't you think I know that? And if you did, it wouldn't matter."
Amy detached the tiny camera-like device and held it in her hand. "Not the ring, General, the camera."
General Hawkins' smile left him, and some of the blood drained from his face. "Let me see that!"
The corporal took it from Amy's hand and handed it to the General. He turned it over several times. "Where did you get this?"
"From the TV station," Amy said, bluffing. "Everything going on here is being recorded by all three local networks… and by now probably by CNN and Fox, too."
"I don't believe you."
Amy smiled. "It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not."
General Hawkins swallowed. There was a long pause, as he thought about the possible consequences of this revelation.
"Corporal!" General Hawkins said at end.
"Yes, sir!"
"Didn't you hear me? Escort Mrs. DeLuca off the base, and make sure that she stays away from here permanently this time. You got that?"
"Just off the base, sir?"
"Of course, just off the base! What did you think I meant?"
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and Mrs. DeLuca… I was trying to make a point with you about how dangerous it can be for a civilian to be running around out here unaccompanied. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"Of course not," Amy said. "What about my car?"
The General breathed deeply. "It was damaged, Mrs. DeLuca. It was unsafe to drive… and since it was on the base, it was our obligation to dispose of it in a safe manner. As I told you, it was being towed to a recycling plant, but it broke loose on the pass and went over the side. Fortunately, no one was in it, so there was no one hurt in the accident."
"That car was my only means of transportation."
General Hawkins set his jaw tightly and forced a smile. "I'll see if we can find you a replacement, Mrs. DeLuca. The Army wasn't responsible for what happened to your car, you know. The damage to your car was your own fault. We had to dispose of it responsibly. But I'm sure Washington would not want to make a big deal out of this. I'll get you a new car."
"New?"
"New," General Hawkins muttered. "Corporal!"
"Yes, sir!"
General Hawkins pointed at the door. The corporal pushed Amy out and escorted her quickly to a waiting humvee. There, the corporal had handcuffs and chains placed on Amy's wrists and feet, then she was driven off the base, followed by three more humvees with four armed soldiers in each one.
Back in General Hawkins' office, the General was still examining the tiny camera-like device.
"Lieutenant!"
"Yes, sir!" a young lieutenant said, hurrying into the General's office.
"Have you ever seen anything like this?"
"Looks like a spy camera, sir."
"I know what it looks like, lieutenant. Have you ever seen one like this one?"
"Well… not this small, sir. But they're making them smaller every day."
"Hmmm, yes, but I'm usually kept abreast of developments that might be useful to me. Lieutenant, how did the DeLuca woman get into the craft?"
"The bottom hatch was left open, sir. The crew trying to get into the control room was planning to return later today to try again with a new type of torch."
"But the DeLuca woman got into the control room, lieutenant. I want to know how!"
"We don't know how, sir. After she came back out, the door closed again."
"And it didn't occur to any of you to put something there to jam it or station someone inside the control room while the door was open?"
"Uh, no sir. How would someone inside get back out after the door closed?"
"I don't know, lieutenant! I don't care! Maybe there's a door handle inside!"
"I don't think so, sir."
"Lieutenant, we've had this craft in our hangar for sixty years… give or take a few years… and no one, ever, has been able to find so much as a seam or a rivet anywhere on the craft. We can't dismantle it. No one has ever been able to get into the control room. No torch or blaster will melt or penetrate the metal… or whatever the hell it is the thing's made of. It has frustrated every effort we have made to open the control room or dismantle the ship for SIXTY DAMN YEARS! And that woman just goes in and, bopen-sesame!/b The door opens for her?"
"It seems that way, sir."
"Find out why! I want someone watching that woman twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I don't want her to go to the bathroom without someone knowing where she is. You got that?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. I'm surprised she didn't ask you idiots if there was a key and fly the thing away under your noses! Get out of here. Oh, and lieutenant…"
"Sir?"
"Find out who makes these tiny spycams. I need some. And find out why I wasn't advised of their development. I don't like having local TV networks using equipment that I didn't even know existed."
"Yes, sir!"
**********
Liz sat on a park bench, her wheelchair nearby, tossing seeds to the birds and enjoying the sunshine. Her diary lay at her side, where she had been writing in it moments earlier.
"Hello, Liz."
Liz looked up and smiled. "Sheriff! What brings you out to the park?"
"Four of my best deputies are, uh, bird watching somewhere out here. I thought I'd check up on them."
"Bird watching?"
"Yeah, well, you never know what you'll see out here, Liz. Besides, I enjoy the park, too. It's a pleasant place to spend time."
"I know." Liz smiled.
"I see you're writing in your diary again. That's good! It's important to come to terms with one's feelings. A diary's a good way to do that."
Liz picked the diary up and held it out to Jim.
"What? You want me to read it?"
Liz nodded.
"Oh, I… Liz, this is personal. I don't think I should."
"It's not the juicy romantic stuff or my hot sex escapades, Sheriff," Liz said with a sly grin. "I keep all that in another diary… under lock and key."
Jim smiled. "Oh, okay then. What do you want me to read?"
Liz flipped the pages and handed it back to Jim. Jim read the page. Then he turned and read the next page… and the next. Finally, he closed the book and handed it back to Liz.
"Is this like your hopes for what your life will be like in the future, Liz? Or are you planning to publish it and go for a sci-fi award… one of those Yugos or whatever that guy at graduation had?"
"Hugo," Liz, corrected. A Yugo's a little car… about the same size, I think. I can see how you could confuse them." She smiled coyly.
"Actually," Liz continued, "it's more complicated than that, Sheriff. I've been having dreams… or visions… sometimes when I'm asleep and sometimes when I'm awake, of another place. I think it's Max's planet, you know, Antar. And the people there are us. I'm there, Max is there, Maria and Michael are there… even you're there, Sheriff."
Jim smiled. "Well, that does sound exciting. I don't see how it can be anything but a dream, though, Liz. Maybe it's like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. You know, all her friends were there… This planet hasn't gotten quite used to me yet. I don't think I could break another planet in at this stage in my life."
Liz nodded. "I know it sounds incredible on the surface of it, Sheriff, but when I'm seeing this other place… this other life… it all seems so right… so… I don't know, like it's supposed to be or something… and this…" she indicated the wheelchair… "all seems so wrong."
Jim sat down beside Liz and put his arm around her. "It is wrong, Liz. You shouldn't be in that chair. You should be going to college, meeting the guy of your dreams, or going with Max if that's who it is, learning about life's… happy times. Not about life's dark side. I can understand why you're having these dreams.
"You don't think I'm crazy then, Sheriff?"
Jim laughed. "Crazy? We should all be crazy like you, Liz. The world would be a lot better place! No, I don't think you're crazy. You have an invincible spirit that will get you through the darkest parts of life by showing you light when you need it most. I don't know where that light is coming from… if it's real or in your mind… but it's not crazy. It's the most sane thing I could ever imagine. I've seen too many people give up under stress and allow themselves to drift off into self pity, anger, even self-loathing. And the world says, hey that's normal… They [b]should[/b] be feeling angry and bitter. But you've never felt anger or bitterness, Liz. You just see things the way they should be. And that's why you will find your happiness. You will."
Liz wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and kissed Jim on the cheek.
"Thanks, Sheriff. With friends like you and Kyle, I know I will."
"Will you be okay here for a while, Liz? I need to check on my deputies."
"Sure," Liz said. "I like being out here with the birds and my thoughts… and my diary. I'll be fine. Vera's just over there at the fountains anyway. She'll be back to get me in about an hour. I asked her to leave me alone for a while. But I'm really glad you came by, Sheriff! You make me feel like everything's going to be fine!"
"It is, Liz. You'll make sure of that. Trust me."
Liz smiled.
"I'll pass back by here in a little while to check on you, Liz."
"Okay."
Liz went back to feeding the birds, but no more than two minutes later, another person approached. Liz looked up at the new arrival.
"Judge Lewis?"
Without speaking or asking permission, the judge sat down beside Liz. Liz pulled herself to the other side of the bench automatically without being aware she was doing it.
"Miss Parker."
Liz waited to see what the judge was going to say.
"I've been thinking about you… what you've been through and all. I would think you would be happier somewhere where they can give you more help… or therapy… you know, a big city or something. Roswell's such a little place really. A girl with your… needs… doesn't belong here."
"I'm happy here, Judge. My friends are here. I grew up here."
"Yes, well, most of your friends have gone off to college, but you're stuck here, unable to do anything but depend on the charity of people like Sheriff Valenti to take care of you."
"The sheriff is a friend. I'm not charity to him… or to any of my friends, Judge."
"Is that what you think? He sees someone in need and he takes time out from his valuable time to try to help them. We have to do things like that as city officials. It's incumbent of us… you know, it's expected. But do you really think you're doing him any favors by making him have to take care of you like an invalid daughter? It costs him valuable time. It costs the city valuable time. Do you really think he'd rather be pushing some invalid girl around in a wheelchair than finishing his shift so he could go out on a date or something once in a while? He's not married you know. He needs to have time for a life, too."
Liz wiped another tear from her eyes. "I didn't know I was being a burden to anyone. The sheriff is just being a good friend. I'll make sure that he doesn't spend too much 'valuable' city time with me."
"Well, Miss Parker, that might seem easy to you, but as long as you are here, he will always have to take care of you. As good public servants, we have to do that. So you will always be a burden. But don't take that wrong, Miss Parker. I feel sorry for you. I really do. I'm not blaming you. What happened to you is just unpleasant circumstance. No one could have foreseen it. You couldn't have stopped it. But you can do something now, Miss Parker… for yourself and for the Sheriff's benefit. He won't tell you this. But you know he'd like to."
Liz sniffed and wiped her cheek. Then she looked Judge Lewis in the eyes.
"Judge, with all due respect, what you're doing is feeding me a load of horse manure! You can try to make me feel bad about being dependent on others, but my heart tells me that I'm not as big a burden as you're pretending I am. And my heart tells me that I have friends here… real friends… not like you! So I would really just appreciate it if you would leave now. If you have anything else to say, I'm sure the Sheriff or my father would be interested in hearing it."
Judge Lewis flushed and stood up.
"Well, Miss Parker, I was trying to be kind to you. I could have you institutionalized. You've been through a lot. It's not unusual for people in your… situation… to require psychiatric help. There's a very good psychiatric hospital over in Arizona I could get you in to…"
"Judge, just leave! Please!"
"You're refusal to accept our charitable help, Miss Parker, could be construed by a court as evidence of your need for psychiatric help."
"Especially if you were the judge, right, Judge? I said leave! I even said please!"
"What's this," Judge Lewis asked, grabbing Liz's diary.
"Give me that back! That's mine! That's private! You can't take my diary! VERA! HELP ME! SHERIFF VALENTI! HELP! …Please. Give me back my diary."
Judge Lewis thumbed through several pages smiling, then he stuck the diary into his pocket.
"This should do nicely, Miss Parker. Very nicely."
As the judge turned around, something that felt like a sledgehammer slammed head on into his jaw, breaking it and laying him out flat on the ground. Liz looked up at her benefactor…
"Alex! Omigod, Alex!"
Sheriff Valenti was right beside Alex, and Vera was running across the grass from the fountains, where she had heard Liz screaming for help.
Alex shook his hand up and down several times. "Ow, that hurt." Then he smiled. "But it was worth it. Looked like you needed some help. I just happened to be in the neighborhood."
Liz took Alex's hand and pulled him down beside her then hugged him and started to cry. Sheriff Valenti saw Liz's diary fall out of Judge Lewis' pocket, and he picked it up and brushed it off.
"I think this is yours, Liz."
Liz nodded. "Thanks, Sheriff… Sheriff?"
"Yes?"
"Am I… Am I being a burden to you… or others… by staying here in Roswell?"
Sheriff Valenti looked at Judge Lewis, who was moaning as he regained consciousness, and suppressed an urge to kick him back into his more amenable unconscious state.
"Don't ever think that, Liz! No matter what anyone ever tells you. DO NOT EVER think that again! You're no burden to me or to anyone here. You're an inspiration to us. Some company possibly excluded," Jim said, looking at Judge Lewis.
"Sheriff!" Judge Lewis moaned.
"Can I help you up, Judge?"
"Sheriff, arrest this young man! He hit me! I think my jaw is broke!" Judge Lewis spit blood out into his hand, and two teeth fell into his hand with it. He appeared faint, as though he might pass out again.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Judge," Jim said. "You just had a bad fall. You need to be looked at by a doctor."
"Arrest him first, Sheriff! He hit me!"
"Well, I didn't exactly see that, Judge. You turned around fast and tripped over my foot. I guess you hit your jaw on the pavement. I'm really sorry about my foot being in the way."
"It wasn't your foot, Jim! I know a foot from a fist! That boy hit me!"
"You're delusional right now, Judge. For your own safety, I'm going to have to have one of my deputies take you to a hospital for treatment. If you persist with this accusation, I'll have to tell the court that I witnessed it and you tripped over my foot… after stealing Miss Parker's diary and trying to flee with it."
Judge Lewis glared at Jim but said nothing. By now, his jaw was hurting so bad that he was asking Deputy Carter, who had just arrived, to take him to the hospital. Deputy Carter led him to his patrol car and put him in the back then drove off.
"Thank you, Sheriff. Thank you so much," Liz said sincerely.
"Yeah," Alex said, nodding… "for me, too. I thought you were going to have to lock me up."
Jim chuckled. "No… I've wanted to do that myself for years. You just lived out my fantasies for me."
"I feel bad about causing you to have to lie for me," Alex said.
"Shhh! It wasn't a complete lie, Alex. I did have my foot out, and Judge Lewis did fall over it… accidentally, of course. Anything else that might have hit him, too, even if it helped him fall over my foot, is irrelevant here, and I think we can just keep it to ourselves."
"Thanks, Sheriff."
"Don't mention it. Really."
**********
"Liz, will you be alright now," Alex asked, as he stood up and started to walk to the door of the Parkers' house above the CrashDown.
"Yeah. Thanks again, Alex! You don't know what it means to me to have friends like you and Kyle and the Sheriff. I just wish we could find Max, Maria and Isabel. That would be so great."
Alex nodded. "Yeah. That would be great, Liz. But I hope you won't get frustrated if, you know…"
"No, they're alive, Alex! I feel it! I saw Max, and I saw Maria in visions. I saw Max when I touched his ring, and Maria was trying to contact me. I think Isabel was helping her."
"Maybe you should try to contact her back, Liz. You probably have more chance of doing that than she does. Maria doesn't have any powers… unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless Max healed her after she was shot and she's starting to develop some. Liz, do you still have those orbs that Max had?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Max and Michael always thought that the orbs might be some kind of communication devices. Why don't you try them… see if you can contact Maria?"
"Will you help me, Alex?"
"Yeah, I guess I can stay a while longer."
Liz rolled her chair into her room and returned with the orbs. "What do we do with them, Alex?" She held one orb and handed Alex the other one. Alex placed the orb to his ear and walked around the room, saying, "Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?"
Liz started to laugh. "Be serious, Alex."
"I made you laugh."
"Yeah," Liz nodded. "Thanks, Alex."
"Try putting them together," Alex suggested. Liz took both of the orbs and placed them beside each other. "What now?"
"I don't know. Maybe we need to touch them or something."
"Yeah, that would make sense," Liz said. She took Alex's hand and placed it on top of the two orbs, then she placed her hands on top of his. "I'm going to concentrate, Alex. I'm going to think about Maria."
"Is this going to be a long distance call, Liz… 'cause roaming charges can get pretty steep you know."
Liz giggled. "Alex, please. Be serious."
Liz closed her eyes and cleared her mind of everything but Maria. Alex did the same. As he did, there was a bright light. It didn't flash on; it just sort of grew until it looked like daylight. Then they both saw Maria. She was wearing some kind of exotic-looking swimsuit and walking out of a golden-colored ocean. Her hair hung down, wet, over her shoulders and back, but she looked beautiful… even if more than a few years older.
Liz and Alex approached Maria, and Liz waved her hands back and forth. "Maria, can you see me?"
"Can you see us," Alex repeated.
"What's got into you two," Maria said. "Of course I see you. You're standing right in front of me. I may have salt water in my eyes, but I haven't gone blind."
Liz and Alex both looked at the sand around them. They were indeed standing on the beach. Liz felt the breeze. She heard the low swish of the surf. She felt the warm sand under her feet and felt the salt water rushing over her feet… Her feet? She hadn't even realized until now that she was standing up… and her wheelchair was nowhere in sight.
"Omigod," Liz said, as reality began to set in. "Alex, where are we?"
tbc
Coming Next: Liz and Alex meet Liz and Alex. Judge Lewis continues to try to get rid of Liz but is not prepared for the surprise he gets. Amy's misadventures continue to cause ripples on the army base… and in a place much further away. And the search is on for Maria and Isabel… and Max and Michael.