Sometimes he thought that he might not awaken them at all. Why would he want to return to Antar? Besides, the other Royal Four were already living in Roswell. Or Royal Three at least, if his surveillance information was correct. Perhaps Nasedo had the fourth child, Ava, with him. Or perhaps she hadn't survived into her teens. He didn't know. He hadn't had contact with Nasedo for years.
Today was supposed to just be a check-in to make sure that nothing had gone wrong with the pods, whatever he decided to do with them in the future.
Something was definitely wrong. The Royal Four was missing. Luckily, Langley had resources.
While Rath and Lonnie made out on the sidewalk, Zan and Ava chose several slices of hot pizza from the twenty-four-hour pizza joint on the corner. Zan grabbed a handful of sugar packets from the condiment area; they'd help season the spicy pepperoni to suit the group's alien palates.
Zan looked over at Ava as she went to "pay" the clerk. He always enjoyed watching her work her mindwarp mojo. She handed the clerk a bar flyer she had picked up from the sidewalk outside, and asked, "Can you break this? “
"Sure," the man said agreeably. He counted out thirty-eight dollars in change and handed it back to Ava. Grinning, she turned and came over to Zan.
They exited the shop and handed Rath and Lonnie their slices. Zan sprinkled the sugar over his, and handed packets to the others so that they could do the same. None of them knew why they liked such a high contrast of sweet and sour tastes together; their favorite mixture lately had been horseradish over ice cream.
"Got us some money, too," Ava said. "What say we go dancing? “
"Sounds good to me," Lonnie said. "How about Club Rent? “
Rath seemed distracted, and looked over his shoulder for the third time in the last minute.
"What's up? Ava toasted the pizza guy's brain," Zan said. "He's not gonna come after us. “
"Not him," Rath said. "Somebody else has been bogey-ing us. Old balding guy. Dressed in black. He's been following us for the last twenty minutes. “
Zan looked back over his shoulder and saw a man matching the description Rath had given standing on the opposite side of the street. He didn't seem to flinch when he saw Zan looking at him. And he clearly was watching them.
"Turn up this alley here," Zan said. "And don't act like anything'sup. “
The four of them moved into the alley, chatting and laughing and eating their pizza. As soon as they were past a car parked in the alley, Rath ducked behind it, while the others continued on their way.
Zan turned his head slightly as they neared the end of the alley on the other side, and saw that the man was indeed following them. Almost there, Zan thought.
And then Rath stepped up from his crouch behind the car, unleashing a blast from his hands that threw the man up against the brick wall on the other side of the alley.
As the others turned to run back toward Rath, Zan was astonished to see the older man shake off the blast and raise his own hand, releasing a pulse of energy that sent a surprised Rath tumbling across the hood of a car.
Zan, Ava, and Lonnie raised their hands in unison, palms outward, toward the man. "Who are you?" Zan asked loudly. "If you're looking for trouble, you found it. “
The man smiled. Zan noticed he looked a lot like the weasely Cypher guy from The Matrix, and that he was dressed awfully well. "I'm not looking for trouble," the man said. "I'm looking for you. The Royal Four. “
An hour later Kal Langley had imparted all of the knowledge to the Royal Four that he planned to for now. He wasn't sure what their destiny was, but at sixteen years of age, none of them seemed overly concerned with getting back to their home planet.
When they told him they had a lair underneath the New York city streets… "an underground lair like Lex Luthor had in the first Superman movie," Rath had bragged… Langley had offered to help them secure some aboveground lodgings. Although he didn't say it, they stank, and their post-punk outfits and lifestyle were hardly conducive to a prosperous future.
They had turned him down, intent on making it "on their own." They did accept the alien artifacts he gave them, however, as well as the knowledge that he shared with them. But that was all they said they wanted.
We'll see where they are in a couple years, Langley thought as he bid them good-bye. They're a lot tougher than that Roswell group.
En route to New York City. Fall 2002.
As Bartolli gave the members of the strike team their instructions as to how to deal with the prisoners, Margolin called Agent Harrison. He used his cell phone rather than the airplanes phone, more out of habit than a fear of the signal being compromised.
"What's the progress in Cheyenne, Agent Harrison?" he asked as soon as the young agent picked up.
The man hesitated. "Not good, sir. It appears that the agents there engaged in a confrontation with the teens, and that the kids escaped. “
"Where was this confrontation? “
"It was at the mall, sir, but most of it was apparently away from the public view. Unfortunately, word has leaked out from law enforcement there, largely because of the circumstances. The targets blew out a store window, collapsed part of a concrete hallway on which the agents were standing, and caused a multiple-car accident. It's hard to contain that from the media. “
Margolin gritted his teeth. "Get it contained. No footage on the news. Confiscate all security tapes and whatever else might be around. “
"What about the cover story?" Harrison asked. "Currently, it's very vague, announcing only that these are possible terrorist actions, and that the FBI is looking into it. No descriptions or pictures of the six teens have been disseminated. “
"That's about the best cover story we can go with given the public nature of the… " Something clicked in Margolin's brain. "Did you say 'six teens'? “
"Yes, sir. Max and Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin, Liz Parker, Maria DeLuca, and Kyle Valenti were spotted. Tess Harding was not seen with them. “
Margolin's mind whirled. "Get me visual confirmation on that from the mall security cams as soon as you can, Harrison. We may have a problem. “
"What's that, sir? “
"We're en route to New York City right now, and the army has taken into custody… this morning… Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin, and Tess Harding. “
There was another beat of silence, and Margolin imagined that Harrison was as shocked by the news as he himself was. "I'll work on visuals immediately, sir. “
Margolin clicked off the phone and called for Bartolli.
What are we dealing with here? he thought. How can Isabel Evans and Michael Guerin be in two places at once? Can there be more than one of each of them? Bertram had said that Guerin had evidenced shape- changing powers. If that's true, couldn't the aliens be anyone among them? fust how many of them are there, anyway? Colonel Bertram welcomed his old friend with a hearty handshake. "You're looking well, Matt." It was a lie and the truth all at once. Margolin was so scarred up that he never looked well, but he did seem fit and trim.
Margolin nodded and offered a slight smile. "Thanks, Grant. You too." He gestured to the dangerous- looking man at his side. "This is Bartolli. “
Bertram started to extend his hand, but noticed that Bartolli didn't seem to be one for niceties, so he withdrew it and just nodded.
Eight paramilitary-outfitted agents trooped into the facility behind Margolin and Bartolli. "Sorry I don't have time to play catch-up, Colonel," Margolin said. "We need to see the prisoners. “