Michael was the first to join him inside. “So, you can fly this thing?”

“No.”

Michael looked at Nasedo in disbelief. “No? We leave everything and drive out to the middle of the nowhere, leaving everyone we know behind, unprotected and you can’t fly this ship. What the hell did we come out her for?”

Nasedo walked toward Michael, a weird twinkle in his eye. “They didn’t want to take a chance on me trying to leave this planet before my mission was fulfilled, so I was made so that I wouldn’t be able to command any ship.” He waved his hand over the ledge of symbols and they began to grow. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t.”

Isabel and Max had joined the rest in the ship now and looked at Nasedo with surprise. Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Me? I can’t even get a door open with out breaking it.”

“But you found out how to interpret the symbols. And you found this place. I told you before that your greatest power was in your humanity. Intellectually, humans are a sorry lot, but they have an unconscious mind that is one of the envies of the universe. They catalog information all the time and use it in ways that are astounding, and they don’t even know why.”

He led a stunned Michael to the center of the room. “You were the first to emerge from gestation, which means you had the least amount of essence fed into you. You are the most human, and your intuition is the strongest. And that’s what’s going to make you able to be the pilot of this craft. With Max’s help.”

Max was confused but stepped forward as if compelled when Nasedo beckoned to him. “I know what you did to the human girl. You really shouldn’t have, you would have been much stronger in the fight if you had reached for one us. Luck for you she was strong enough to help. But that doesn’t matter now. What’s important is you can help Michael so I can link with his mind and show him the way home.”

Nasedo pressed one of the symbols and chair began to rise from the material of the floor. He lead Michael to it and sat him down. “Now Max, do your stuff.”

Max looked uncertainly at Michael, then placed his hands on either side of his head and concentrated on repeating what he had done with Liz. He thought of who he was and all the things in his life that had made him who he was and forced Michael’s mind open to accept it. Tess and Isabel could see the change in Michael as Max’s life was laid bare before him. Max’s hands shook as he pulled them away, but Michael caught his eyes and smiled gently.

“Thanks, Max.” Max nodded, understanding that what Michael was saying was not just for what he had done now, but for everything he was and had tried to be. Max moved back and Nasedo came behind Michael and rested his hand on his shoulder.

“Now, Michael. You know what to do.”

Michael looked at the glowing symbols and they began to pulse as hand shaped outlines appeared on the armrests. He placed his hands over them and was overwhelmed as the vastness of space opened up in front of him. Not cold and uninviting, but an ocean of jewels his for the taking. He could feel Nasedo with him, a gentle presence in his mind, guiding him. The ship, too, seemed to be pushing him forward, anxious to go. He knew what it wanted. Like so many times before he called the power within him, and as he focused it fed it into the ship.

The giant monolith shuddered and the sandstone cracked, sending shards of light up to cut through the night sky. Then a low grinding noise echoed through the desert canyons. The rock itself seemed to groan, then it collapsed as the structure that was it’s core suddenly vanished.

***********

A warm breeze carried the slight scent of the newly blooming plum trees up over the balcony wall but in an instant was gone again, leaving Liz surrounded by the cool chill of spring. She had been waiting a long time. Too long. But she wasn’t ready to give up yet. She thought she heard a car in the alley and, thinking that it might be Max, went over to see. But as she stood a weird feeling came over her. It was like a thousand fingernails on a blackboard, like chewing tinfoil. It was every illness she had ever experienced rolled up in one and heightened in intensity. It tightened around her chest until she was fighting just to breathe. She could feel the tearing inside of her and the light from the window began to fade as Liz reached to the brink of consciousness, then the feeling was gone and all she felt was empty. Some part of her had been ripped away and what was left was shredded and raw.

It took all the strength she had to pull herself through the window and walk the few steps to the bed where Maria was sleeping. Maria opened her eyes to find Liz standing over her, deathly still, her face like stone.

“Their gone, Maria. I-” She choked on the words. Maria stood to hold her friend. He own tears came hot and furious, but Liz only stood like a statue. “I felt it. They’re gone. They’re really gone.”

******

I think I've already lost you
I think you're already gone
I think I'm finally scared now
you think I'm weak - but I think you're wrong

I think you're already leaving
feels like your hand is on the door
I thought this place was an empire
but now I'm relaxed - I can't be sure

If you're gone - maybe it's time to go home
there's an awful lot of breathing room
but I can hardly move
If you're gone- baby you need to come home
cuz there's a little bit of something me
in everything you