Then together they directed the power of the connection toward the mound of earth on the far side of the hole and slowly filled in Adam's grave until it was indistinguishable from the desert around it.
Each of the two Stones of Midnight was smaller than Michael's thumbnail. They weighed almost nothing. But their presence in Michael's pocket was almost intolerable. It was like carrying around two armed nukes.
He pulled out the worn map of the United States from the little cubbyhole carved into the soft limestone wall of the cave. It was one of the few things left in there. Now that Michael lived on his own, no more a human pinball in the machine of the foster care system, he didn't spend much time at the cave. It seemed odd now that it had once been his second home.
Michael unfolded the map. He needed a place, a safe place, a place no one would think of looking for the Stones. His best bet would be to find somewhere that he had absolutely no connection to-someplace he'd never even heard of. Someplace random.
"Round and round she goes, and where she stops, nobody knows," he muttered as he closed his eyes and ran his finger in circles over the map. He tapped the paper, then opened his eyes. He'd chosen Montauk, New York, a little town at the tip of Long Island.
It was a little risky to teleport. Who knew who'd be nearby on the other end? But it would be dark on the East Coast already, and the odds of re-forming right in front of a Clean Slate agent weren't all that good. Michael focused his thoughts on a stretch of beach in Montauk, then let his molecules get slippery enough to slide away from each other, trying not to resist as his body broke apart.
When he re-formed, he found himself alone except for a big black Lab who seemed unimpressed by the amazing materializing alien. Good. Michael quickly scanned the beach. He was tempted to throw the Stones into the churning ocean, but he and his friends might need them again later. Sometimes it was good to be the ones with the nukes.
Michael scanned, the beach and spotted a large rock surrounded by a group of smaller ones. He jogged over to the rocks and concentrated on the jagged, wet surface of the largest one. Concentrating hard, Michael used his mind to shove some of the molecules out of the way. The rock changed shape in front of his eyes as an indentation started to form. When he'd made a small but deep hole, he placed the Stones inside, then quickly pushed the molecules back into place.
"Safe as they're gonna get," he said. He took one glance around at the empty beach, and he was out of there.
As soon as his body had re-formed in his apartment above the UFO museum, Michael headed to the bedroom. Isabel, Maria, Liz, Alex, and Michael's brother, Trevor, were all gathered around the bed, staring down at Max's pale, motionless body.
The sight of his best friend lying there like a corpse made Michael's heart squeeze, but he tried to ignore it. It's like another friggin' funeral, Michael thought before he could stop himself.
"How is he?" he asked.
No one answered for a moment, but the group around the bed exchanged glances. "The same," Alex finally said, meeting Michael's eyes for a split second.
"It's just so awful, knowing he's in there somewhere," Maria blurted out. "It's like that story we had to read for English, Iz. You know, the one where the guy got walled up in the cellar, but he was still alive, and-"
Liz's face visibly contorted, and Maria blushed. "And… and I'm going to stop talking now," Maria said quickly. "Sorry. I'm upset and hence stupid."
"It's not stupid," Liz answered, her dark brown eyes intent on Max's face. "You're right. He's trapped in there, in his own body."
Michael shot a quick look at Max's face. A quick look was all he could take. Max's vacant expression and empty blue eyes sent a creeping shiver down Michael's spine.
"Does this happen to many beings who are connected to the collective consciousness?" Alex asked Trevor. He turned so that his back was to Max's face, and Michael knew he couldn't take it anymore, either.
"Yeah," Maria said, turning away from the bed as well. "You're the expert, right?" Trevor had grown up on the home planet, so he was the only one who could have experience with this type of thing.
Trevor took a long, deep breath, and it was all Michael could do to keep from shaking his brother to make him hurry up and talk. They had to figure out a way to help Max.
"This is extreme," Trevor admitted finally, shaking his head. He ran his fingers through his longish brown hair. "The consciousness doesn't usually do a hostile takeover like this unless there's an objective. It probably has some kind of plan, something it needs that Max can get."
Something like the Stones, Michael thought. At least he was the only one who knew where they were.
"And until they decide to use him, he'll just be-" Isabel jerked her chin toward Max's still form.
"Yeah. At least I think so," Trevor answered solemnly.
"I'm starting to feel a little like Grumpy or Doc," Alex said, scratching at the back of his head.
"What are you talking about?" Michael demanded.
"Sorry. I made a Maria," Alex said with a nervous laugh. "I just meant we're all standing here, all helpless, looking at, you know, Snow White post-apple."
No one laughed. Michael couldn't take it anymore. He'd had enough of standing around staring at Max, acting like that was all they could do. He turned to his brother, crossing his arms over the front of his denim jacket.
"You want to shatter the consciousness, and we want to help," Michael said, staring his brother in the eye. "It might be the only way to free Max. So what do we do?"
Trevor walked over to the desk by the wall and leaned back against it, squeezing his eyes shut. None of which was a good sign to Michael.
"DuPris was going to have me use one of the Stones to open a wormhole and go back home," Trevor answered slowly. "I was supposed to get a squadron together and break into the consortium chamber, then get the third Stone and bring it back to him. With all three, he could have shattered it."
"Sounds like a plan," Michael said.
"Except pretty much everyone would die in the process," Trevor said, his tone serious. "The third Stone is guarded by the greatest defensive technology ever known to our planet. There would be a lot of carnage."
"Oh," Michael said, his frustration level skyrocketing.
"I told DuPris we should find another way. I told him it was a suicide mission," Trevor said, starting to pace. "But, well, he didn't have a problem with-" He stopped and stared at the blank white wall in front of him.
"With murder," Isabel finished.
An eruption of fury exploded through Michael as he thought about what DuPris had done to Adam. But he couldn't think about that now. He couldn't bring Adam back, but he could focus on Max. Max was still alive. If you could call it that.
Michael could tell his friends were all thinking the same thing as they turned again to stare at their fallen friend.
"There's got to be another way-" Alex began.
"Wait," Liz interrupted suddenly, her eyes wide. "I'm not sure…" She dropped her voice to a whisper. "I don't think it's a good idea to be talking about this here."
"You're right," Michael agreed. It was possible that the consciousness could still hear what was going on around Max even if Max wasn't actively listening. The guy could be nothing more than a radio wave transmitter at this point.
Michael led the way into the kitchen and stood behind one of the chairs that surrounded the table.
"Before we go on, there's something I have to tell you," Trevor said, standing across from Michael as the others pulled up chairs.
Michael felt another wave of trepidation rush through him. Trevor's tone had made it clear this was going to be big.
"I know you all want to help shatter the consciousness because you think it will free Max." Trevor shifted his weight uncomfortably. "That could happen. But it's more likely Max will die."