SCENE 1

The group spent the night at Tess’s. Not a peep was heard from Javier’s house though. He hadn’t come home at all. Max, Liz, and Maria all had to go to work in town in the morning, so they all decided to go in. The rest of them also went their separate ways. Alex and Isabel went home, and Michael decided to stay with Tess and keep up the stakeout. Max got to work early, and went through the whole morning opening routine. Milton was off, and this was to be his first day in sole charge of things. The irony of his situation was never lost on him, and what made it worse was that Javier was also supposed to be there at noon. Max didn’t think that he would show, but at the same time didn’t want to raise too much suspicion by trying to call around and get someone to cover. He probably could have done it, but he was holding out hope that he would come to work, so he could talk to him.

About 10 minutes to 12, Javier walked into the UFO center. He looked exhausted. Max was shocked, but tried to keep his surprise to himself. He thought about giving Tess and Michael (as well as the others) a call about it, but thought maybe he could have a go-around with him first.

Javier was clearly disturbed. He had gone to Albuquerque for the night, and still he had heard no word from his masters. During the middle of the night, he had woken up with a start, thinking that maybe he had not fully accomplished his mission. He hadn’t proven anything, or so he thought. He had the book, and he had the orbs, but they could just be fabrications.

Maybe his masters were just waiting for more proof. After lying awake until sunrise, he decided to make the trip back to Roswell. On the way back, for the first time in his life on Earth, he started to have doubts as to whether or not he was doing the right thing. The people who he had blindly trusted were not helping him, hadn’t done anything for him. He had done it all with no help. Besides, after reading that book, with the story of his enemy being told with a very different slant then he had learned in school, he wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

He was about to drive home when he realized that he was supposed to be at work, so he decided to stop there. However, he was surprised to see Max there. He had thought that Max was off today. He tried to sneak back out the entrance, but Max spotted him.

MAX: Javier…where are you going?

JAVIER: Oh…I just forgot something in my car…I’ll be back in a minute.

MAX: I need to talk to you in the office. Can you get it later? It will just take a minute.

Javier thought to himself, what does he know? Anyway, he could protect himself, drag it out.

JAVIER: Sure.

They went up the stairs to Milton’s office. Max closed the door.

MAX: So…are you getting along here?

JAVIER: Yeah…it’s OK.

MAX: Well…I thought that I should talk to you for a minute. I stopped over at Tess’s last night, and I wanted to talk to you, but you weren’t there. In fact, Tess said that she hadn’t seen you for a few days. Everything OK?

JAVIER: Yeah…I’m touched at Tess’s concern for me, but I’m fine…I just had to go out of town for a few days. One of the digs I’m on. I took it off on the schedule, see?

MAX: Oh…yeah…

Max didn’t know if he should go for it. He was trying to be subtle. It was like one of those spy movies…”They know that we know, but are pretending that don’t know that we know, but everyone knows.” He wasn’t getting anywhere on the subtext. Also, if he were to say something, whose to say that he just wouldn’t leave town again before they could get the answers, and get the book and the orbs back. He decided to try one thing though. He took out the light that belonged to Javier from his backpack in the back room.

MAX: I found this yesterday, out in Tess’s yard. She wanted me to return it to you.

JAVIER: Oh yeah, I’d been looking for that…thank you.

And Max just gave it back to him. He didn’t know what else to do. They still had the other one, but he had expected at least some reaction from this guy, especially if he had read the book, seen the orbs. Either he was a really good liar, or there was something else at play here. Anyway, he didn’t have time to discuss it now. He got a knock at the door.

EMPLOYEE: Max…one of the visitors scratched the Alien Moon exhibit…I need to get the cleaner in order to try to fix it. Oh…hi Javier.

JAVIER: Hi.

MAX: Yeah, it’s right back here.

JAVIER: I’m going to get downstairs now, OK Max?

MAX: Uhh…sure.

Javier left and went out the door and back out to the floor. After the other employee left, Max dialed Tess’s number.

MAX: Hey, it’s me.

TESS: What’s up?

MAX: Well, Javier showed up to work.

TESS: What? Well, he hasn’t been home.

MAX: I tried to talk to him…but he’s still either playing dumb, or he has something else up his sleeve.

TESS: Well, if he hasn’t been home, he should have the orbs and the book on him, or they’re in his car…did you see it in the square?

MAX: They’re aren’t really any windows in here Tess…it kind of goes with the motif…

TESS: Well…we should come down and check it out.

MAX: How…it’s broad daylight in town square. I think that someone will notice you and Michael breaking into his car.

TESS: We have to take the risk sooner or later, or we’ll never see them again.

MAX: Send Michael down here. We’ll think of something.

Max hung up the phone, and locked the office and went back down to the information booth.

SCENE 2

About twenty minutes later, Michael showed up. He walked up to the information booth.

MICHAEL: So what’s up, Maxwell?

MAX: Did Tess fill you in?

MICHAEL: Yeah…his car is parked outside. I saw it on the way in.

MAX: So, have you brushed up on your breaking and entering skills since the last time we had to do this?

MICHAEL: Ha Ha…very funny. I’ll be fine. Give me about fifteen, I’ll let you know.

Michael left and walked out the front door. Just as he did so, the Sheriff walked right by him, carrying a folder.

SHERIFF: Michael.

MICHAEL: Hey.

SHERIFF: Have you seen Max?

MICHAEL: Yeah, he’s right over there. I’ve got to get going.

SHERIFF: OK.

SHERIFF: So, Max…how are ya?

MAX: OK…business is well…busy.

SHERIFF: Can I talk with you upstairs for a minute?

MAX: Sure…right this way, Sheriff.

They went back upstairs into the office.

MAX: So…what did you find out?

SHERIFF: Well, your new employee is one Javier Ortecho, a graduate student in archeology at Columbia University. He lives at 5430 West 157th Street in New York City, and has a job during the school year DJ-ing for a local nightspot. He has a 3.9 GPA, and is on course to graduate next spring.

MAX: Tell me something I don’t already know.

SHERIFF: I wish that I could. He checked out clean as a whistle. No citations, no convictions. I called the rental office of the apartment complex, and they told me that he did indeed live there. He has a New York State driver’s license. Here’s the copy I got faxed to me from Albany. In short, he’s seems like a legitimate student there.

MAX: Where was he before he came to New York?

SHERIFF: Now that’s the only interesting part. I couldn’t find that out. He has been in that same apartment for about 4 ½ years, but no one knows what he did before that.

MAX: No one?

SHERIFF: No…the records just stop before that. What are you thinking, Max?

MAX: We think that he’s trouble.

SHERIFF: I could keep an eye on him, if you want me to.

MAX: No…that’s OK…we have it under control. I appreciate it though. Thanks for your help, Sheriff.

SHERIFF: Well, I have to get back to work. It’s a big county, and there are plenty of non-alien problems to deal with. Have a nice day Max.

MAX: You too.

Michael was outside at Javier’s car. He got into the car easily, manipulating the lock. Since his time with Nasedo in the FBI installation, he had practiced whenever he could. At least now, he had the confidence to try the things that he had always assumed he couldn’t do, whether it be with locks, or with other things that Max and Isabel were good at. He decided that the best thing to do would be to start the car and drive it to the alley. There he could search through it without attracting too much attention. He started the car, another easily done task, and drove it around the corner.

As soon as he knew that he was out of sight, he tried to carefully go through things. There were some books, a few empty soda cans, and some clothes. He kept looking, opening the trunk, and rooting through there. After about 10 minutes of going over everything again and again, it became obvious that he wasn’t going to find the book or the orbs. He carefully organized everything back to the way it was, drove it back around the corner, and tried to park it again. He cursed his luck. Someone had taken the spot that the car had been in. The one next to it was open, so he parked it there. He prayed that Javier wouldn’t notice when he left the center. Somehow he figured that was an idle wish, but you never knew. Most people don’t pay that close attention, do they? He got out of the car and went back toward the center.

When he got back, Valenti had already left, so Max was by himself up in the office.

MICHAEL: Nothing.

MAX: What do you mean?

MICHAEL: The stuff’s not there, Max.

MAX: How is that possible? He hasn’t been home, right?

MICHAEL: Tess and I were awake all night almost. It would have been difficult.

MAX: But not impossible…

MICHAEL: We don’t know what this guy can do…anything’s possible, I guess. He could have also left it somewhere else.

MAX: He could have already delivered it to someone else. This isn’t good, Michael.

MICHAEL: So what do we do next?

MAX: After work tonight, the four of us will pay him a visit at his house. See if we can find them. Maybe he won’t be there tonight either.

MICHAEL: That’s sounds like a plan, but I don’t know if it will do any good. How could he have gotten them there?

MAX: I don’t know, but it’s our only option right now.

MICHAEL: Did you talk to him today?

MAX: Yeah, I tried…but I didn’t get anywhere.

MICHAEL: Why don’t we just try and get rid of him? We could do it you know.

MAX: Remember what we decided. It’s already too late for that. It gains us nothing. If he’s gone, he can’t tell us where we can find them, and if we arouse his suspicion before we’re ready to act, he could just take off and the book and the orbs will be lost forever.

MICHAEL: So what did the Sheriff say?

MAX: Nothing we didn’t already now. Javier’s story checks out, but no one can place him anywhere more than about five years ago.

MICHAEL: Sounds fishy to me.

MAX: But it doesn’t mean anything now. Sheriff Valenti didn’t have anything on him that would help us.

MICHAEL: What did you tell him about Javier?

MAX: Just that he’s trouble. He wanted to know if we wanted him under surveillance.

MICHAEL: And…?

MAX: I said no. We are already watching him, and besides, he’ll sniff out the police just as well as he’d sniff out us.

MICHAEL: True. Well, come over to Tess’s after work. We’ll take care of it. I’ve got to get going. I have to stop by the apartment, get some stuff. Give us a call if anything changes.

MAX: Call Isabel…let her know. I think I’ll stop by the Crash on my way. Just let Maria and Liz know what’s going on.

MICHAEL: But they’ll want to tag along…it’s better with the four of us on this one.

MAX: I’ll just talk to them. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right, though.

SCENE 3

Javier left work, and mulled over what to do next. The day hadn’t been as bad as he thought it would be. Max appeared to be OK; nothing out of the ordinary. He still hadn’t heard from his masters. He was getting more and more concerned about that. He may have to stay in Roswell for an extended length of time. But doing what? He could lead a ‘normal’ life, but he still wanted out. He didn’t understand what they were waiting for. The more time he spent here, the more at risk he was for Max and the rest to find out about him. It didn’t help that he took the orbs and the book. They’d probably want to know where that stuff was. They could already know about him, and just be taking their time in decided how best to eliminate him. After all, Max had given him the light that he had dropped off the side of the rock. He had to know something. He knew he was strong, but if all four of them ganged up on him, he probably wouldn’t survive. His parents had been involved in the war, and when he was younger, they told him stories of the fight. He wanted no part of that. It was one of the reasons why he had come to Earth in the first place.

As he thought about the words of the book, he also was reconsidering what he knew of these people. His people had taken their planet, and made it into a colony. He had always been taught that it was because they were evil and needed to be completely eradicated from the galaxy, but now he wasn’t so sure. After all, he had taken a few history classes at Columbia. He knew how Earth history could be manipulated. It was just that he had never even considered the possibility of it concerning his own people. Funny how he had been so blind. But then again, the book he had could also be slanted as well. He didn’t know what to think.

He had gotten into his car, which strangely seemed to be in a different spot than he had parked in that morning, or so he thought. Maybe he was getting paranoid or something, and drove home. He needed some stuff, and knew that he would only be home for a few minutes, so he probably would be able to get in and out with out rousing much suspicion. He moved his hand over the hood of his car, and it made visible a secret compartment right above the engine. He reached inside and took out the orbs and the book, and brought them inside. He needed the orbs for tonight, and the book was just making him nervous. He had to hide it in the house somewhere. He knew just the place.

Well, he had to take action. He had decided that the best thing to do was to try to go out to the cave, and use the orbs to try to initiate contact with his own people. It could work. They were slightly different than what he had been used to, but it was the best shot he had. He needed to be heard. His life was in danger if he stayed. He would hate to have to stay here forever.

It took him about 45 minutes to make it back out to the cave site. He checked really closely, but no one else was there. The chamber was still open and, he went inside. He wasn’t quite sure how to use the orbs, but if he could just focus hard enough, maybe he could make some headway. He knew that he could contact his own people with these things, if he could just focus the right energy. Usually, it took years of experience to be able to do that. However, he had to try.

He sat down, with an orb in each hand, and tried to concentrate. After about five minutes, he felt something. A beam, a signal, heading out into the cosmos. Unfortunately, try as he might, he was unable to focus it. He had no idea what to do or even what to say. He was at it for an hour before he finally had to give up. He had no way of knowing if any part of any signal had made it anywhere. He was sure that he broadcasted something, he just didn’t know what.

He slumped down to the ground in defeat. There was nothing else he could do. He was completely drained from the effort. He knew that he was a goner.

SCENE 4

Max locked up the UFO center, and then went across the street to the Crashdown. Neither Liz nor Maria was still on, but he found them upstairs, in the apartment, watching television. He knocked on the door.

LIZ: Who is it?

MAX: It’s me. Can I come in?

LIZ: Sure…what’s up Max?

MARIA: Hi Max.

MAX: Well, I don’t know if anyone told you, but Javier was at the Center today.

LIZ: Did you find out anything?

MAX: No…we’re going to go, Michael and I, over to his house tonight. Right before I left, I called Tess. She told me that he had stopped by his house after he left tonight, but then he had sped out of there a few minutes later. We have to see if we can find the book and the orbs. Michael searched his car today…but couldn’t find anything.

MARIA: What are you going to do?

MAX: Well…as long as he’s not there. I think the four of us are going to take a look around. See what we can find out.

LIZ: Well…let’s go then.

MAX: No. Liz, Maria, I think it’s safer if you just stayed here tonight.

LIZ: No. We’re coming.

MARIA: Don’t worry. We’ll stay at Tess’s, keep a lookout for you.

LIZ: Yeah. You need us.

MAX: Well, then what are we waiting for then. Let’s go.

Max was secretly happy that they had ‘convinced’ him to come. Any time with Liz was good, but especially now. He still missed her practically every moment of every day, and when Michael had said that it should just be the four of them that afternoon, while he understood his reasoning, he didn’t really like it. Just because they had agreed to stay apart didn’t change how he felt. He hoped that he never stopped feeling like that.

SCENE 5

Once again, the whole group was assembled at Tess’s. Isabel didn’t want to leave Alex out either. But that was to be expected. Javier wasn’t home when they arrived, so that made it somewhat easier. Tess, Max, Michael, and Isabel all went into his house, while Maria, Alex, and Liz waited for them at Tess’s.

MAX: OK…Michael, you and Isabel, take the upstairs, Tess and I will take down here.

ISABEL: OK.

It didn’t take them very long to search through the house. There wasn’t a lot of stuff in it, and it wasn’t very big. Tess and Max didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so they decided to check the basement. Max couldn’t find the light, so as soon as they got down the stairs, Tess banged into the wall. The wall had a distinctive hollow sound. Max used his hands to make a healthy glow, and they looked at the wall. There was definitely a panel covering something else, almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

It was only the special light that Max illuminated that made the slight color change visible. Max walked up to the wall, and ran his hand over it, trying to shift the molecules out of the way. And there it was. Inside the wall there was a shelf. On the shelf there were a few things. One was an odd rod that had a strange purplish glow coming out of one end, and right next to it was the book. Max went out to grab the book and…

…He was suddenly somewhere completely different. He even felt different. Maybe a little older, he wasn’t sure. He was in a town square, or at least something that felt like it, unlike anything that he had ever seen.

Hundreds of others were with him, fleeing, running for their lives through the square. He was standing in the center of the square, but it was like he wasn’t in control. He could see what was going on around him, and he could hear his own voice, but he couldn’t change anything. It was like a dream or something. He heard himself yell out instructions, trying to stop the townspeople from running, and then he saw an army in front of him. They were advancing quickly. He turned to the one person who was standing next to him. She looked familiar, maybe a bit older as well like him, but there could be no mistaking it. It was Tess.

But the strangest thing was not who it was, but what he felt. He saw her in a completely different light. She was…his wife…he loved her. He would do anything for her. The vision was truly all encompassing. He could feel everything so vividly, so perfectly. He must be home…

TESS: Max…Max…what’s wrong?

Max snapped out of it.

MAX: What?

TESS: You reached for the book, and then you just stood there…

MAX: For how long…

TESS: Like a minute…I had to go get Michael and Isabel.

He saw them on the other side of basement.

MAX: (to Tess) What did you do?

TESS: I didn’t do anything, I swear. What happened?