For a minute he thought he might still be dreaming as the room lit up, then he heard the crash and for the first time noticed the storm outside. That's what had happened. The lightening had gotten into his dream. But the way they had looked, not brighter, different. They had looked the way Nasedo had when they were healing him with the stones, the power restoring him momentarily to his true, alien shape. Maybe that had just worked its way into the dream as well.

The lightening flashed again, startling Max with the image of a figure outside his window. He tried to clear his mind of the feelings left by the dream as he walked over to answer the familiar knocking. Michael slid in the window, his wet clothing releasing a spattering of droplets on the floor with every movement.

"I need to go to the pod chamber." "Right now? It's raining."

"Yeah, I noticed. But it needs to be now." Michael bristled at Max's hesitation. "If you won't take me, I'll see if I can get the Jetta."

"You won't get a mile off the freeway. What about your new friend, Tess? She's living in your apartment, won't she help you?"

For some reason he really didn't want to feel like he owed Tess anything. "Are you going to take me, or should I go wake up Maria?" Part of him dared Max to say no, wanting to see if he stood in the rain outside her window whether Maria would still let him in. But knowing if she did he might forget all about the pod chamber.

Max threw some dry clothes at Michael. "Put these on. You can dry your clothes on the way there."

**********

Philip Evans rubbed his eyes, trying to make the computer screen come back into focus. This brief needed to be ready for filing in Eddy county Friday. It was a big case, a successful trial would mean a lot of publicity for his firm. And a lot of stress for him.

He must be getting tired. He thought he heard something on the roof. But there it was again. Probably a branch blowing in the wind. He pushed aside the curtain to see two figures climbing down the porch railing. He grabbed the phone, fingers poised to call the police. He looked out again to see the men heading towards Max's jeep. The lightening flashed, allowing him to see the intruders clearly. He set the phone down, a smile on his face, remembering his own teenage escapades. Still, he knew he couldn't just let this slide by.

**********

Max ran his hand over the slick stone and hurried through the entrance that appeared. Silence enveloped them as they stepped inside, the thick walls shutting out the roar of the storm. The air was musty and cool even on the hot September night. It took a minute for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. There was no warm glow from the pods this time. Michael ran his hand over the weird organic formation hoping for some response. He had anxiously been waiting for another thunderstorm, like Frankenstein, hoping that the electric charge in the air might breathe some life into this dead material. Finally he stepped back, thankful for the darkness that prevented Max from seeing his disappointment. But he suspected Max had already guessed the reason behind his need to come here. Max said nothing as he tentatively touched the soft pulp of the pods, then followed Michael back out into the rain.

**********

Max undid the deadbolt on the door as quietly as possible then stopped in the entryway. He bent down to dry his shoes so the rubber soles wouldn't squeak on the kitchen floor.

"Don't bother trying to sneak in. I think you're already caught." Philip switched on the light. "So what exactly was so important that you had to sneak out in the middle of the night, in the rain?"

Max quickly moved to the opposite side of the kitchen island, hoping his dad wouldn't notice his dry shoes. "Uh, Michael needed some help with his homework."

"Uh-huh. I saw you both leave. If he had already come all the way over, why didn't you just do it here?"

"He forgot the book at his apartment."

Philip fixed his son with a look that let him know his story was being run through the bullshit detector. "Well, next time, tell somebody where you're going or leave a note. And use the door for Christ's sake. I don't want your Mom going out to get the paper and finding you on the front lawn with two broken legs."

Max nodded. "Right."

"And I better not hear about any acts of vandalism or juvenile delinquency or I'm holding you personally responsible." He stared Max in the eye until he was sure that his point was made. "Now, go to bed. I don't want you too tired for school tomorrow."

He watched his son go up the stairs then headed back to his computer. He tried to continue working but his thoughts kept drifting. Something about tonight just didn't seem right. He and Diane had realized early on that Max and Isabel liked their space. They had never been strict parents, willing to let the kids set their own rules as long as their schoolwork or family life didn't suffer. There was no reason for Max to be sneaking around. Especially not climbing on the roof in the rain. He thought about Michael. He had a rough time, but he seemed to be a good kid. Still, Philip didn't know much about him. And now he was living on his own. Diane said the kids spent a lot of time over there, even staying there some nights. He looked at his computer again. Sometimes he wondered if he had sacrificed too much time with his family for his work. Soon, Max and Is would be off to college and out on their own. Did he really know them as well as he should? He realized that he wasn't going to get any more work done tonight and went to bed.

**********

Liz could feel her skin burning as she stood listening to the guide talk about the Indian ruins located somewhere in front of her. Or tried to listen. She was in the back and could barely hear the guide above the buzzing of the cicadas in the cottonwoods around her. It didn't matter anyway. Her family had been coming to Bandelier almost every summer for as long as she could remember. It had stopped being interesting for her long ago. The only reason she was here today was because Sierra, her friend in the lab down the hall, had convinced her that the field trip held for the student interns would be fun.

She looked around for her friend and saw her by the stream in the shade of the cottonwoods motioning Liz over. Liz slipped away from the group and joined her. The cool moistness of the shade felt good. Liz wanted to collapse on the picnic bench but could tell that Sierra was eager to keep moving. "Come on, Liz. Let's skip the history lesson. There's a hiking trail up ahead. Let's go see where it goes."

Liz wanted to object but Sierra was already setting a fast pace up the trail. It had taken Liz a while to adjust to the higher altitude, she still wasn't in great shape for mountain hiking. It wasn't something there was much opportunity to do in Roswell. Sierra, born and raised in Colorado Springs, obviously didn't have the same problem. Sierra slowed down to a pace that Liz could keep up with. They hiked in silence until Sierra stopped and surveyed the steep valley wall above the trail. Sierra waited as Liz caught her breath, then pointed above Liz's head. "There's a cave up there. Let's go check it out."

"I don't think that we're supposed to leave the trail. Besides, it's an awfully long way up."

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Sierra scrambled up the slope face, loosening a rain of gravel that bounced down towards Liz. Liz groaned, then followed her up. Liz reached the top then turned to look over the valley. She could see why the Indians had settled here so long ago. The cottonwoods were just turning and glowed in hues of green and gold under the azure sky. "Hey, Liz! Come look at this!" Sierra's voice echoed from inside the cave. Liz could feel the air temperature decrease as she was swallowed into the darkness.

She could barely make out Sierra at the back of the cave. As she fumbled her way in her eyes slowly adjusted. Sierra was looking at symbols painted on the wall of the cave. Some wavy squiggles, some odd triangles, a dot with spiral arms around it. Liz let out a gasp.

"Liz, what's wrong?"

She had seen these symbols before, in another cave hundreds of miles away. These were the same symbols that Riverdog had shown Max on the reservation. "You know, this place is probably some kind of important archeological site. This is federal land, we might be in some kind of trouble being here. Or worse this might be some kind of sacred Indian land. I had some friends on the reservation near Roswell, I learned to really respect their sacred areas. I just think we should get out of here."

Sierra took another look around the small chamber. "I guess you're right. There's nothing else interesting in here anyway." Liz watched Sierra move out into the sunlight. Liz gingerly ran her hand over the cool stone, her heart aching at the unexpected reminder of Max. She sighed and followed Sierra out into the sunlight.

Max tried to ignore the phone and concentrate on his calculus homework, hoping that Isabel would get it. It wasn't until the third ring that he remembered that she was at the movies with Alex. Not really wanted to talk to anyone, he let the machine pick it up.

"Hi…Um, This is Liz…"

"Liz?" The machine screech noisily as Max picked up the phone. He fumbled to turn it off. "Liz? Are you still there?"

"Max. Hey." He could tell that she had been prepared to leave a message and was suddenly uncomfortable about having to talk to him directly. "How are you? I mean, you know, how's school going?"

"Okay. Except Biology. I can't seem to find a good lab partner this year." He had tried to sound light, but failed miserably. There was only silence for a minute.