The seven of them drove right down Main Street through the center of town, going a little too fast for the town’s 30 mile per hour speed limit. But not fast enough for The True not to spot them.

CAREN: Guys, there’s the Jeep.

JACOB: Where are they going?

BRYAN: Doesn’t matter. I’ll get the car; we have to trail them.

The five of them hurried out of the Crashdown, leaving the remains of their dinner still on the table, ran for the car, and started driving in the same direction out of town. They caught up to them about five miles out of town, right as they turned onto 285 North. It was a long barren stretch of road. Bryan was driving.

JACOB: Bry…slow down, keep your distance; they can’t spot us. Besides, we have to make sure that they are all there before showing ourselves.

KATHERINE: Where are they going anyway?

Caren took out the map.

CAREN: There’s a whole lot of nothing in this direction. No wait, that’s every direction around these parts.

BRYAN: Well, it doesn’t matter. The further out of Roswell that they get, the easier it will be to kill them and get out of here.

SCENE 2 – 24 HOURS LEFT

It was just about midnight when the pod squad arrived in Los Alamos. It had been a fairly uneventful trip. Max swore that someone was following them for the first couple of hours after they left. He just couldn’t get that feeling out of his mind. A few hours later though, right at sundown, after they had stopped at McDonald’s for a quick dinner near the highway, they passed that same car on the side of the road, broken down. If it was a normal day, he might have stopped to give them a hand. But it wasn’t a normal day. They all kept driving. Maybe he was just being paranoid again, but it didn’t hurt not to take chances.

They stopped the car just outside the main gate of the compound, away from the guard tower. Los Alamos had recently been under siege by wildfires, and they could see all of the firebreaks and equipment still lining the edge of the laboratories. It also meant that there were quite a few people around, even at this hour. That made getting on to the base an added challenge.

LIZ: So how do we get to number 132? That place is sealed up tighter than a drum.

TESS: Well, if all of these nuclear secrets were there, wouldn’t you have some guards and security measures?

MICHAEL: Any way, that doesn’t matter. We have to get on.

MARIA: It’s not like we’re just going to walk in.

ISABEL: Tess, remember when you first came to Roswell? You said that Nasedo had been working for the Army. Was that true or a lie?

TESS: It was true. We were in Birmingham.

ALEX: No, wait guys. I see where she’s going with this.

ISABEL: Don’t military personnel and their families get an ID card, something that gets them around and such?

TESS: Yeah.

ISABEL: Do you still have yours?

TESS: Yeah, I keep it in my wallet. But guys, it’s midnight in New Mexico. My ID says Birmingham, Alabama. This is probably one of the most secure bases in the country. They’re not just going to open the door for me and all my friends.

MAX: Wait. They don’t have to. You drive ahead by yourself in your car, and then see if you can get in. You can use a mind trick if you have to. With just you, it shouldn’t be too hard to fake out the guard. After you get in and are out of sight, give us a call on your cell. We can meet you somewhere else where the security is not quite as tight.

LIZ: That’s real risky, Max.

MAX: Does anyone else have a better idea? Wait, here, Tess, give me your ID.

Tess handed him her military ID. Max ran his hand over it. The Birmingham, AL references changed to Los Alamos, NM.

MAX: That should make it easier. I only wish that we had six more.

TESS: That’s a cool trick, Max. Even I’ve never been able to do that one.

MAX: We all have to get together when this is all over. Nasedo and the rest of us. We need to learn what we all can do. It’s our only hope.

Tess got back into her car and drove up to the gate.

GUARD: ID please?

TESS: Good evening. Here you go.

GUARD: How come I’ve never seen you here before?

TESS: My father and I just transferred here. We’ve only been here for a week.

GUARD: But my list in my computer doesn’t have you on it, and it gets updated daily. Step out of the car, miss.

TESS: Are you sure? Maybe you should check again?

Tess sat back in her car seat, closed her eyes and began to concentrate as the guard went back to his computer. He came back in a few seconds.

GUARD: OK…Tess Harding, sorry about that. The computer must be acting up. Better get that fixed. What are you doing out so late anyway?

TESS: You should know. A military base is a boring place to spend a Saturday night…

GUARD: Yeah…I can understand that. Well, have a nice night. Drive though.

The guard lifted the gate, and Tess drove through to the main intersection. There was a map of the laboratories at it. She aimed her headlights right at it, looking for a 132. She found the location of a building 132. It was unlabeled with a department. It probably was the place. She made a left hand turn, and took out her cell phone.

ISABEL: Yeah.

TESS: Hey. I got in. I saw the map. Building 132 is near the back of the compound. Why don’t you drive out onto the main road? Looking at the map, there’s a long section about a mile up where there’s some open space, probably a test range. We should be able to slip in there without anyone noticing.

ISABEL: OK…see you in a few.

ISABEL: Guys…let’s go. We have to go back out to the main road.

They drove out until they saw the spot that Tess was referring to. It looked like a minefield with all of the scorch marks in the earth. She was right though; there was no one around for miles. Max hoped that the fence wasn’t alarmed. He was looking for cameras as he pulled up, but didn’t see any.

By the time that they got there, Tess was waiting. She opened a hole in the fence for all of them to walk through. None of them heard or saw anything as they walked onto the base. Both Tess and Max elected to keep their cars right there, so that they would have an easy getaway when the left. Tess hoped that she would be able to make a hole big enough for her car to fit through. The odds were she wasn’t going to be able to leave the same way she came in.

TESS: Come on…it’s about a mile over to the building. This place is absolutely huge.

MARIA: So why are we walking again?

ISABEL: The less noise the better, I’m assuming.

MAX: Got it.

After about twenty minutes of nervous anticipation, they approached building 132.

ALEX: Looks deserted.

TESS: Except for those two guards pacing around under the lights.

ALEX: Doh!

MARIA: I was hoping that this place was as deserted as Eagle Rock. Wishful thinking, huh?

No one responded to that.

MAX: Anyone see a way in?

MICHAEL: Other than through those two…not really.

ISABEL: We could really use Nasedo right now.

TESS: You got that right.

LIZ: Wait…is that a heating duct over there?

MAX: Yeah. Anyone want to give it a try?

ISABEL: It looks like the only way in.

MARIA: It also looks tiny.

ALEX: We don’t have any choice.

MICHAEL: Let’s go.

The group walked slowly and silently over to the duct. It was a tight fit, but Max felt that they should all be able to squeeze through. He took the lead, and maneuvered the screws off with his power. After they had all crawled into the duct, Isabel closed up the facing. They were in a long crawlway. It was pitch black, so they didn’t see anything. They decided to make a left turn at the end of the first duct, and then they saw another opening. Max peered down into the room below. It looked like a deserted supply room. Max whispered back to everyone else.

MAX: Seems like the best place to enter. No one’s down there.

ISABEL: Any cameras?

MAX: Don’t see any.

ALEX: How far’s the drop?

MAX: You don’t want to know. Seriously, about ten feet.

ALEX: Hey, what doesn’t break my legs makes me stronger, right?

All of them had to work to suppress breaking out in laughter at that one. If they were to get caught in here they were in a heap of trouble. Max opened the grating and dropped down. He landed hard, but everything was in place. He found some crates and stacked them below the ceiling for the rest of them to drop down to. After they had all gotten into the storage room, they went for the door. Max peered out the door and saw a guard at the end of the hallway

MAX: Doesn’t look good.

MICHAEL: Yeah…but we have to get out of this room.

The guard set out down the hallway.

ISABEL: Oh no, maybe he heard us.

He walked up to the door of the storage room, and opened it. The group tore to try and hide. He closed the door behind him, and walked toward the back of the room. Michael and Tess never hesitated. They both popped out and blindsided the guard, putting him out cold.

MARIA: Is he dead?

Max walked over to him.

MAX: No…just sleeping.

MICHAEL: Thank god. Maybe I can control what I do.

Maria couldn’t help but form a little smile at that one.

MAX: Let’s go. We don’t have very long until he’s missed.

They opened the door and walked very quietly down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a door. Max slowly forced the lock and then cracked it. There was a large room, and a man restrained to a table in the center of it. It looked like Agent Pierce.

MAX: Guys…he’s in here.

Max looked around. The rest of the room appeared deserted. They opened the door and quickly walked in. Max walked up to the table. It was Nasedo, and he still was alive. He tried to wake him up, but he wasn’t budging.

MAX: Nasedo, come on. We’ve got to get out of here.

TESS: What about the rest of the Special Unit?

MAX: We’ll worry about that later. We don’t have a chance against them here.

For that was true. As much as Max knew that they needed to stop the FBI, this experience proved that they would have to go about it differently. Just the seven of them, even with their powers were no match for the Special Unit’s unlimited resources, especially on their home turf, where booby traps and other things could abound. They would have to think of another way. But first, they could get Nasedo out of here. They would need his help. As he started to loosen the straps that kept Nasedo on the table, he heard something.

MAX: What was that?

A secret door opened in the wall. About twenty-five agents stormed the room. All of them were completely overwhelmed in seconds. Nasedo immediately got up from the table, like he hadn’t been restrained at all.