SCENE 1

The group went back to their cars and left. There was nothing to be done. They now had no choice but to wait. At least Max though so. As he was driving, he spent his time trying to think of some sort of alternate solution. He was supposed to be in charge, and he had failed everyone. He had seen the signs, the light, the oddness of Javier, and yet they had allowed this to happen. He had allowed this to happen. They had discussed and planned a mode of attack, and the delay had cost them. He had always been one for carefully looking over his options, trying to work for the best solution, and now by waiting too long, all may be lost. Michael had told him that nothing was a coincidence anymore, and he hadn’t truly realized it. He wanted so badly to believe that things could be normal, that he could be a normal teen, even when faced with enormous evidence to the contrary. He had allowed Tess, of all people, to placate his fears, just like he had countless times before with anyone who would listen.

Now they had no choice but to continue to wait. But wait for what? Would the group sit at Tess’s indefinitely, waiting for something that might never happen? Even if they could confront Javier, and they could get some answers, that still left them nowhere. Max was convinced that the signal that had brought them to this point was only the beginning. There were more out there, and they probably weren’t going to be as covert as Javier was being now that they were sure to figure out all of their secrets. And they didn’t have a clue. Javier could be anyone, do anything. He wished that their mother’s message had been clearer, perhaps provided some details of what actions the enemy would take. “You will only know them by the evil within”, she had said. That wasn’t exactly a comforting thought. It left way too much to the imagination.

At least he knew now that Javier was the one responsible. How could he not be? After all they had seen, they couldn’t be absolutely one hundred percent sure, but the evidence was certainly really strong. The light, the cave, the veiled responses to both him and Tess, and now the invasion of the pod chamber. It would probably be more reassuring that it was. If it weren’t, that would only add to the questions.

Now the pod chamber was completely exposed. The rock was pretty remote; not many people climbed it, but someone would see it unless they did something, and soon. Even if by some miracle they were able to find and move some boulders, powers or no, it would only be a matter of time before someone whom they didn’t want would make the discovery. Then, any chances of anonymity would be over, and there would be one more enemy to fight, one which all of the plotting and planning in the world couldn’t defeat.

So they would go to Tess’s and wait. It was the only way now. Max didn’t want to sit around anymore than Michael did. He thought what he was going to say to Javier if, no when, their paths crossed. He could just keep lying. He had no reason to tell the truth, whatever it is. For all Max knew, Javier might just be a soldier following orders; he may not know anything. He was more concerned with what happened next. How could they deal with something that they didn’t have a clue about? They had been OK up to this point, barely, often surviving and staying hidden on the skin of their teeth. But now, the problems that lay in front of them just seemed too big, too big for all of them. There had to be a way to deal. He would just have to think of a way.

He punched his fist onto the dashboard.

ISABEL: Max, what’s wrong?

MAX: Sorry, Iz, I just hate swinging at windmills, you know.

ISABEL: I know what you mean…it’s like we’re completely clueless, and at the same time, we’re supposed to be our planet’s last hope. Seems kind of overwhelming to me.

MAX: Believe you me…I’m sure we’ve all had trouble putting our arms around that one.

MICHAEL: Amen to that. But we have to keep on. This is probably the most important thing any of us will ever do.

MAX: I just wish we had more to go on. I wish that we could find something that would give us some answers. And now the answers that we do have are in the hands of someone else.

TESS: We’ll get them back, Max…we have to.

MAX: Our life is in their hands. We have to take it back.

SCENE 2

Liz, Maria, and Alex were now trailing the alien four in the Jetta. Michael gave Maria a look as they got back to the cars, and Maria decided it would be best not to challenge him this time. So she was driving, Liz was riding shotgun, and Alex was in the back seat.

MARIA: So…do you think I’m being too mean?

Liz and Maria were having yet another of their Michael conversations. Alex was listening, but he tried to stay clear of these things sometimes.

LIZ: Well, it has been a few weeks, and you guys haven’t even said more than a few words to each other, except when we’re all together.

MARIA: I know.

LIZ: And, I can’t keep you two apart on the Crashdown schedule forever. You have to come to some understanding.

MARIA: But, he’s being irrational.

LIZ: Is he? I mean, it’s not like he doesn’t have enough on his plate right now…like we all don’t.

MARIA: I mean, part of me thinks I’m being selfish, you know. Why should I care about me when the fate of an entire world is at stake? But, I know he needs me…even if he thinks he doesn’t. I need him too…I don’t care about any of this mess. It shouldn’t change what’s true.

ALEX: I know what you mean. I said the same thing to Liz on the way over here. But I think it has to. There’s too much at stake now for all of us.

LIZ: Talk to Michael. You have to get through to him, because you know he’s not going to come to you.

Maria thought about this as they pulled into Tess’s driveway.

SCENE 3

Javier made the turn back onto the highway off the desert road. The road was eerily quiet. In fact, he hadn’t seen any other cars since leaving the cave. That was a good thing however. He was a little bit disturbed though. They had always told him that his return would be immediate. He would simply be teleported home as soon as his mission was complete. Well, his mission was complete, and he was still here. He hadn’t really believed them though, now or then. It couldn’t really be that easy. If it were, he didn’t need to be here. They could have just teleported someone in when they got the signal. Why would he then have to be inserted on Earth for 50 years? After all, he had to take a ship to Earth in the first place. There was so much that didn’t make sense, so much sure that he wasn’t sure what to do. Also, who knew if anyone was out there monitoring still anyway. It had taken so long; the situation back home could have changed immensely. He had had no choice but to listen and do their bidding, and he had held up his end of the bargain.

He didn’t want to run into anyone, especially Max and his group. Since he had figured out who they were, he would rather just avoid them all. No need to draw any kind of attention to himself in the limited time he had left here. It could be hours or it could be just a few days, but he was going home, and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. Running into them, when they were probably already suspicious of him, couldn’t be good.

He tried to decide where he was going to hole up until he was sent home. He was originally going to go back to the house he had rented, but now he wasn’t so sure. If Tess was there, they were probably looking for him. But at the same time, there were a few relics that he would like to take with him back home from his time here, and they were there. He didn’t even know if he could take anything with him though, so that may be a waste of time.

Maybe he could hold off stopping back there for at least a few hours. He could drive around Roswell; go up to Albuquerque, rent a hotel room, just lay low. It wasn’t like his masters couldn’t find him anyway. He had a tracking device in his skull.

So now he had to think of what to do in his last few hours on Earth. He decided that hanging out in Roswell was probably the worst call of all the options, so he decided to continue north.

SCENE 4

The waiting was interminable. They had been just sitting around, not even really talking. Max and Tess were pretty much just staring out the window, watching Javier’s driveway. They had given up trying to figure out the light. At first, Max thought they could use this one, maybe take it apart, and see how it worked. It might give them some clues. But after an hour of trying every way possible, human or alien, to either turn it off or break it, they had been forced to give up.

Liz had lost herself in a book, and Alex and Isabel were just sitting at the kitchen table, raiding Tess’s food supply. They were all trying to do anything to take their minds off the problem. However, Maria and Michael were just sitting on the couch, neither of them saying or doing anything.

It had been like this for almost an hour when Maria finally broke. She just had to talk to Michael. She had to get her feelings off her chest, had to let Michael know how she felt. She thought that he should know already of course, but she had to make an attempt to explain to him what she wanted, or she would go insane.

MARIA: Michael, we need to talk.

MICHAEL: What about?

MARIA: Well, we haven’t spoken in weeks.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

MARIA: I don’t understand…why are you pushing me away? Especially now.

MICHAEL: I thought I told you. It’s just not right. I don’t want to hurt anyone.

MARIA: I told you I didn’t care about any of that. I just want to be close to you, you know that.

MICHAEL: It’s just not safe. I’m not saying this is easy for me either, but it’s the way it has to be.

MARIA: No it doesn’t. You can’t know that.

MICHAEL: I know what I see in front of me…what I have to do, and what you can’t be any part of. I have to do it alone, just me, Max, Isabel…and Tess.

MARIA: Did you even stop to think that I need you? You need to be there for me too, and I can help you. I’ve been helping you, Liz, Alex, we all have. We’re all here for you. We’re not going anywhere. I mean, I know that you still want to be with me too. I knew it when you told me that day in the power station that it wasn’t safe, when you came to watch me sing at the dance, and I know it now.

MICHAEL: I’m sorry that I can’t be the man that you want me to be, Maria, I really am.

MARIA: But, Michael, you already are…you just don’t see it.

Michael thought about Maria’s words. He then stopped, put his arm around her, and pulled her closer to him. While he knew that they couldn’t be together, that didn’t mean that he didn’t care. He was never good at showing that. He always knew that it infuriated Maria. Just like now. But it changed nothing. Deep down, in a place that he didn’t let anyone into, he wanted Maria, and wanted a future with her. But he couldn’t tell her that now, or ever. It would just upset her too much. He meant what he said about not wanting to hurt her, and that went both physically and emotionally. He wasn’t too good at the whole woman thing, but he could figure out that it was the wrong thing to say.

But, he could still be a friend to her. He had been lost in his own life problems, or so he thought. But Maria was important too. Perhaps more important than things that he had always held to be the most significant things in his life. He couldn’t just let her walk away from him either.

And he had been avoiding her. At first he thought it was because she had just been avoiding him. But, he should have sought her out before this point. There was no need for her to go over the edge just simply because he had been inconsiderate. He would have to remember that in the future. And he could hope too. He could hope that the forever he saw could change, and that he and Maria could be together again.

MICHAEL: You know how I feel…but it just can’t be…not right now.

MARIA: I know…but you can’t keep discarding me whenever you feel like it. You have to be honest with me, and you have to treat me like what we share is important. Not only when you feel like it.