Inside their camper, Max scrambled to find something personal of Liz's that Kyle could use to track her while the rest of the group waited outside. He spotted her hairbrush. That seemed so obvious and simple, but Max remembered how Kyle said he could use any personal effect. The hairbrush certainly met the criteria. Max grabbed the brush and ran out of the camper.
Outside, Max quickly spotted Kyle and walked over to him. As Kyle noticed him approaching, Max held up the hairbrush.
"Will this work?" Max asked.
"Perfect," Kyle replied.
Max handed Kyle the hairbrush. He next looked to gesture the group back toward the vehicles so Kyle could work his magic and lead them to the Special Unit. Before Max could begin to dole out instructions, Isabel spoke up.
"Max, Michael… look," Isabel said, pointing toward a figure approaching their trailer.
By this point in the day, twilight just set in after the sunset. In the dim lighting, Max could make out a slender frame what looked like a bald head. Max, Michael and Ava joined Isabel in inching toward the direction where the figure approached from, while Serena and Kyle hung back.
The figure approached very slowly. Max got the sense the figure struggled to walk, not that they chose to stroll at a deliberately leisurely pace.
Since time afforded it to him, Max took the opportunity to glance quickly at his fellow hybrids. While Isabel and Ava watched carefully to see who headed their way, Max noticed that Michael moved his hand with palm open up to his waist, ready to quickly attack should the situation turn into a confrontation.
As the figure approached closer, Max recognized him. Apparently, so did Isabel.
"Is that Brody?" Isabel asked.
Max shared the same immediate thought, but he took a moment to consider that. Max worked for Brody in high school at the Roswell UFO Center after Brody bought it from Milton. While Max reasoned that Brody could conceivably find his way to El Quartelejo to chase the reported UFO, it seemed unlikely that he would stumble upon Max's group like this after all these years.
"I don't think so," Max replied.
Before anyone else could continue the conversation, the man made it to within earshot of the Royal Four. His head was completely bald and he looked aged and more slender, almost frail, compared to the last time Max encountered him.
"It's Larek isn't it?" Max asked.
Addressing Brody that way would be quite risky with respect to Brody's own curiosity and hard to explain if it was him. But Max greeted him this way because he felt so confident that it could only be Larek.
"Correct," Larek confirmed. "Forgive my labored walking. It's been years since I've needed this body as a vessel. It seems this man will benefit from a second miracle cure from his disease, but the drugs to treat the condition have left this body still quite weak."
Prior to ever meeting Larek or Brody, Larek took over Brody's body to use as a telepathic vessel. Brody experienced the phenomenon known as missing time and came to believe that an alien abduction explained his missing time. In a way, Brody was right, though it was only an abduction of his mind, not his physical body. Brody suffered from cancer before Larek took over. By Larek inhabiting Brody's mind, the cancer miraculously disappeared. This caused Brody to seek contact with the alien race that cured his cancer, which led him to buying Roswell's UFO Center. Brody's cancer evidently returned, but by taking over his body once more, Larek indicated that once again Brody's cancer would be eradicated as a result of the telepathic process.
"That's ok," Max said caringly, "do you need to sit down?"
"No, thank you."
"What are you doing here?" Isabel asked.
"And how did you find us?" Michael followed up.
"Once I inhabit this body, I can sense your presence," Larek explained, "and it's critical that I talk with you. If you're here this close to the landed ship, then you must know Kivar's on it."
Larek looked directly at Max and he nodded. By this time, Kyle and Serena joined the hybrids in huddling around Larek since they clearly recognized he didn't pose a threat.
"And do you know why he's come to Earth in the flesh?" Larek asked.
Max glanced at Ava since she clued him into the explanation.
"We figured he came here to retrieve the Granolith," Max explained.
"Yes," Larek confirmed, "very good. I can see you've grown since our last conversation. Are you still going by Max? Or do you go by Zan again now?"
"Max."
"I see," Larek sounded somewhat disappointed.
"But we don't know why Kivar waited this long to come for the Granolith," Max added.
"Of course," Larek noted, "you wouldn't have all of the details. Our worlds have continued to be ravaged by war since we last spoke at The Summit—which is exactly what we warned would happen when you rejected Kivar's deal. … I'm sorry. I was quite angry with you after The Summit, as were the other leaders. I realize now that you didn't recover all of your memories, and I've gotten to know Kivar well enough to know that he definitely would've killed you all immediately after you returned. I wanted to believe you'd regained the power to fight him and prevent that from happening."
"That still doesn't explain what brings Kivar here now," Isabel reminded him, looking to get Larek back on track.
"Right," Larek acknowledged. "Our worlds are aware that you all continue to live on Earth, but there's debate as to why you haven't returned yet. Some believe you've chosen to abandon us, others think you've been building an army to return with, and still others believe you to be stranded on Earth with no way home. Factions of the military are splintering all the time as they follow different generals with their own political beliefs and agendas. Kivar is attempting to unite enough of these factions to take control of all five worlds. His promise that doing so would end the fighting has garnered him a fair amount of support. Of course many of us understand how miserable everyone would be under Kivar's rule."
"Yeah, Kivar sucks," Michael remarked, showing a bit of impatience, "we already know that."
Larek shot him a disapproving look. Larek always preferred to talk directly to Max. Max wondered if he didn't tolerate the others in the Royal Four speaking out of turn in his former life as a king.
Larek next made eye contact with Max, who nodded slightly to signal he supported Michael and shared his interest in prodding Larek to get to the point.
Larek continued, "The bottom line is that Kivar needs the Granolith to rally enough support to seize control. The hope from the Legend of The Royal Four will never die without the Granolith. Your dead bodies would be an added bonus. Please, tell me have the Granolith with you."
"It's in a safe location," Max shared, "but I don't know that we can do anything with it. We're vastly outnumbered and there's only so much we can do to prevent Kivar from eventually finding it. It's not like we have a ship we can use to send it to you."
"Ah, old friend, that's why my ship is also on route to Earth," Larek revealed. "The journey's taken about one Earth year. Kivar got a head start on us, but we're close. You must retrieve the Granolith as soon as possible."
"What are you expecting to happen once we have the Granolith and you've arrived on Earth?" Isabel asked.
Larek sighed. Max braced himself for some unwelcome news.
"I know this is probably not what you all want to hear," Larek began, "but the wars back home have really reached a breaking point. Even if we managed to kill Kivar and all of his forces, more warlords that share his goals would eventually come to Earth with his same mission."
"Why can't we give you the Granolith to take back to Antar and restore order?" Max asked.
"The Granolith symbolizes the legitimate leader of Antar," Larek explained. "The divide is that some people believe Kivar's coup that killed all of you makes him the rightful King, but because you're still alive, some believe Zan is still the rightful King. Your mother's plan to integrate your consciousness in alien bodies on a faraway planet was… unprecedented. A minority will always reject your right to power. Most accept that Kivar's there and in power now. Then there are those of us that fiercely oppose Kivar, which we do because he's a power hungry, war mongering ruler. Many are essentially undecided and frankly apathetic about the rightful King of Antar debate. They're simply desperate to end the fighting. Attacking Kivar to remove him from the Antar throne would come at great cost, and it wouldn't provide political stability for Antar. But the Granolith is a powerful symbol to our people."
Max could feel Isabel's nervousness through their newfound psychic connection. He shared those feelings.
"What is it that you're trying to tell us, Larek?" Isabel asked.
"The only path I can see to defeating Kivar and his small pact of unwavering supporters is for the Royal Four to finally return home with the Granolith," Larek said. "These undecided factions of the military would support you if you return with your full unit and the Granolith. You could unite the majority of the factions, quickly regain the Antar throne and together we could all tamp down Kivar and his allies once and for all."
"So you're saying we have to go home?" Max asked cautiously, looking to confirm what became somewhat clear.
"Yes," Larek declared decisively. "I'm afraid I don't see any other option for you all. There's just no way that you'll be able to continue to live peacefully on Earth."
Max paused. Larek appeared a bit physically fatigued after sharing all of this. Max surveyed the rest of the group. Isabel, Michael, Ava, Kyle and Serena appeared to collectively share a stunned silence.
"Ok," Max offered, "we can get the Granolith and then rendezvous with you."
Max made eye contact with Isabel who shot him a look of alarm. He sensed she wasn't the only one, but he subtly shook his head no to signal she shouldn't voice her concerns with the notion at this time.
"Excellent," Larek said with a beaming smile.
"When you will your ship arrive?" Max asked.
"We're about one of your days away," Larek replied.
Max continued gathering more info, "And how will you find us once you get here? We'll need to move to a new location to retrieve the Granolith."
Larek reached into his pocket and produced the pentagonal device that Brody purchased in 1997. It activated shortly after Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess used the orbs to hear the message from his mother, leading Brody to Roswell following that signal and ultimately buying the UFO Center. It also knocked Michael down when he broke into the UFO Center shortly after Brody got into town. And then when Brody and Larek's memories became fused, he explained that it could disable their powers, and he used the device to do just that.
"Here," Larek said, as he extended his hand out to offer the device to Max.
Michael moved over and stuck out his hand to block the handoff. Max figured Michael remembered how dangerous the device could be.
"Whoa," Michael cautioned, "wait a minute. Isn't that thing designed to disable our powers?"
"It's true," Max said, "I don't think you remember this, but Brody, the guy who's body you inhabit, got access to your memories in an accident once and he called it a tri… a trit…"
Max struggled to remember the exact technical name Brody used all those years ago.
Larek smiled, "A Trithium Amplification Generator?"
Max nodded.
"I don't suppose any of you actually know what that means? Or what 'trithium' is?" Larek asked.
Max shook his head no. He took a quick look to see the others either doing the same or staring back at Larek blankly.
"Well, the details aren't important," Larek decided, "but what you need to understand is that this device has multiple functions. The most basic way to explain it is that it can generate different types of signals. Here…"
He held the device out again in his palm and invited Max, Isabel, Michael and Ava to gather around while Larek demonstrated. The pentagon-shaped device had a raised white center and Max saw different facings in the center light up blue at various times when the device was activated. The rest of the surface was black with an obsidian-like texture and white symbols on each of the five facings.
"You see this symbol here?" Larek asked Max.
Larek pointed to one of the symbols that looked like the spiral shape that Max and the others encountered numerous times, including on the egg-shaped communicator orbs that held the message from Max and Isabel's mother. Max nodded to show he understood.
Larek continued, "All you need to do is press this middle section next to that symbol and it'll send a signal to my ship where we can track you and pick you up. The middle crystal will light up blue once and then blink intermittently to confirm that it's working. I've encrypted the signal it will transmit to prevent Kivar's ship from detecting or tracking it. As long as you don't twist it, it's perfectly safe."
After providing instructions, he finally handed the device to Max.
"Now I really should let this body rest," Larek said. "The communications process is taxing, and, while that can supercharge its ability to fight disease, I can't do anything to neutralize the chemicals that make it so weak."
"I understand," Max said, "thank you for helping us. We'll signal you as soon as we retrieve the Granolith."
Larek slowly receded away. Everyone watched him move off before saying anything.
"Do you really expect us to just go get the Granolith and hop on Larek's ship?" Isabel asked him.
Max paused a moment before answering. He felt overwhelmed by everything Larek just shared. And he normally relied on Liz to talk through these things with him.
"I don't know. Our only choice may be to at least signal Larek once we do retrieve the Granolith. We can sort the rest out when the time comes. But we're not doing anything about the Granolith until we rescue Liz and then Zan."
Everyone looked not only satisfied but inspired by that statement. The group started to pile into Serena's van. They cleared out some of her equipment and left it in the camper so passengers in addition to the three that fit across the bench seat at the front could sit on the floor, and the full group of six could travel in one vehicle. Max noticed Michael lagged behind.
"Michael, are you ready to go?" Max asked.
"Almost," Michael replied, "let me just make a quick call first."
Max nodded to signal that sounded fine. Max hung back standing outside the van while Michael retreated back toward the camper to make a phone call. Max's thoughts focused on Liz and how he wanted to get to her as soon as possible. He didn't put much time into considering who Michael needed to call, but he assumed he called Maria. After a few minutes, Michael ran up to the van and they both hopped inside.
Serena drove, while Max and Kyle joined her on the bench seat. Other than Kyle navigating, the group engaged in little conversation until they arrived at the building where Kyle's bloodhound ability indicated Liz was being held.
Northeast of El Quarterlejo and just off of Highway 87 headed toward the grasslands, Serena, at Kyle's direction, pulled up to a bluish-gray aluminum siding building. It looked to like a place to store farming equipment. Max noticed some old, rusted equipment lying outside the closed up hanger doors. Aside from skylights along the rooftop, the building featured no other windows, and not a single ray of light appeared in or around the dusty, seemingly abandoned building.
"You're sure this is it?" Michael asked, leaning forward from the back of the van to poke his head between Max and Kyle along the bench seat. "It looks like nobody's been anywhere near this place in the last 20 years."
"That's the idea," Kyle pointed out. "I definitely sense Liz is in there. From what I've learned about the Special Unit, most of the base itself is probably below ground."
"I think he's right," Ava added.
A fleeting thought surfaced for Max wondering how or why Ava could know anything about it. Maybe she knew something about this area along the highway that resonated with her, but Max didn't dwell on it. The idea that the Special Unit held Liz inside made Max feel antsy about charging in to rescue his wife, but fear and haunting memories of his time in the Special Unit's custody helped him to stay measured. Otherwise he might've charged out of the van and sprinted inside before Serena could even throw the van in park.
Once everyone in the group exited the van, Max took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this."
Max took a step forward but stopped when he felt Kyle reach over and grab the shoulder of his shirt.
"Not so fast," Kyle cautioned, "I came prepared, but what about the rest of you?"
Kyle pulled a previously concealed gun out that was tucked into his pants at the center of his back, hiding under his t-shirt. He held the gun in his palm to show Max how Kyle could go in armed.
Max smiled confidently, "We can use our abilities."
Max took another half-step forward, and this time Kyle reached out and held his arm out across Max's chest to stop Max from leading the group inside.
"No," Kyle started, "you see, the Special Unit has some tricks, more like tech, that wasn't a factor the last time you actually confronted them. There will be some kind of signal in there that can fizzle out your powers, just like that pentagon device in your pocket."
"Why didn't you say anything before?" Max demanded.
"Sorry," Kyle shrugged, his mannerisms a bit too casual for Max's taste, "I kind of take a one-problem-at-a-time mentality these days."
"Well then how are we supposed to fight our way past the Special Unit to get Liz out of there?" Isabel asked, expressing concern.
After a moment, Kyle snapped his finger, "Oh, I know. Ava, couldn't you mind warp everyone into thinking we're not opening doors and walking around."
"Mind warp?" Ava didn't seem familiar with the term.
"Yeah," Max said assuring, "you know, getting inside their head to make them see, or not see in this case, whatever you want them to. Tess did this all the time. She used a mind warp for this very reason once to help me sneak into a government lab to… uh, provide some molecular manipulation of some bones."
Max referred to an incident at the start of his junior year in high school. Congresswoman Vanessa Whitaker, who they didn't know at the time was a member of the Skins like Nicholas, looked to find a substance called Cabnium X on the remains of Agent Pierce of the Special Unit, a byproduct of Michael using his powers to kill Pierce. Max snuck in undetected thanks to the mind warp from Tess and aged the bones so that any irregular radiation readings wound up associated with nuclear testing years ago.
"Uh, yeah no, that isn't my unique ability," Ava revealed, "but…"
Michael cut her off, "Wait, you and the other New York set of hybrids got a unique set of specialties? You're different than us?"
"What ability do you have?" Isabel added.
"If you let me speak, I'll tell ya," Ava snapped.
Max recognized Ava definitely still experienced a fair amount of distress worrying about Zan's fate. Max knew that while Ava agreed to prioritize Liz's rescue, she didn't like the decision and preferred to not spend any delay getting to Zan. Max understood her feelings because he worried for his son too.
"The ability I got can help us here," Ava continued. "I can sense and manipulate currents. That's why I said I think this is the spot where they got Liz. I can sense the electricity they're using to power the base even though we don't see it. I can also shut 'em off."
"Wow, that's amazing," Serena remarked.
"So what are you going to do?" Max asked.
Max and the others watched and waited while Ava closed her eyes and appeared to concentrate a great deal. The look on her face definitely mirrored how Tess looked when activating a mind warp, even though Ava's ability worked differently. It never even occurred to Max to ask or consider Ava's unique ability or that she wouldn't just possess the same talents as Tess.
"I can shut it all off while you sneak in," Ava offered, "then I can bring just the lights back on so you can see where you're all going in there. If I only allow the power to flow to the lights, then that ought to disable whatever supplies power to the devices that mute our abilities."
"I guess we're about to find out," Max remarked.
"I gotta concentrate a lot to control it," Ava explained, "so I better stay out here."
Michael quickly sized up the tactics, "We shouldn't need a combined attack to handle the Special Unit agents."
Max nodded to show he agreed, and Isabel did the same.
"I can stay out here and watch Ava's back," Serena suggested, "since I don't have voodoo powers or a gun."
Max cracked a slight smile and again nodded to show agreement and approval. As Kyle, Isabel and Michael started making their way toward the large metal sliding door to slip inside the building, Max turned back to face Ava.
"Thank you," Max said as he looked into Ava's in the eyes.
Ava cracked Max a faint smile and then closed her eyes to concentrate. Max ran to the others by the door to the building. A simple padlock secured by a bent metal latch prevented anyone from easily sliding the door open. Max, Michael, Isabel and Kyle all looked back at Ava. After a few moments, Max sensed that an already quiet scene got even quieter. Ava gave a thumb's up, which they all understood to mean the power was out.
Michael reached out his hand and the padlock fell to the ground. The four of them pushed the door open just enough so that they could slip through, not bothering to close it behind them. Inside, Max felt the extreme heat built up in basically a tin can that baked in the sun all day. His brow, armpits and palms almost immediately began sweating after stepping into the pitch black building.
Suddenly some light illuminated the scene. Max looked over and Isabel emitted a soft white glow from her right hand, like a human flashlight. Max briefly looked down at his own hand, wondering if he could do that, as he never even thought to. Isabel panned and scanned the mostly vacant building.
"There," Michael remarked, pointing at a spot Isabel just panned by.
Isabel moved her lighting back to shine on a metal rail positioned a few feet out from the far right wall. The four of them briskly walked over to it, revealing a set of stairs heading down well below the surface of the building, just as Kyle predicted.
Max led the way down the stairs, which led to a small platform with a solid, windowless door at the bottom. Max gently jiggled the handle to verify his assumption it was locked. He placed his hand over the deadbolt above the handle and the door clicked unlocked.
Taking care to open the door very quietly, Max cracked it open only a sliver so he could assess who or what might lie ahead. Max saw a single figure holding a match for light and walking slowly away from the door down a hallway. He cautiously poked his head through the door and looked side to side. No one else was stationed to guard the door. Max signaled for the others to stay quiet and follow him inside.
This area of the facility was much more comfortable temperature-wise. Max looked to lead the group toward the agent slowly to approach him undetected and incapacitate him. About four steps in the lights came blasting back on. The agent instinctively whipped around to look back toward the door they just came through.
Upon spotting them, the black suit clad, blonde haired male agent started reaching for his holstered weapon. Before any of the hybrids could raise a hand, Max saw Kyle, gun drawn quickly approach the agent.
"Nuh-uh," Kyle spoke firmly but kept his voice down so it wouldn't carry, "don't even think about it."
Kyle motioned for the agent to back up against the right wall of the hallway until his back rubbed against the wall. Kyle stuck his gun in the man's face as Max, Isabel and Michael moved forward to catch up. Michael and Isabel walked just past Kyle and the agent to watch for anyone else coming from further down the hall toward the exit door. Max stopped just short on the other side of them.
"We're looking for a couple people," Kyle started.
The man looked tense, though not panicked. Max figured that seemed right. A trained agent wouldn't get as rattled as the average Joe, but even the more savvy agents would likely feel unsettled after someone got the jump on them and pointed a gun in their face.
"You know who I am?" Kyle asked.
The agent smirked and Kyle became visibly agitated.
"Where's my wife?" Kyle continued.
"Can't you smell her or something," the agent boldly sneered.
Kyle tightened the grip on his gun and clenched his jaw, "Don't play games with me. I want to know where Carmen is."
"You think I know?" the agent miffed.
"I do," Kyle persisted, "so cough it up."
Max felt exposed in the hallway and feared the power disruption would bring more agents toward their location. He suspected the electrical disruption would prove to make it more difficult for agents to talk to each other, but Max still preferred to limit the number of people that knew they infiltrated the base.
"Kyle," Max whispered, "we need to get to Liz. We don't have time for this."
Kyle grimaced but also reluctantly seemed to understand Max's point.
"Liz Evans," Kyle said, redirecting his attention, "we know she's here. Where is she being held?"
Again the agent only smirked. Max decided Kyle's temper might eventually give way and maybe Max could prove more intimidating anyway.
"Do you know who I am?" Max asked.
The agent looked a little uncomfortable and swallowed hard. That tipped Max off that he did know about Max. It occurred to him that the agent may assume the lights back on meant that his abilities may not work. Max held up his hand just behind the agent and heated up the wall so that the agent could feel the warmth on the back of his head and neck.
"Powers on," Max noted. "You know what I can do to you."
Max moved his open-palmed hand in front of the agent's face as the man again swallowed hard.
"Alright," the agent said, indeed sounding more rattled now, "go down to the end of the hall, turn left, last door on the left."
Max moved off and headed that way.
Meanwhile he heard Kyle continuing to press the agent, "Now about Carmen, I may not be able to melt your face off, but I will put a bullet between your eyes if you don't talk."
Max made eye contact with Isabel.
"I'll stay with him," Isabel offered, "you and Michael go and get Liz."
Max moved toward the end of the hallway in lockstep with Michael. When they reached the end of the hallway, Max peered around the corner. The next leg of the hallway didn't run as long and he spotted two agents guarding the last door on the left, who also noticed him.
"Hey," one of them shouted.
Max pulled his head back and looked over at Michael.
"Two agents," Max said.
Michael leapt past Max and around the corner and stuck out his hand and flung the agents back and past the last door on the left to the far wall at the next fork in the hallway.
"Go," Michael signaled to Max, "I'll make sure the path stays clear."
Max again needed to use his powers to unlock the door and opened it. Inside, Liz sat at the far end of square metal table facing the wall to Max's immediate left as he entered. When she spotted Max, she sprung up and ran to give him a hug.
Max hugged her tightly for a few seconds and then realized that because she got isolated from them all he should vet that she didn't somehow get replaced by Kivar or one of his shapeshifters. Max kissed Liz and saw flashes of freshman year when she caught him staring at her in a booth at the Crashdown. The memory flashed vividly and Max knew it authenticated Liz's identity.
"Are you ok?" Max asked tenderly.
"Yeah," Liz replied, "I'll be fine."
"We better get moving," Michael suggested.
Max looked back and saw that Michael now stood with his back in the open doorway where Max entered. Max looked at Liz who nodded. He took her hand and escorted her back out the door.
In the hallway, Max heard footsteps coming from the hallways that ran deeper in the base. He motioned for Michael to lead the way back and Liz to follow him, with Max taking up the rear.
As the trio moved back toward the base exit, Max looked back and saw another black suit agent come charging around the corner, gun drawn. Max pivoted around and flung up his defensive shield just in time to catch a bullet the man fired. He lowered the shield and used his powers to expel the gun from the man's hand. By this time, Michael and Liz stopped and stared back too, likely alarmed by the sound of the gunshot. Even though Max knocked his gun away, Michael held out his hand which lit up with a white light. Max turned to see Michael levitate the man off the ground. He turned back to Michael who jerked his hand to his right. Max turned back toward the agent to see him being flung that way down the hall.
"We need to move, Maxwell," Michael advised.
"Let's go," Max said in agreement and the three ran back toward the exit.
As they approached Kyle and Isabel, the blonde haired agent lied there unconscious. Max slowed when they reached them.
"What happened here?" Max asked, concerned for the man's wellbeing.
"Don't worry," Isabel said.
"I didn't kill him," Kyle shared, "I just hit him after he told me what I needed to know about Carmen."
"It's good you got that out of him," Max acknowledged, "because we have to go."
The four of them ran back through the door. Max guided Liz up the stairs while Michael and Isabel each used their powers like welders to fuse each side of the door so that pursuing agents couldn't immediately exit their base to chase them through that door. When finished, they charged after Max and Liz to catch up and made their way out of the building. Max caught on that Liz couldn't move at full speed and seemed a little wobbly.
Outside as they jogged over toward Serena and Ava, Max signaled them, "We got her. We need to move."
Ava broke out of her electricity disrupting ability and when the group caught up with them, they all piled back into the van. Max tended to Liz in the back, so Michael sat up front with Kyle and Serena, who still drove.
"Drive, just drive," Michael urged her and Serena peeled around the corner heading back into El Quarterlejo.