The True were stuck on a highway in the middle of nowhere. Bryan’s car had broken down. They had seen Max and the gang pass them several hours ago, but they had made no progress into fixing it. None of them had a cell phone, so Jacob and Katherine had to walk all the way back to the nearest town, where they were finally able to get a tow truck out to give them a lift. They were in the service station, waiting for the car to be fixed, when some of their frustrations came to light.

CAREN: I can’t believe that between all of us, we can’t use our powers to fix the car.

BRYAN: Unfortunately, the car still needs oil. I just hope that we didn’t blow out the engine.

KATHERINE: Just heard from the mechanic. We’ll be out of here in an hour.

JACOB: Yeah, but where to? They could be anywhere.

BRYAN: Caren, did you bring the light with you?

CAREN: Yeah, of course.

BRYAN: Take it out. Maybe you can do what you did before, back at the cave.

CAREN: It’s worth a try.

Caren went back and tried to concentrate. It took her a few minutes, but she was able to get through. She was new at all of this mind-channeling stuff, but she was a quicker study than the rest of them. It was part of the reason that her and Bryan were the natural leaders of the group. Unfortunately, she wasn’t feeling the presence of any one near the light; not close enough for her to see anyway. However, she was able to see a picture of where their light was. It wasn’t very clear, but she saw the Jeep. The picture in her mind looked familiar, but she was having trouble placing it. She was sure that she had seen it before, but she hadn’t been there. Maybe she saw it on TV or something. She returned to the rest of the group.

BRYAN: Anything?

CAREN: No…they aren’t in their car. I saw that Jeep parked near a big fence, in front of a big field.

KATHERINE: What did the field look like? Did you know where it was?

CAREN: It looked like it had been bombed out or something.

JACOB: Like a minefield?

CAREN: Kind of.

KATHERINE: Where would there be a minefield around here?

BRYAN: Maybe an army base or something.

CAREN: Wait…where were those wildfires a few months back? The place where they test nuclear weapons? Isn’t that here in New Mexico?

JACOB: Yeah…Los Arribas?

KATHERINE: Los Alamos.

CAREN: Yeah, that’s it!

Bryan went into his backpack and took out his map. He opened it up and looked to find Los Alamos.

BRYAN: Here it is. Los Alamos National Labs. It’s right here.

CAREN: We’re headed right for it. That’s it. They have to be there.

JACOB: But didn’t you say that they weren’t with the light? What if that’s another light? The government could be onto them or something.

CAREN: No…I saw the Jeep. It’s them. They’re there.

KATHERINE: But why? If I were them, I would be as far away from governmental installations as possible.

BRYAN: You would probably also be as far away from Roswell as possible too. It’s not like they’re too bright, these four.

All of them shared a laugh at that one.

JACOB: Regardless, we have to get there.

CAREN: Yeah, Bryan, immediately. It’s a good chance. Wait for them and then…

BRYAN: Yep.

SCENE 2

MRS. EVANS: Max…! Isabel…! Are you two up there?

Diane Evans had been calling upstairs for about five minutes when she decided to go up the stairs and check on her kids. It wasn’t like either of them to be missing like this. They hadn’t come home last night either, and she dismissed it, just thinking that it was one of those things that Max wouldn’t talk to her about. But at least they normally would call. Now they hadn’t come home last night either. She opened Max’s door, and then checked Isabel’s room. No Max and no Isabel.

MRS. EVANS: Phillip…they’re not here. Where could they be? Did either of them talk to you?

MR. EVANS: No, I haven’t heard from either of them. Can’t say that’s out of the ordinary lately though. Our kids’ lives have changed, Diane. We don’t seem to be a part of them anymore.

MRS. EVANS: And that doesn’t concern you?!

MR. EVANS: Of course it concerns me, but they’re getting older…

MRS. EVANS: But they’ve been gone for 48 hours! Something’s happened to them. We need to call the police, put out a missing persons report or something.

MR. EVANS: Why don’t we try to call some of their friends? Maybe they know where they’ve gone.

MRS. EVANS: We don’t even have all of their numbers. Phillip, what happened to us? We’ve lost all touch with Max and Izzy. How could we have let this happen?

MR. EVANS: Well, we have Michael’s number. Liz’s parents own the Crashdown. We have a phone book. Let’s see if either of them is around.

Diane picked up the phone and dialed the Crashdown.

MRS. EVANS: Jeff Parker, please.

After about thirty seconds, Jeff came to the phone.

MRS. EVANS: Jeff, have you seen Max or Isabel around the café today?

MR. PARKER: No, I sure haven’t. In fact, Nancy and I were just about to call you. We haven’t seen Liz since Friday. I’m really concerned for her. It’s just not like her to not at least let us know where she is. I guess this means you haven’t seen her either, doesn’t it?

MRS. EVANS: No…I’m really starting to get worried. I was thinking about calling the Sheriff.

MR. PARKER: That might be a good idea. Did you call Amy DeLuca? She might know where they are.

MRS. EVANS: No. How about you give them a call, and I’ll see if Michael is around.

MR. PARKER: Well, if it means anything, he didn’t show up to work this morning. That’s why I’m making the pancakes today. I’ll call Amy, and I’ll get right back to you. You’re at home, right?

MRS. EVANS: Yeah…555-1947.

MR. PARKER: Got it. Diane, I hope we find them.

MRS. EVANS: Me too. And soon.

Diane hung up from the phone.

MRS. EVANS: He hasn’t seen them either. Says Liz is missing too.

MR. EVANS: Oh.

MRS. EVANS: He’s going to call Mrs. DeLuca, you know, Maria’s mom, and then he’s going to call us back.

MR. EVANS: What about Alex?

MRS. EVANS: Izzy probably just has his number in her cell phone. But those six are always together.

The phone rang. Diane went over to answer it.

MRS. EVANS: Hello.

MR. PARKER: I just talked to Amy. Maria’s gone too. I also called her friend Alex. His parents don’t know where he is either.

MRS. EVANS: That settles it. I’m calling the Sheriff, reporting all of them missing. I’ll let you know what happens.

MR. PARKER: OK. I’ll talk to you in a few minutes. Goodbye.

Diane pressed off on her portable phone, and immediately turned it back on and dialed up the sheriff’s station. She was surprised when Jim Valenti answered the phone himself on the first ring.

SHERIFF: So what can I do for you, Mrs. Evans?

MRS. EVANS: Max and Isabel are missing. I just spoke to Jeff Parker. Liz, Maria, and Michael are all gone as well. No one’s seen any of them since Friday.

SHERIFF: I actually saw Max and his sister on Friday night, but haven’t seen them since myself.

MRS. EVANS: What can we do?! We have to find them, bring them back.

SHERIFF: Mrs. Evans, I know this is stressful. Believe me, if my son was missing, I’d feel the same way. But they could just be over at a friend’s house. You know how teenagers can be sometimes.

MRS. EVANS: But, Sheriff, these are my kids. We have to do something.

SHERIFF: OK…why don’t we all get together at noon? That’s two hours from now. We can meet in my office. Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Mrs. DeLuca, and you and your husband. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Normally that kid Alex is with them. Have you talked to him?

MRS. EVANS: Jeff said that he was nowhere to be found either.

SHERIFF: Well, I’ll give his parents a call myself. All of us will get together at noon.

MRS. EVANS: That’s two hours from now. Why are we waiting?

SHERIFF: I have to do some digging, call a few people; get some staff in house. It’s a Sunday. Normally we’re pretty short staffed around here. Don’t worry…Mrs. Evans, Diane…we’ll find them.

MRS. EVANS: I hope so. OK…I’ll see you then.

Diane hung up the phone. Sheriff Valenti was trying to be reassuring, but it didn’t make her feel any better. Only one thing was going to do that today. Boy, when Max and Isabel did come home they were going to get the talking-to of their lives. They just couldn’t keep doing this to them.

SCENE 3

A few hundred miles away, the aforementioned Max was sitting in his cell with Liz, no closer to finding a way out. He and Liz were trying to keep each other positive, but sentences and sentiments kept dropping off, unfinished. Especially because even though neither of them said it, they knew that probably everything that they were saying and doing was being monitored. They couldn’t give the FBI any more ammo to go after them with.

LIZ: So, Max…

MAX: Yes.

LIZ: When we get out of this, what’s the first thing you’re going to do?

MAX: I don’t know. See my parents I guess.

LIZ: Oh my god, Max! Our parents. Did you talk to your mom and dad while we were at Michael’s?

MAX: No.

LIZ: I didn’t call my parents either.

MAX: Yeah, well we were kind of busy.

LIZ: Yeah, but you do realize we’ve been gone for a couple of days. I can see our parents now, going into conniptions.

MAX: My mom and dad probably put out a missing persons report on us.

LIZ: But, Max, that might help us. If Sheriff Valenti can figure out where we were going, they might be able to get us out.

MAX: Liz, we’re inside a top-secret government installation. Even if Valenti somehow got wind of where we were, it probably won’t help.

Just then, the door started to creak open. It opened like a sheet of metal, just moving sideways, like on of those doors on Star Trek. Two men in masks and full medical garb came in and grabbed Max.

LIZ: Max! Where are you taking him?

The two men disappeared as quickly as they came, saying nothing. Liz ran for the door, trying to follow him. The door however, had other ideas. It closed practically right on top of her, keeping her locked inside. She banged on it a few times, but she only succeeded in bruising her hand.

---------

Max was brought into the main chamber, the one where they had seen Nasedo. He had tried to keep track of everything he was seeing along the way. At first, he saw a few other doors that looked like the one that he had come out of, but as soon as the two men saw him looking intently at their path, they hit him over the head with what looked like a revolver. It had all happened so fast that when Max came to, he was already strapped to the table.

AGENT: Mr. Evans…

One plain-clothed agent was in the room with him. Max had never seen him before.

AGENT: Do you know why you’re here?

Max didn’t respond. He knew better.

AGENT: OK…let’s start at the beginning then, shall we? Max Evans, seemingly normal teenaged boy, hides a deep, dark secret. This secret threatens this entire planet. Since 1947, you, or whatever guise that you were using then, has lived on Earth, plotting to destroy all mankind and take over the planet for your own devices. You have hundreds of allies, all over the planet, just waiting for the signal. And a few short months ago, that signal was activated. Am I warm so far?

Max just looked at him, still strapped to the table.

AGENT: I’ll take your silence as a yes. Anyway, when we last had you in captivity, Agent Pierce tortured you, tried to get the full story out of you. Some of your fellow collaborators were somehow able to get you out. That, we expected. What we didn’t expect was to have one of your number infiltrate our group. When we found this out, Max, we were very angry. The one you call Nasedo, was most forthcoming. He made things a lot clearer. We now understand your plot. We know that you are the leader of the force here on Earth. Do you know why we haven’t just killed you yet, Max?

Max continued his blank scare. Inside, he was scared to pieces, but he couldn’t show that to the agent. He had to show that this wasn’t affecting him.

AGENT: I’ll take that as a no. Your friend, Nasedo, unfortunately, was not very clear on the where and when of your final offensive. After you escaped last time, one of our artifacts started to act most strangely. Recognize this, Max?

The agent was holding up yet another of the strange lights, just like the ones that Javier had and the one at the museum. Max was wondering to himself how many of these things that there were. If every one of his enemies had one, and they kept turning up everywhere, it was a bad sign, regardless of whether or not he got out of here alive.

AGENT: Anyway, when this light turned on, we knew it was a beacon of some kind. Nasedo explained the signal to us very clearly. Of course, it took some persuasion, but, we got that out of him. It’s too bad what happened to him, Max…he’s now as crazy as a loon.

Max involuntary tried to reach out for the agent. The restraints stopped him.

AGENT: Come now, Max…violence is not going to solve anything. Besides, what are you going to do? Kill all of us? I don’t think so. Well anyhow, the reason why you are still alive is that you’re going to give us the location of all of the members of your force. And then, we’re going to make sure that they don’t harm anyone here on Earth. Amazing to think that you are the center of it all, Max Evans. A 17-year-old boy.

MAX: What if I don’t help you?

AGENT: Ahh…he speaks. Well, if you decide to be recalcitrant, we’ll just have to start by killing all of your friends that you’re traveling with now. Hey, some of them might even be some of the people we’re looking for anyway. Nasedo also mentioned to me that the one that you are sharing your accommodations with now would be a good start. I understand you have some feelings for her?

MAX: Please…don’t…

AGENT: Well, then the battle lines are drawn, aren’t they? You know what I want. Give it some thought. Maybe some of your friends might be more willing to help. I’ll have to talk to them next…maybe use some of those drugs that you so enjoyed the first time you had the pleasure of our company. I thought maybe you’d see reason…oh well…guess we’ll just have to try harder then, won’t we, Max?

MAX: I can’t tell you what you want to know. Neither can they.

AGENT: Why don’t I believe that? You obviously have some interest, or you wouldn’t have been lured here so easily.

MAX: I can’t tell you what you want to know because I don’t know what you’re talking about.

AGENT: We’ll see, Max…we’ll see. We’ll talk again. Maybe a little bit more time will refresh your memory. Guards…