But it's not a walk in the park, Max thought. The travelers and the drones were somewhere up ahead.
Doors slammed behind them as Valenti and Kyle got out of the SUV Valenti carried a shotgun.
"Not exactly the 'I come in peace' look," Michael commented.
Valenti looked a little self-conscious about the shotgun. "Those things aren't exactly the type to go in peace. Figured I'd share a little old-fashioned destruction with them."
"Fine by me," Michael said.
Max looked at them. "I don't want anyone hurt."
Valenti and Michael stared back at him.
"Those things weren't exactly rolling out the red carpet back there, Maxwell," Michael growled. "And I don't think you'd find that the Mesaliko or the general population of Roswell are any too protective of them."
"The travelers are stranded here," Max pointed out. "Like we were. Like we are. Maybe they had no choice about mixing into the local population and hiding out."
"Yeah, well they could have summoned up friendly illusions," Michael said. "They're getting back what they've been giving."
Max started to argue, feeling tired and frustrated. No matter which way he turned lately, it seemed like he could do nothing right. Everything that he'd seen that was good in his life had slipped through his fingers. He'd never felt more alone in his life.
"Michael's right, Max," Liz said. "However we do it, the travelers have to be stopped."
Valenti stepped forward, snapping on a flashlight. "All this talk is putting us behind. And it could just be water under the bridge. If we get up there and have a look at that ship, it's real possible that we're not going to be able to handle it. We may be sending for the military ourselves." He paused, looking around the group. "Let's start with a look, then see where that takes us."
No one argued with the logic Valenti presented. Max nodded.
"I've got extra flashlights in the back of the SUV," Valenti said. "Let's break them out and get to it."
Valenti led the way through the craggy ravines that wind and water had cut through the hills in years past. Isabel walked at his side, giving directions as they were needed.
Max brought up the rear of the line, watching as Liz and Maria trailed Michael. Kyle followed them, gazing nervously all around.
"Why aren't they attacking?" Kyle asked.
Before the words finished echoing slightly through the ravine, a flitting hum filled the chill night air. The sound approached quickly, coming in from ahead of them.
"Maxwell!" Michael called.
Only a split second behind in reacting, Max shoved his hands out and poured energy into the force field. Before the drones reached their position, lightning blasted the rocks in front of the group and thunder exploded from the hillside.
Max held the barrier in place, not knowing what would happen if the lightning struck the force field, but knowing only bad things could come of the lightning hitting humans or alien hybrids. Moonlight glinted against the metallic edges of the flying drones. The leading edge of the attack struck the energy barrier and burst into bright sparks.
Then a lightning bolt zigzagged into the barrier. Max flew backward, feeling as though he'd been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. He crashed against the rock wall behind him and felt the wind driven from his lungs. His vision blurred, but he clearly saw that the barrier was no longer there to protect them.
Valenti shouldered his shotgun and fired into the mass of drones again and again. The explosions of gunfire echoed throughout the hillside. The buckshot blew holes through the drones, creating sprays of electrical discharges. Still, dozens of the drones vectored in on the group.
Max struggled to project the shield again and couldn't. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't use his power.
Unfazed by the lightning touching down around him and blasting fist-size craters from the rocky walls of the raving, Michael stepped forward and raised his hands. His hands pulsed with energy for a heartbeat, then he unleashed the force.
Twin funnels of pale blue-white energy sizzled through the air. When the energy bolts touched the drones, they sparked and burst, unleashing still more energy that took out the drones behind them. In seconds the chain reaction created by Michael's attack left the air clear and an absence of lightning bolts.
"Wow," Michael said in low voice.
Max wasn't too surprised. He'd seen Michael take out a car with his power before, and the drones were a lot smaller and more fragile.
"It was the connection between the drones," Isabel said. "However they're tied to one another so that they operate with one mind, that connection pulls Michael's power through them. There must be some kind of electrical bonding. That's how they're able to generate the lightning strikes."
"Makes them go up like a string of firecrackers," Michael said.
Valenti reloaded the shotgun with shells from his pocket. He glanced at Isabel. "How much farther?"
"Not much." Isabel set off quickly, forcing Valenti to hurry to run at her side.
Max pushed himself off the rock wall. His breath still rasped into his lungs, and he felt light-headed.
Liz looked back at him. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Max nodded, knowing if she were really concerned she would be back checking on him. The distance between them in that moment felt absolute.
"I'm fine," he said, and tried not to let the weakness in his legs and knees show as he lurched into motion after them. He maintained a steady jog, alert to any movement around them that might indicate another group of drones had located them. River Dog had told Isabel that what one of the drones knew, they all knew.
Only a few moments later, they reached a jagged tear in the hillside. The opening looked more like a wound than the mouth to a cave. Below, following the line of the grade, a mass of stones and dirt stood out against the desert sand. Some of the dirt still looked damp and dark, like it had been only just dug out.
"They've been working to free the ship." Isabel played her light over the cave mouth. "No one comes out here often, so they haven't been discovered."
"How long have they been working?" Max asked.
"Since the attack," Isabel answered.
Max shone his flashlight into the gullet of the cave. "According to River Dog, that attack took place thousands of years ago."
"The information River Dog has gotten from the travelers is confusing," Isabel said. "The drones and travelers have no concept of how much time has passed. Only that the world around them has been changed. River Dog thinks they were in some kind of hibernation."
"Were they waiting to be rescued?" Kyle asked.
Isabel hesitated. "Maybe."
"Guess they didn't know that once you're abandoned here you pretty much stay lost," Michael said.
"News flash," Maria said. "Does anybody know why they haven't attacked us again? I mean, if we're getting close to their nest or whatever, shouldn't they be all over us?"
"Maybe they're scared," Liz suggested. "Evidently they're not prepared for Michael's powers."
Max took a tighter grip on the flashlight he carried. "There's only one way to find out." He stepped forward, easing into the cave opening and fully expecting the drones to attack at any moment.
Valenti matched him stride for stride, staying on Max's right and keeping the shotgun at the ready. The beam of their flashlights barely pushed back the black shadows that swelled within the throat of the cavern.
"How did the spaceship get so buried?" Kyle whispered.
"River Dog thinks the ship was mostly buried during the initial impact," Isabel replied. "After that the shifting desert buried the ship the rest of the way."