Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Prologue

“Never stray from the light! In this world of black and white, I’ll never leave, it’s no lie. It’s my choice to live, not die.”

There was nothing quite like the exhilaration of being up on stage, getting a standing ovation for the performance you’d just completed. If anything, Sam reveled in it, even as he finished the self-written ballad, stood, and took a bow, holding the guitar he’d brought with him steady at his side. After, he drifted slowly off the stage while the club’s owner stepped up to the mike to present the next soloist of the evening.

When he’d landed the opportunity to perform weekly at a San Diego R&B club just seven months prior, Sam had never been more thrilled in his life. He had wanted to break into the music biz for a while before that and couldn’t be more pleased to have gotten his foot in the door. Now, all he needed was to have a recording agent drop into the club and take an interest... Realistically, Sam knew that the possibility of that actually happening was very slight, but, if there was one thing his parents had taught him, it was to hold firmly to your dreams.

Sam waited around backstage to watch the next few musicians, then decided to pack it in for the night. He had a long drive ahead of him anyway, as he’d promised his parents he’d come home to Oregon for a week or two. Since he’d found his own apartment in California a year ago, he hadn’t seen much of them or of his younger siblings. and so looked forward to the visit very much. Sure, he could have waited until morning to drive over, but he still had enough energy to make the trip.

He packed up the Cuda (a vintage muscle car that had been his father’s pride and joy before Sam had been given ownership of it) in no time flat and was shortly under way. After some time had passed, he began humming one of the songs he was currently working on for a future act as he approached an intersection, trying to decide if the melody sounded right.

So, maybe it was no surprise that, distracted as he was, Sam didn’t notice right away that the vehicle approaching from the left actually ran the red light. Panicked, Sam looked up, hitting the brakes frantically, but it was too late. The front end of the Cuda got swiped and swerved to the right under the force of impact, causing Sam to hit his head against the window. And what was worse, the other car just kept going, as if the accident was no big deal to whomever was driving.

Sam tried to focus on the license plate of the departing vehicle, but couldn’t quite make it out. Shutting his eyes, he instead tried to concentrate on how badly he was hurt. It somewhat helped that his mother had a degree in medicine, and Sam was able to recall enough of what she’d told him to determine he didn’t have a concussion.

Still, he thought he’d be better off letting the experts tell him for sure and so reached for the cell phone he’d taken to carrying with him. Quickly, Sam dialed 911, beginning to tell the operator who’d answered what had happened. But, before he could divulge his location, Sam had reached up with one hand to feel his forehead, wincing slightly as it ached under his touch.

After a few seconds, Sam grew puzzled, vaguely aware that the operator was asking him, slightly impatiently, just where he was. Sure that he’d hit the left side of his head and that there was no reason for the right side to be hurting, Sam switched off the cell phone without a word. Pulling the visor down to look in the mirror, he examined the area more carefully, growing increasingly frightened as he did so.

And, even though he was no medical expert, Sam had a sinking feeling that the lump he was feeling under his skin just may be a tumor...

Chapter One

When Sam arrived at the house the next morning, it was just past 8:00, so he knew that his little brother and sister would be off at school. Barely holding his fear in check, the first thing he heard when he walked through the front door was his mother, Maxine, cursing out loud from the kitchen. Slightly worried, he went to check on her and found her using a towel to mop up water she had apparently spilled on her portable TV. Sam would have found the scene comical had it not been for his discovery last night.

Maxine was saying something about having shorted out the damn thing when Sam alerted her to his presence. When she looked up, every ounce of anger vanished to be replaced by joy. "Hey, welcome home!" she exclaimed, moving over to give him a big hug. "Sorry you had to see that... I was walking towards the counter with a glass of water when that stupid cat of ours tripped me." She paused, pulling away. "Why I agreed to Tina’s request to get a kitten..."

Maxine trailed off as she took note of the anxiety in her son’s eyes. "Sam, what is it? What’s wrong?"

Silently, Sam removed the baseball cap he’d been wearing, wincing as he did so, and Maxine’s eyes widened as she took in the large welt on the left side of his brow. "Some jerk crashed into me last night," Sam informed her. "Don’t worry, I’m okay, save for..." He paused, then moved to sit down and gestured to where he’d felt the lump. "But there’s something... I don’t know for sure, but how do you know if you have cancer?"

Wordlessly, Maxine moved forward to examine her son, thanking the Lord that she had chosen to get a degree in Oncology after resigning from the FBI. With an air of trepidation, she felt around the area he had indicated, only to get equally puzzled herself. Noticing that her husband, Reggie, had appeared at the kitchen door and was staring at them in confusion, Maxine backed away, holding Sam’s gaze with her own. "Well, the good news is, it’s not a tumor," she said, simultaneously letting her husband know what was going on. "It’s too large, and you would have noticed something that big before now if it were. The bad news... I don’t know what it is, Sam."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, her son added, "Is there a way to find out without going to the clinic?"

Knowing of Sam’s phobia of hospitals, Maxine hesitated before answering. "I’m afraid not. We may have to do a cat scan to find out what this is," she said gently. "And, the hospital is the best place." Another pause, then, "But if you like, it can just be the three of us -- you, me, and your Dad... The staff isn’t likely to ask questions if I tell them I need one of the rooms for a while."

Sam nodded after a moment, some of the tension flowing out of him; having a few tests done didn’t seem quite so scary if he was with someone he could trust. Yet, even as he followed after his parents while they retrieved their coats, he said, as an afterthought, "Oh, and Dad... Try not to overreact when you see the car..."

***

If she had been asked, Maxine would have said that her husband might actually be more nervous over what the test results may show than her son was. At this moment, she and Reggie were in the room neighboring the cat scan chamber, waiting for Sam to change into a hospital gown and get situated. With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair, saying to Reg, "I know what you’re thinking, and you don’t know that this is anything... well, paranormal. There’s any number of other, ordinary things this could be."

Reggie glanced down at her, his face a mask of worry. "Yeah, name one." When there was no answer forthcoming, he added, "I want more than anything to believe it’s over, Max, but I’m not going to take that risk where my son is concerned... I lost nearly everyone I ever cared about to some alien race who turn the dead into slaves and the living into something worse! And I’ll be damned if I let the same thing happen to Sam."

Maxine shushed him. "Do you want him to overhear you?" she hissed. "Look, why don’t you just wait until the cat scan pictures come up? If it does turn out to be what you’re thinking, then we’ll decide on a course of action!" Then, realizing that Sam had emerged from the restroom, she quickly shifted her attention to him, instructing him what to do next.

The procedure itself went as smoothly as could be expected, and Sam did his best to remain still while the pictures were taken and developed. In the next room, staring at the monitors that the photos were presented on, Maxine found herself reaching for her husband’s hand. And, even though Reggie was no expert when it came to reading these kinds of images, he could still make out what he was seeing.

Like it or not, it appeared that Sam had a small alien-manufactured sphere gestating inside his skull...

***

Following the cat scan, after he had changed back into the clothes he’d brought with him, the last thing Sam expected to see was his parents in the middle of a heated argument. Curiously, he made his way towards them, and was lucky enough to hear his mother say, “Mike and Liz told you that there was no chance of this happening! Are you telling me that they were lying?!”

“What reason would they have not to be honest?” Reggie answered, trying to remain calm. “They wouldn’t...” At that moment, he looked up, stopping in mid-sentence when he caught sight of his son in the doorway. “Sam!” he blurted out, making Maxine turn to look. “Geez, you shouldn’t sneak up on us like that.”

Sam paused, instinctively knowing by their behavior and what he’d heard them say that something was off. After a long moment, he asked, “Dad, what is it? What’s wrong with me?” When neither of them answered right off, he said impatiently, “Tell me!”

Reggie and Maxine exchanged troubled looks and sighs. Sam wasn’t sure which of them did the talking, but he knew by the soft-spoken words that he was in for quite the explanation. “Unless we can figure something out, Sam, I’m afraid you have less than two years left to live...”

Chapter Two

Past the opening, ominous statement, neither of Sam’s parents would tell him anything, at least not until they were out in the car where it was “safer.” Once seated in the back of the van, Sam faced them both angrily, watching as his Dad took a few extra seconds to roll up the window. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on or not?!” he said finally in an aggravated tone. “Why all the secrecy?!”

Maxine turned round in her seat to face her son, looking tired. After a long moment, she answered with, “God, I’m not even sure where to start... Sam, you know your father and I love you very much, as if you were our own.”

Sam sighed, knowing full well that he and his little brother and sister had been adopted. “I know,” he replied. “I love you too, Mom... Now, please, tell me what’s happening.”

Reggie broke in when Maxine remained silent. “What you probably don’t realize are the circumstances of how I... how we found you,” he said. “You were eight years old at the time, and I was surprised when you began to repress the memory of it... God, this is going to be hard to say, but... I know you’ve read a few speculative books having to do with aliens, and you’re not exactly convinced. But what if I told you that they’re real?”

Sam would have laughed but that there was a look in his Dad’s eyes that told him this was serious. Feeling slightly numb, he responded, “Okay, now you’re starting to scare me.” Putting one hand to his head, he added, “Next thing you’re going to tell me is that some extraterrestrial has something to do with this...”

Reggie swallowed the lump in his throat. “No, I’m going to tell you that a vast alien race has something to do with it. I couldn’t even tell you how many.” The elder man paused, pushing aside the visions of the past that were threatening to overtake him; it was all he could do to stay sane. “Perhaps it would be better if I start at the beginning though.”

Leaving Reg to the explanations, Maxine composed herself enough to start the engine and drive from the hospital parking lot and then towards home. Much of this story, she already knew, but she listened anyway. No matter how many times she’d heard it, it still amazed her just how brave and fiercely loyal this man she’d married was.

“It seems like eons ago, that I lived in your average small town, and ran my own ice cream shop,” Reggie began. “Now it feels like that life belonged to someone else, not me... I was in my late thirties when I took in a thirteen-year-old boy -- a friend -- who’d just lost his brother in a car wreck, and his parents two years prior. But promising to take care of him was easier said than done. That boy... Well, you’d know him as your Uncle Mike.”

Sam shook his head, knowing this was impossible considering Reggie was currently in his seventies. “How?!” he blurted out, drawing a mental image of his “uncle.” “You said he was related to Mom! And you couldn’t have known him at that age! He doesn’t even look over thirty himself!”

Reggie sighed, knowing that his next statement was going to be hard to accept. “It’s a very long story, Sam, but the gist of it is... Mike, and your Aunt Liz, physically died when they were both still young -- around your age, in fact.” Without letting his son get a word in edgewise, he went on, “But this alien race -- whatever they are -- wouldn’t leave it at that... They have the technology to bring the dead back to life as slaves, and transform the living into computerized killing machines...”

“I don‘t believe this,” Sam blurted out. “Dad, do you have any idea how crazy this sounds?!”

Reggie nodded solemnly. “I know,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to believe Mike at first either. When he wouldn’t stop insisting that one alien in particular, someone he and I would come to refer to as the Tall Man, had taken his parents and older brother, Jody... Mike wound up in a psychiatric hospital for a number of years, and no one, not even me, believed him. At least, not until I saw with my own eyes that there was some truth to his claims.”

Reggie sighed, choosing to gloss over as many of the details as possible, even as an image of his first wife and daughter came, painfully, to mind. “Mike and I went after the Tall Man, at first simply to avenge the loved ones we’d lost. We came across Liz during our travels, and she joined the team for a time before we lost her too... And then Mike -- he died some time later.”

Reggie paused, considering how best to put this. “At least, their bodies died. Some part of their minds, their souls, lived on... Mike and Liz had been transformed into some sort of alien forms we called spheres. Ferocious little buggers driven to slaughter anything or anyone, the spheres are... But if there were ever an exception to the rule, my two friends were it. They rebelled against the Tall Man, and broke free from what they were programmed to do. And, utilizing what help I could offer them, Mike and Liz infiltrated the bastard’s factory, destroying it and him for good.”

Sam bit his lip, not sure what to make of all this. “What does that have to do with me? If this... this Tall Man is gone, then it’s over, right?!”

“Far from it, Sam,” Reggie said quietly, with a note of pain in his voice. “We don’t know how, but the cat scan proved you have one of these spheres growing inside you... Given what I learned from Liz, they need a year or two to, well, gestate. And once that happens...”

“You can say it,” Sam blurted out when his Dad trailed off. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

“Not if your father and I have anything to say about it!” Maxine said, surprising her son with the ferocity of her tone. “I don’t care who or what these aliens are! They cannot have you or Tina or Jonathon as well!”

Sam grew even more curious at the inclusion of his younger siblings. Remembering what his father had said earlier, he asked, “Where did you find us, Dad? Why would they single us out?”

Reggie paused for the longest time, then said, with difficulty, “The day that factory was destroyed, I found the three of you there. They, um... They...” Exchanging a look with Maxine, Reggie managed to gain the resolve to say what he had to. “Shoot, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you this, Sam... Liz and Mike, and Mike’s brother, Jody, weren’t just singled out to serve as sphere ‘incubators’; they were manufactured for it!” Reggie hesitated once more, turning slightly to look at his son to gauge his reaction. “These aliens chose three ordinary people from the Civil War to experiment with, and cloned them over and over down through the ages... You, Tina, and Jonathon were meant to be the newest subjects, if I hadn’t rescued you from that place...”

Midway through this speech, Sam had buried his face in his hands, shaking his head to try and discount what he was hearing. “This isn’t real,” he moaned, just loudly enough for his Dad to hear.

“It is, Sam,” Reggie responded, his tone meant to be comforting. “And I would erase it all if I could! It nearly killed me when I had to watch Mike suffer through this transformation and eventually realize I couldn’t help him! Believe me when I say...”

Maxine interrupted, tensing ever so slightly when she caught a flash of something just down the road. “Reg,” she said uneasily, making her husband turn to look. When she saw the sunlight again gleam off a small metallic object that was heading straight for them, Maxine froze for an instant, her mind screaming at her to do something. “Shit!” she all but yelled, turning the steering wheel sharply to the left and thankful there were no cars around to hinder her. But, such an action was too late, and was punctuated by a golden orb crashing through the windshield...

***

As the van proceeded to do a 180, Maxine hit the brakes, and her husband looked around wildly to try to determine where the sphere had gone. And in the back, Sam found himself knocked out of his seat and onto the floor of the van by the sudden maneuver.

Lifting his head, Sam gulped when he saw the orb hovering inches from his face, at the same time that Reggie caught sight of it. The elder man was about to lunge for the sphere -- damn the consequences -- when it flew out of his reach, swooping over to one of the rear passenger seats before morphing into a human form.

Reggie sighed in relief though he remained partially tense. “Dammit, Liz!” he said angrily while his wife and son looked over at the girl in question in bewilderment. “You picked a hell of a way to flag us down!”

Liz gritted her teeth, and the first clue that Reggie had that something more was wrong was that she didn’t even try to placate him. “Sorry, Reg, but we don’t have time for pleasantries,” she said hurriedly, moving to open the side door, and the family of three was more than surprised when they saw Mike standing there ready to climb in. “Drive, Maxine,” Liz added. “And not towards home. They’re waiting for you there!”

Reggie had to ask; couldn’t help himself. “They who?!”

Liz closed the sliding door behind her boyfriend and turned to face Reg. “You know how we always feared that the Tall Man’s alien buddies would rediscover this world? Well, they have!” Glancing at Sam, she added, “And their main objective is to reclaim what they think of as their property...”

Chapter Three

Listening to Liz’s warning, Maxine had driven them all to the nearest motel, where she and her husband rented two of the rooms. Then, while Reggie left to pick up Tina and Jonathon from school, Maxine and her son finally found time to talk with their “saviors.” Having been made aware of Sam’s predicament, Mike had offered to try and reverse the process, and the former was quick to agree. Even now, Sam was reclining on the bed in a sort of trance with the Mike-sphere resting atop his forehead, while his mother and Liz looked on in silence.

“Is it working?” Maxine asked at last, unable to bear the waiting. “Can Mike tell you that?”

Liz hesitated, the intense look of concentration on her face indicating that she was speaking telepathically with her boyfriend. Finally, she sighed, focusing on Maxine. “Mike’s trying, but he’s not certain it will succeed,” she said quietly. “He thinks that they’ve put some barriers up to prevent it from being undone.” Another pause, then, “I’m sorry, Maxine. I can imagine what you’re going through...”

“You don’t know shit about what I’m going through!” Maxine snapped. “Don’t pretend you do... How did you know they’ve come back? Have you been expecting them to? And what made you think they were waiting at our house?”

Liz shook her head. “We could sense them, the fact that they were near,” she replied. “You could say that Mike and I were touring the countryside, and...” She paused, giving a sigh. “They’ve got a new agent, a replacement for the Tall Man. That’s all Mike and I know, save for that they’ve picked up right where they left off. We couldn’t get close enough to learn more... As for the second, we know how they operate! They like to remove any and all obstacles between them and their subjects... meaning you and Reg. Plus, with all the slaves -- the spies -- they have, it’s likely they would have found where you were living with no sweat.”

"That’s just great,” Maxine answered bitterly. “So what do you propose we do?”

Liz flinched at her friend’s tone. “Mike and I denied them access to Earth twice before! We can do so again!”

Maxine fumed. “Yeah, but is that going to help my son?!” she said, gesturing towards Sam. “He’s dying for the simple reason that you and Mike decided you didn’t want to fight any longer! You and your boyfriend were the only ones guarding this planet from them, and the moment you gave it up, they came back!”

Liz sighed, throwing a glance over at Mike and Sam. “What do you want me to say, Maxine?” she asked quietly. “You and Reg are not the only ones who care about him! I promise you, I am not going to let those bastards take him. I’d die first...”

Maxine gave a short laugh. “You’re already dead,” she reminded in an ironic tone.

Liz shrugged. “You know what I mean,” she said lightly. “We’re on the same side, Maxine. We’ll fix this...”

“You’d better,” Maxine warned, turning her attention to Sam when she saw he was coming to.

The Mike-sphere, meanwhile, flew towards Liz, settling into her raised hand. With a slight sigh, Liz looked down at her boyfriend, reading his mood quite clearly. “Don’t beat yourself up, Mike,” she said softly, so Maxine and Sam couldn’t hear. “You tried... But you and I both know that if we want to mend this, we’re going to have to take another hit at the source. I hope you’re ready for that...”

***

When Reggie got back, he’d mentioned that he’d dropped Tina and Jonathon off at the house of a family friend, that he’d told them simply that their older brother had been in an auto accident and he and Maxine would be heading down to be there for him. Then, towards nightfall, he and his wife and Sam found time to sit down and discuss what the plan was. “Liz and Mike told me that this alien race has set up shop in southern Utah,” Maxine had informed her husband. “They think the best shot we have is to infiltrate their base of operations... Mike thinks if he can access their computers through one of the spheres they’d have there, it might tell us something useful.”

As the conversation came to a close, Reggie simply made the announcement that he needed some fresh air and went outside, walking to the nearby picnic area and sitting at one of the tables. All the while, he was aware that there were two sets of eyes on him, and he was quick to call the owners out of hiding. Wordlessly, Mike and Liz came to the table and sat across from him, and the first thing Reggie asked them was, in a tired tone, “Do you think it’s going to do any good, or should I be planning my son’s funeral starting right now?”

Mike flinched at his friend’s use of words. He had always known it was in Reggie’s nature to be cynical, but still... “You shouldn’t think that way,” he said. “We’re not going to let anything happen...”

“That’s what I thought too, at one point,” Reggie interrupted. “I tried so hard to protect you and keep you alive, Mike, but in the end, there was nothing I could do! What makes you think that this time will be any different?”

Mike exchanged a glance with Liz and leaned forward, looking serious. “Because those were different times and very different circumstances,” he stated firmly. “I pushed you away when I became aware of what was happening to me... Who knows how things would have turned out if we’d put our heads together to consider alternatives?” He paused, giving a sigh. “Besides, Sam has two people who have the inside track who are not going to let this happen if they can help it!”

After a long silent moment, Reggie was ready to say thanks when Liz cut in. “There is something...” she started, followed by a slight pause; Reggie got the sense she was speaking telepathically to Mike from the way their heads were angled. “You told me once that no one would blame me if I decided to call it quits in this war,” Liz said quietly. “And I need to know if that still applies. I always knew that Mike and I would have to go up against them if they came back, but I never expected Sam to get thrown in the middle of it.”

Reggie sighed. “I don’t blame you, Liz, if that’s what you’re asking. You and Mike had every right to back off from this... It’s been years since I called it quits, and I can tell you it was worth it. We all deserve some peace now and then.” He paused, rubbing at his eyes. “But, damned if I didn’t wish I could give those alien bastards the ass-kicking they deserve.”

Liz couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Same old Reg,” she said lightly before turning serious. “And before you ask, Tina and Jonathon will be safe for the time being. Mike and I made sure that you weren’t followed, they’ll be okay as long as they stay put until we come back.”

“You get that from your visions?” Reg asked, knowing by her silence that she had. On that note, he added, “What else do you see, Liz? Anything that pertains to Sam?”

Liz hesitated for a long while, and Reggie got the sense that she was wrestling with herself over whether or not to tell him. “I’m sorry,” she replied at last in a strained voice. “But I... I wish I could tell you that it’s all going to be okay, but...”

Reg reached for her hand, saying in an amicable tone, “Don’t beat yourself up. Gifts aside, we never really know what the future holds... We’ll just make it a good one, Liz. And we’ll give it our all to make sure Sam comes home safely!”

Liz nodded in agreement, keeping a tight rein on her emotions. “Count on it,” she said simply...

Chapter Four

They’d set out early the next morning in the van, and about two hours in, Liz had apologized for the windshield (“I didn‘t expect you to swerve like that.”). Other than that, the group was silent for a long while, each lost to his or her own thoughts. Then, just outside the Utah state line, Sam was the first to break the ice, so to speak. Cradling the four-barreled shotgun that his father had crafted years ago (and retrieved from a storage garage yesterday afternoon), he said, “Now that we’re getting close, how about telling me what we might expect? Just how powerful are these guys?”

Mike looked over. “More than you can imagine. They’re very strong, both physically and mentally, not to mention relentless. Our former masters, I mean... Once they focus all their attention on one of their desired targets, they won’t let up. I speak from experience.” Mike paused, knowing by the glint in Sam’s eyes that he’d better say something to calm the young man. “Don’t you worry. We’re not going to let it come to that.”

“And the spheres?” Sam asked when Mike remained silent. “What are they... what would I be capable of?”

Reggie shot a sharp look at his son that went unnoticed; he had to admit that Sam’s use of words disturbed him. Nevertheless, he bit his lip to keep silent, even as he listened to Mike’s answer.

“The capabilities are rather diverse and widespread, and Liz and I still aren’t sure what they can do. Our masters were constantly improving on the different models... But I can tell you what I do know.” Mike paused, giving a sigh. “The silver ones are slow, but still very deadly, and they are usually driven to kill or ordered to keep tabs on someone,” he said, lost in memories. “The gold ones are fast and even more lethal. They’re smart, too... If you see one coming at you and you’re unarmed, the best thing to do is get out of its way, as fast as possible... Even if you don’t see a sphere, the way you can tell that one is near is that the air around them tends to, well, hum... And if you have to shoot at one, make it count.”

In the driver’s seat, Maxine clenched her hands over the steering wheel, working to tune out the conversation with little success. She had stolen a few looks into the back via the rear view mirror, eventually deciding enough was enough, and abruptly pulled over. “Mike, I’m starting to get tired,” Maxine said aloud, undoing her seatbelt. “Can you take over for a while?”

Mike nodded, and he and Maxine switched places in no time. As the elder woman settled into the seat across from her, Liz watched her closely to try and gauge her mood. Apparently, Reggie had caught on to his wife’s tension as well, for he was the one who spoke up. “They’re only trying to help, Max,” Reg said calmly, catching her attention. “If we’re going to have a shot at winning, we need to know what we’re up against... You told me that’s one of the things the FBI taught you -- to know your enemy.”

Maxine was silent for a bit as she mulled over her husband’s words. Finally, she nodded mutely, admitting that Reggie did have a point. Looking over at Liz, she said, “So, we’ve covered the silver spheres, and the gold ones... Anything else?”

Liz shook her head. “Those are the only ones Mike and I know of.”

“And their weapons?” Maxine asked. When the question caused Liz to tense, she added, “Like Reggie said, Sam and I need to know! Don’t hold out on us now, Liz!”

Liz sighed. “A warning in advance -- It’s not going to be pretty... The first silver orbs had these barbed blades that they used to hook on to someone’s forehead, and a drill attachment that was used to bore into the victim. The short version -- they’re good at causing severe brain damage. Later on, they would come with more elaborate devices, such as miniature buzz saws, lasers, and a type of video camera they’d use to spy on someone.

“The gold ones -- I don’t know how many of them we’re likely to run into -- are fewer in number, though that could have changed dramatically without my knowing it. They’re rather nasty, and have a variety of ways to cause significant damage. The least I could tell you, I saw one of the gold spheres, at one point, burn it’s way through a metal door and propel a grown man -- one of the Tall Man’s minions -- all the way across a room! That’s how strong and ferocious they are!”

Sam flinched. “Yikes,” he said softly. After a long moment to contemplate this, he looked up at Liz. “How do you do it?” he asked. “How do you deal with it, knowing what you’re capable of?”

Liz gave a sad smile. “I’ve never killed anyone, at least not intentionally, that didn’t have it coming,” she responded, throwing a look at Mike. “Other than that... Mike and I have learned to accept and cope with what we’ve become. But we still consider ourselves as human in every way that counts.” She leaned back in her seat, eying the shotgun that Sam held. After a long pause, she said, “That was your father’s favorite weapon, back in the old days. I’m assuming he showed you how to use it...”

Reggie interceded, shaking his head. “Not this one, no,” he responded. “I wouldn’t let any of the kids near it... But other guns, yes.”

Sam continued when his father remained silent. “A couple of times when I was young, Dad would take me hunting. Plus, Mom gave me a crash course in what her former career was like, including the use of firearms, but... It didn’t seem all that fun as I got older.” Sam gave a slight laugh. “Who would have thought that the knowledge and handling of weaponry would come in handy someday?!”

“It just might keep you alive. That’s all that matters,” Liz told him before turning to gaze out the window. Another long silence ensued, excepting the instances when Reggie (having taken the driver’s seat) asked Liz or Mike which road he should take.

By the time they reached a small town (Moab) that Mike revealed as the “base of operations”, dusk was falling, and, though the five of them were tired from the long trip, the fact that they were in enemy territory now kept them on their toes. Liz had been quick to do what she called a scan of the town, confirming to her friends that, save for a few dwarves and spheres left behind, the place was virtually empty. “They didn’t waste any time in clearing out the populace,” she had said in a grim tone.

“Why?” Sam asked once they’d set up camp. “If these aliens selected random people to experiment with, isn’t that enough? Why would they want an entire town of innocents?”

Liz sighed, snuggling closer to Mike in the sleeping bags they’d zippered together. “Because they’re building an army, and using three or four people from Earth over and over just isn’t enough. For as many soldiers that they want on their side... Well, if they aren’t stopped, then the odds are that they’ll eventually lay claim to all of the inhabitants on this planet.”

Sam bit his lip, his gaze going towards his mother; much to his surprise, it looked like she had conked out already, even though she’d only been laying down for less than two minutes. After a brief silence, he sighed, looking back at Liz. “You’re sure they won’t find us here?” Sam asked, pulling the sleeping bag around himself to keep warm.

“They won’t,” Liz confirmed. “To be honest... Mike and I put a shield up to prevent us from being detected for the evening. Either one or both of us will be awake the whole night to hold it in place.”

Sam put one hand to his head, struck with inspiration. “Wouldn’t it be simpler to resolve this using that method?” he asked, unable to keep the excitement from his tone. “My family and I could move, some place where they won’t find us... And if they can’t locate me, then I’ll be okay, right?!”

Reggie shook his head, bringing to mind what Liz and Mike had told him. “Even if they don’t come to collect the sphere, it won’t matter... Given enough time, that orb will become aware and will automatically free itself by whatever means...” He paused, noting the sinking look in Sam’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I wish there was another way.”

Liz cut in when the boys remained silent. “You’d better get some sleep, Sam... I imagine we’re going to be in for quite a fight tomorrow...”

Listening to her, Sam shifted so he was lying on his back. And, as he drifted off, he prayed that they would find the answers they needed come morning...

Chapter Five

Sometime during the night, Mike found himself growing tired and turned to ask Liz if she could keep watch. She had told him yes, but a moment after Mike had gotten comfortable and closed his eyes, he heard her voice in his mind, speaking his name questioningly. Instantly, Mike’s eyes opened again, and he turned his head slightly to look at her. “What is it, Liz?” he asked softly, without a trace of irritation; it would take a lot on her part to get him infuriated with her.

Rolling over so she could see her friends, Liz answered, telepathically, *Not out loud. I don’t want them to hear.*

With a sigh, Mike conceded to her request. *Something’s bothering you...?*

Liz nodded. *Not what you’re thinking though. I don’t have any doubts that we can pull this off, but... Look at them, Mike. That’s what we used to be. Alive, naive, and trying to find answers at every turn.* She shifted her gaze to look at her boyfriend. *Do you ever wonder what it is that we’re becoming?*

He paused. *Liz, I don’t...*

She cut him off. *I get the sense that we’re starting to not care! The longer we exist like this... I feel like, every day, we’re getting more detached from what we’ve been, and we’re becoming more like the other spheres, mindless and emotionless. And, figuratively speaking, that scares me to death!*

Mike shifted so he had a clear view of her, putting one hand to her face. *Liz,* he said soothingly. *We’re not turning into them. There’s no way...*

*Did you hear us today?* she asked. *Go over everything we said, and tell me it’s not true.*

After a long moment, Mike swallowed the lump in his throat. *Liz,* he said, trying to convince her otherwise. *We wouldn’t be so eager to help if it were! We still care...!*

*Maybe, but we’re also being selfish. If we wanted to, we could follow through on what my vision showed me to end this once and for all? So, why don’t we?* Liz questioned, more than disturbed when, for once, Mike didn’t have an answer for her...

***

When they awoke the next morning, Maxine, Reggie, and Sam took time to get themselves organized and fed, then packed up to head over to the town’s funeral home. On the way, Maxine made sure Sam’s shotgun, and her own weapon (a Colt .45) were loaded; Reggie was armed with a makeshift flamethrower -- a weapon that Mike had personally crafted towards the start of the war. “Is it necessary to have guns?” Sam found himself asking at one point. “I mean, all we want to do is catch one of these spheres, not kill it...”

Without breaking stride, Liz turned her head slightly to look at him. “Don’t argue, Sam. Mike and I’d feel better if you and your parents were armed, in case something goes wrong. Trust me, we’ve been around long enough to know to take every precaution...”

Sam nodded in understanding, exchanging a saddened look with his Dad, as if to ask how they’d come to this. Liz must have sensed what he was thinking, for she stopped suddenly, much to the surprise of her companions, and turned to look at him with a flicker of sympathy in her eyes. Her voice softening, Liz said, “I know you’re scared, Sam. We all are. But before we go any further, I need to ask you... Do you think it’s worth the risk? Are you willing to do what it takes to get back your life?”

Sam hesitated, no doubt thinking of where he’d come from. Without letting him answer, Liz said firmly, “It is your life! Whoever these aliens are, all they did was give you to a nice, normal family (or two) who loved and raised you! The emotions, personality, and skills belong to you alone! They have no right to take it all away, and you know it!” She paused. “Mike and I didn’t have a choice in the matter, but you do. Don’t let them win, Sam! You don’t want to end up like us.”

After a long silence, Sam looked up at her with a determined glint in his eyes, tightening his grip on the shotgun. It was enough for Liz to know he agreed with her. “Okay,” she said, letting out the breath she’d been holding and turning to look at the mortuary just down the road. “Let’s do this...”

***

The halls of the funeral home looked quiet enough when they entered, but Sam and Maxine remained tense simply because their companions were. For a moment there, exploring the interior, Maxine was beginning to doubt that they would even find anything (save for the three dwarves they had quickly dispatched in the cellar). Yet, when they had ascended the staircase to the second level, Mike halted (with the others following suit) and told them to remain silent.

Reggie only had a second or two to hear a humming in the distance before it suddenly stopped. Anxiously, he looked to Mike, who actually looked baffled for an instant before taking a step or two forward. After a few seconds, Maxine stepped up next to Mike, and the fact that his eyes had taken on a metallic sheen unnerved her slightly. “Anything?” she asked.

Mike shook his head, his eyes returning to normal. “This isn’t good,” he said softly. “I thought I saw one coming around the corner down there, but then it just vanished...” He turned towards Liz and Sam, motioning them to come over. “Stay close,” he said simply, trying to keep the edge from his voice.

The group had taken another few steps down the corridor when Liz froze in her tracks and grabbed on to Mike’s arm, having just caught a glimpse of something herself. Sending her boyfriend a quick telepathic message, Liz gently pushed the family of three behind her so their backs were to the wall. “Be calm and don’t move,” she warned them.

“What’s going on?” Maxine said, and the words were barely out of her mouth when she saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking over, Maxine nearly screamed when she saw not one but three patchwork-colored spheres floating before her. After a minute, her panicked mind informed her that they weren’t attacking, but merely hovering where they were. “What are they doing?”

Mike turned to look at her, though there wasn’t much room for it in the small force field he’d erected simply for the four of them. He told Maxine as such, then added, “Whatever these ones are, they’re new. Christ, Liz and I didn’t even see them coming!” He paused, waiting to see if the spheres would move, but they remained, oddly, still. “Patient little guys,” he said, offhandedly. “Okay, there are two over here. How many on your side, Maxine?”

Maxine told him, followed by, “Can you communicate with them?”

Mike hesitated, focusing on one of the orbs in front of him and sending it a quick mental message. But he got the sense it wouldn’t do any good when the thing responded in a language he didn’t recognize. “No can do,” he told Maxine. “Wherever these ones came from, they don’t speak English... I’m not even sure it’s a human dialect.”

Reggie sighed, exchanging a look with his son. “Now what?”

Liz bit her lip, glancing at Mike as he transformed into a golden orb. “Now, we see what these new models are made of,” she said firmly before following suit. “Get ready to run. We‘re dropping the shield...”

Chapter Six

Going up against the new spheres, Liz and Mike were pleased (at first) to see that these ones were rather slow and didn’t react well to being attacked by their own kind. Problems arose, however, when they began to periodically disappear and reappear in the midst of the fight. *Damn,* Mike had told Liz telepathically. *Where the hell are they going?!*

Liz, having caught one in her sights, was quick to soar over and literally skewer it through the middle, and she saw Mike dispatch another by use of his saw-blade attachment. Retracting the three matching blades into herself to let her victim drop to the floor, Liz was lucky to catch sight of one of the spheres as it “phased” into view behind her boyfriend. *Mike, look out!* she warned, a second too late. And, she could only watch as numerous, sharp studs rose from the orb’s surface, nicking the Mike-sphere’s side badly as it attacked.

Liz froze for a second or two when she saw her boyfriend, caught off guard by the attack, propelled against the wall and seemingly get disoriented for a moment too long. She alternated between the fight and watching Mike to make sure he was okay. Then, she willed the blade-tipped sides of her spherical self to pop out and whir to life -- time to bring in the big guns, so to speak. *You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that,* she said, giving sphere #3 just a moment’s warning before she struck.

From there, Liz trapped the last orb in a small force field for the time being, morphing into her human self and going to Mike. “Are you okay?” she asked, examining the gouges in his otherwise-shiny surface.

*I’m fine,* Mike answered. *Sorry to scare you like that.* Recovering, he turned to look at the trapped orb. *Good job, sweetie,* he commented. *Looks like we...*

Liz cut him off as she glanced around with an increasingly troubled look. Looking at Mike as he, too, changed back into his human form, she asked, with a trace of fear, “There were five of them, right?!” When he nodded, she went on with, “Then how come I only see four?!”

Fearful, Mike glanced in the direction he’d seen Reg, Maxine and Sam go when the shield had dropped. But before he could say a word, he and Liz heard a short scream echo from somewhere below them. An instant later, Liz grabbed the sphere that was left -- holding it tightly against her so it couldn’t fight -- and she and Mike took off running towards the source...

***

The instant that the shield was dropped, Maxine had grabbed for Sam and took off as fast as she could, with Reggie just behind them. Just before reaching the staircase, she turned to look at the fight that was undoubtedly going on behind her. For a few seconds, she was pleased to see that Mike and Liz were holding their own against four of the multi-colored orbs. But then, she froze, her eyes darting around the corridor wildly -- where was the fifth one?!

Swearing under her breath, Maxine exchanged a look with her husband and son, and they all shared the same desire to just run. Her body rushing with adrenaline, Maxine darted down the stairs with Reg and Sam in tow, and none of them stopped until they had rushed into an adjoining room and closed the door behind them.

While Sam and Reggie bent over slightly to catch their breath, Maxine both willed her heartbeat to slow and watched the door warily, a little doubtful that it would provide sufficient cover. She was proved right when she heard a buzzing sound on the other side, and saw that the fifth sphere was cutting its way through. Quickly, she took aim with the Colt and fired, and she could hear the bullet connect with the orb with a loud clang.

Maxine kept her eye on the door for a moment longer. Then, satisfied that the sphere wouldn’t be bothering them anymore, she turned and glanced around the room with a growing sense of dread. “Damn it! That wasn’t here before,” she said aloud, causing the two men she loved to look up at her, and then over towards the spacegate at the far wall. Turning to regard them, she added, “Stay here.” So saying, Maxine approached the gate, listening to Reggie as he reminded her on how to shut them down.

Before she could act, however, Sam caught a glimpse of something (or rather, someone) coming through. “Mom,” he called out in alarm, but too late. Before they even knew what was happening, Sam and Reggie saw Maxine thrown across the room, landing badly, moaning, and rubbing at her head.

Reg took aim with the flamethrower, but a psionic blast from the Tall Man propelled him back against the wall where he was instantly knocked unconscious. Sam, though wanting to glance over to make sure his Dad was alright, didn’t dare take his eyes off the new arrival. He may stand at 6’1’, but this guy had him beat by several inches.

As the Tall Man (that’s all Sam could think to call him, even though this “person” didn’t look anything like what Reggie had described (too young, for one thing)) started towards him, Sam stumbled away until his back was to the wall. Then, remembering he had the shotgun, the young man raised it to fire, but unfortunately wasn’t able to get off a shot before the gun was knocked from his hands.

Maxine recovered in time to see that her son was in trouble, that she dared not call attention to herself right off. Gritting her teeth, she got to her feet quickly and quietly, noticing that the Tall Man had Sam in a choke hold. She took a second to look for something to hit him with, settling for a piece of metal pipe. Moving forward, she took a swing at the bastard’s head with enough force to fracture a normal person’s skull. When her opponent crumpled to the floor, she ran forward to help her son get up.

Yet, even as Maxine prepared to flee from the room, giving Sam a gentle shove towards the door to prompt them to do the same, she found that the Tall Man had been merely stunned by the attack, not killed. Before she could even take a step, she could feel the bastard grab at her ankle, and with a yell, Maxine tumbled to the floor. “Run,” she said firmly, and screamed briefly when she felt a knife sink into her shoulder.

In the next moment, the Tall Man had stood and rolled Maxine over onto her back, staring down at her with a dispassionate expression. For a second, she feared he may just kill her and be done with it, but, instead, he simply swept from the room through the open door, no doubt after her son...

***

Liz and Mike made it down the stairs in no time, but neither of them were quite prepared to see Sam racing towards them, looking afraid. “He’s here!” Sam informed them, grabbing onto Mike’s arm and turning to look back down the hallway. “The Tall Man -- or someone just like him -- is here!”

Mike, too, went to being frightened and/or troubled, but he was quick to recover. Biting back his fear, he gently pushed Sam towards their companion, saying, “Go with Liz! I’ll hold him off as long as I can!” Telepathically, he added, *Start altering the sphere’s programming. We may need it within the hour.*

Liz watched for a second while Mike morphed and hovered upwards towards the ceiling, then took off down the corridor with Sam in tow. She didn’t stop until they had reached another door and secured the door, then she turned her attention to the task at hand while Sam looked on. Switching her vision to magnify, Liz both held the multi-colored orb in a vise-like grip and opened up its casing to get to work. Yet, even she was caught off guard when the thing began to phase in and out of view in her hand. “Chameleons,” she murmured, at last able to figure out what these new models were and the reason behind their invisibility. And, she wondered, would the Tall Man be able to see them coming in time...?

“What was that?” Sam asked, having heard her say something.

Liz told him, then added, “This damn sphere isn’t going to make it easy for us...” Since the thing was periodically turning transparent on her, Liz knew they’d have to stall. *Mike, keep him busy,* she sent to her boyfriend, going on to fill him in on the orb’s capabilities.

*Easy for you to say, Liz. You try going head to head with one of these guys somet...*

Mike broke off so suddenly that it worried her. Looking up, Liz asked, *Mike? What’s going on?!* When there was no answer, she knew that something had gone wrong, especially when she heard someone pounding at the barricaded door. “Shit!” she swore, exchanging glances with Sam. “Get back,” she told him, watching as he fled towards the far wall.

Thankfully, Liz found the switch she was looking for within seconds and flipped it, wishing she had more time to test this out or be sure it would work. Quickly, she closed the sphere’s casing and stepped back, holding on to Sam protectively with one hand, noting that the door was rattling furiously on its hinges. Then, sending an impression to the (invisible) orb to attack its “master”, Liz let go of it and prayed for the best. But, before the sphere even moved, she heard Sam yell out at her side and realized that someone had come up from behind them...

Chapter Seven

When she recovered from being stabbed, or at least when it didn’t hurt to move, Maxine had closed the gate, wincing as the backlash knocked her flat once more. Looking towards Reggie, she gave a silent thanks that her husband was still breathing normally; it showed her he’d recover. However, knowing she had no time to waste, Maxine retrieved the shotgun from where Sam had dropped it and frantically raced from the room, hoping against hope that her son wasn’t on the verge of being taken.

When she rounded the corner, Maxine stopped short and ducked back out of sight when she saw the Tall Man just ahead of her. From Reggie’s stories, she got the sense that guns wouldn’t work on this guy and so didn’t even try to shoot him. Instead, after confirming that her son was nowhere in sight, opted to go another way to try and find him.

Later on, Maxine swore she would have gotten lost if she hadn’t had the sound of Liz and Sam’s voices to guide her. As she entered the room from an adjacent door, Maxine clenched her teeth together when she saw that the Tall Man was on the verge of breaking in via the other entry. Without thinking, she put one hand on Sam’s shoulder, startling him immensely.

“It’s me!” Maxine said hurriedly in a tone meant to calm her companions. “Come on, let’s go!” A slight pause, then, “Unless you want to stay here for a showdown you know you’re not going to win...”

Sam and Liz needed no further argument, racing after Maxine even as the other door was forced off its hinges. When they were some distance away, safely hidden for the time being, Maxine finally found time to mention that Reggie was out but otherwise okay and ask, “What do we do, Liz? Does this guy have any weaknesses that you know of?”

Liz furrowed her brow, trying to think of what all Mike had told her. “Just... He -- and his race -- isn’t fond of the cold; freezing climates would especially be fatal. But I don’t see that that’s going to help us. If we kill him, then another will be sent right away to take his place.”

“What if there’s no spacegate for the replacement to come through?” Maxine asked after a moment. “I closed it before I came to find you two.”

Liz shook her head. “They lock on to the last place where a gate was active and send another one. Won’t help us. But...” She looked down at the chameleon-sphere, and a plan began to form in her mind. “But maybe I can draw him off... Each and every sphere -- save for Mike and I -- comes with its own homing device. And if I can lead him away, then you and Sam have a chance of getting Mike and Reg and getting out.”

Maxine was set to agree to this plan, but Sam had a few objections. “What about you?” he asked Liz. “Even if this plan works, how are you going to get out without leaving this sphere behind?”

Liz sighed. “If we stay on the move, he won’t find us, at least not very easily. Once we’re in the van, I’ll need to remove the tracer, which will take about a half hour,” she replied. “When I’m sure you and your parents are safely away, I’ll come after... Just make sure the windows are rolled down.”

“But, how will you find us?” Sam questioned.

Liz gave a half-smile, appreciating his concern for her safety. “As long as you have Mike nearby, I’ll find you,” she answered, getting to her feet. “As for now... Give me five minutes to lead the Tall Man away, then make a run for it. And be careful; he may still have guards around.”

So saying, Liz took off through an open doorway, sphere in hand, and Maxine was quick to look at her watch to time her friend. When five minutes had elapsed, she urged Sam to his feet. “Time to go,” she said, not really paying attention to the faraway look in his eyes. Locating the Mike-sphere and her husband on the way out was no real challenge. But before they could reach the exit, Maxine and Sam were “accosted” by another of the dwarves, which Maxine was forced to shoot on reflex.

Knowing there was no way that could have gone unheard, Maxine gently hustled her son out of the mortuary ahead of her. “Go!” she said simply. “Run!” Sam was only half-listening, focused on the Mike-sphere he had in one hand. When he spoke, it was in an unintelligible mutter that made Maxine turn to look at him without breaking stride. “What?” she asked, getting his attention.

Sam paused, then shook his head. “Nothing,” he said, in a tone that indicated it was something and he’d tell her later. After a slight hesitation on her part, Maxine grasped him by one arm and ran all the way back to where the van was waiting, going as fast as she could considering she had to carry her husband with her. In no time flat, she had gunned the engine and tore out of that town.

A few miles in, Sam’s silence began to weigh on her, and Maxine stole a few glances at him, noting that he was holding his head as if it hurt. “Sam, say something,” she urged. “You’re scaring me.”

Sam looked over at her with haunted eyes. “I’m scaring myself,” he said softly. After a slight pause, he added, “I can hear their thoughts, Mom. Mike and Liz’s. They mentioned it was one of the signs that this transformation was taking place... I don’t have a lot of time left, do I?”

Maxine fought tears. “Don’t say that, Sam!” she responded fiercely.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Sam asked, gesturing towards the side of his head. “I don’t know how long it’s been there, before we discovered it with the cat scan.” Swallowing the lump in his throat, he said, “I’m scared, Mom. I don’t want to die, not like this!” He was poised to say more, but stopped, looking down at the Mike-sphere. When he spoke, it was to the orb, which more than unsettled Maxine (and Reggie, as the latter came to): “Thanks for the affirmation, but saying it is a lot different than acting on it.”

*You sound like your father,* Mike responded. *I see some of Reggie’s cynicism rubbed off on you.*

Sam considered this, then gave a slight laugh. “Yeah, I suppose it has... Do you think we have a shot at pulling this off? My parents and I went head to head with that guy -- all of us armed -- and he basically wiped the floor with us. How do you do it? How do you fight someone that powerful?”

*He’s powerful, but not entirely infallible!* Mike interjected. *And I’ll say to you what I know your father would. Don’t let go! You think of all the things that give your life meaning and hold on to them! When you take into consideration everything you have to live for, it makes it all the more difficult to sit back and give up!*

Sam paused for a long while, then said, “My Dad told me that you had a brother, who went through this same thing. Where is he now?”

Mike sighed. *He’s dead, Sam, really and truly. They transformed him, yes, but they also had their reasons for taking him out of commission.* A pause, then, *His name was Jody, and in life, he was the best older brother I could have asked for. I looked up to him -- loved him -- so much! Those final days... I had grown to hate him because I believed he was willingly selling me out to the Tall Man, but... I wish I could have told him how wrong I was to consider that.*

After a another slight pause, Mike went on, *I know Reggie told you the truth about your heritage, but... You have no idea how much you resemble Jody, or just how much Tina and Jonathon are coming to look like Liz and I. So... I don’t want you thinking we’re seeing this through just to show those alien bastards they can’t have everything. You -- and your brother and sister -- are my hope for the future, an indication that some part of Jody will always be around. I wouldn’t have asked for anything more, given the choice.*

Maxine had kept her eyes on the road for the last few minutes, half listening to the “one-sided” exchange going on between Sam and Mike. Finally, her son took a sudden break from the conversation, and a quick glance showed Maxine that he was peering out the windshield with a blank look. “Sam?” she asked, concerned about him.

Startled, Sam looked over at her with wide eyes, then sighed and willed himself to relax. “Liz is coming, with our ‘new friend’ in tow,” he said in an odd tone, rolling down the window on his side. Looking down at the Mike-sphere, Sam tried to make sense of the “snippets” of information he’d just picked up from Liz’s mind. Yet, he said not a word to his parents; there was no sense in invoking their anger. Instead, he continued with, “Once she gets the tracer removed... Well, let’s hope for some good news...”

Chapter Eight

Once Liz arrived in the van, the first thing she said was, “I don’t think I was followed, but we’d better make sure. Reg, can you watch through the window at the back?”

“Sure thing,” Reggie answered, climbing out of his seat and moving towards the rear of the van. After a few minutes spent gazing out the window, he turned away with a sigh, focusing on Mike and Liz as they worked on the chameleon-sphere. “How long do you think this will take?”

Liz glanced up briefly. “We’re almost there. Just another minute...” After a short silence, Mike had removed a tiny chip from the sphere, instantly turning to toss it out the side window. “There, that was easy,” Liz said triumphantly. “Now, we can find the answers we need with no worries of being found.” To Maxine, she added, “Drive another few miles or so, then feel free to pull over.”

Sam furrowed his brow. “How are you going to find out anything from this sphere?” he asked seriously. “All it’s talking is gibberish.” Off of Liz’s startled expression, he added, “I can hear what it’s thinking -- what you and Mike are...” He broke off, then attempted to communicate with her telepathically. *I know that you saw something in your visions that could save me, but you’re right... The potential cost is too high.*

Liz stared at Sam with a troubled, slightly guilty expression, then let out a breath and composed herself. “Our little friend here, it seems, might actually be from another world,” she answered, watching as Mike began to psychically “program” the sphere. “At least, it’s speaking a dialect that we’re not familiar with... First things first, we’re giving it an extensive knowledge of the English language, and it won’t take it long to make the necessary translations.” Telepathically, she added, *Once that happens, we will find another way!*

After some time had passed, Maxine found a place to park and joined the group in the back, finally finding time to go for the first aid kit. Removing her jacket to reveal the tank top underneath, she said, “Reggie, can you help me bandage my shoulder?”

Startled, her husband looked over; he hadn’t realized she’d been injured. “Sure thing,” he replied, moving closer to help. While at the task, Reggie said, with a short laugh, “I bet working five years as an FBI agent never prepared you for this.”

Maxine half smiled. “It doesn’t come close to any of my own adventures. My old friends in the bureau would have a field day over the stories I could tell them -- if they didn’t decide to throw me in a psych ward first.” After a moment, she looked over at Mike. “So, is our new spherical friend telling you anything useful?” she asked.

Mike paused, then answered with, “Well, that depends... Would you like to hear Z’anautie’s life-story and how her planet is also dying thanks to the Tall Man and his people? I’m asking, but she’s saying she doesn’t know much about their operations... She was just brought over a few weeks ago.” He set the chameleon-sphere (Z’anautie) on the floor of the van, leaning back with a sigh. “We’re right back where we started, I guess.”

After a long moment, Maxine reached for the sphere and opened up its casing, her curiosity aroused. After thoroughly examining Z’anautie’s devices and inner workings, she glanced back up at Mike, an idea forming in her mind. “Reggie told me once that he’d been to one of these aliens’ factories, and a lot of it looked pretty high-tech... Just how dependent are they on computers?”

Rubbing at his eyes, Mike turned his head at the sound of Maxine’s voice. “From what Liz and I observed in the short time we spent there, their society appeared as if they couldn’t get by without it. Everything’s automated -- the spheres, the spacegates, their weapons... All of it’s tied into the computers.”

Maxine bit her lip, glancing at Sam. “And what’s happening to Sam... If we took out the mainframe, would that sphere he has in him cease to exist?”

Mike thought about this. “Theoretically, yes,” he said, and Maxine was headed back to the driver’s seat before he could finish. Going after her, he added, “But that’s only if the process hasn’t completed itself by then... Plus, we would need to target ALL of the mainframe, not just a part of it, and that would be next to impossible.”

Maxine started the engine, and didn’t say a word until she had gotten on the freeway heading west. “Well, I think I’ve got an idea that will do just that,” she replied, catching Liz’s attention.

Noting Maxine’s determination and the direction they were headed, Liz had a suspicion that her vision was on the verge of coming true. Going to the passenger seat, she found herself pleading with her friend. “Maxine, please,” she said. “I know what you’re thinking, and I know you want to save Sam’s life, but... We will find another way.”

Startled, Maxine shot a glance or two at Liz. “How would you know?” she asked. “It’s not like...” Maxine stopped, the expression on Liz’s face filling her in, while her husband looked on with a growing disbelief. “My God... You foresaw this, didn’t you?!”

Liz’s silence was answer enough, and Maxine pulled over onto the shoulder abruptly, switching on the van’s emergency lights to avoid questions by any passing drivers. Shifting in her seat so she was facing Liz, Maxine continued her tirade. “When were you planning on telling us?! After my son was dead!? Dammit, Liz, this could have spared us the trip to the funeral home!” She paused, her fury threatening to overtake her. “I thought we were on the same side!”

“We are!” Liz insisted with wide eyes. “I just...” She bowed her head. “Mike and I had our reasons,” she said softly. “We didn’t want to go about it this way! Look, Maxine, we’ll just try again. We’ll follow their trail, and find...”

“That’s not good enough,” Maxine fumed. “Every day we spend chasing after an alternative that may not exist is one less day that Sam has left! Why you would withhold the only option that could end this once and for all...”

Sam scooted forward, unable to sit by and watch his Mom attack Liz without knowing the reason. “Stop it, Mom, please! You don’t know.”

“Sam,” Maxine said sharply, only to have her son cut her off.

“It would kill them, alright!” Sam shouted, causing Maxine to freeze and stare at him in disbelief. After a few tense seconds, he added, in a calmer tone, “I read Liz’s mind, so I know what I’m talking about... What she saw, what it implied...” He glanced at Mike and Liz. “There’s a strong possibility, if the mainframe as a whole is wiped out, then so are they. All the spheres are tied to those computers, and...”

Maxine finished the thought when her son trailed off, feeling tears come to her eyes at the prospect. Looking at Reggie only compounded the feeling; she could see in his eyes his reaction to this unfair choice. “And you don’t know if you can exist independent of their system,” she said, focusing on the couple across from her.

Mike nodded. “It may be the only thing that’s been keeping us animated all these years,” he replied in a tired tone. “Without it, yeah... There’s a good chance that Liz and I would die, permanently, this time...”

Chapter Nine

Once she had gotten over the initial shock, Maxine had turned back to the wheel with a numb feeling, starting the engine and pulling carefully back onto the freeway. Under her son’s inquiries, she had responded, simply, “I’m just driving us to the nearest motel, Sam, the first one we come to. We can discuss this further once we get there.”

While his mother went inside to rent some rooms for the night, Sam left Mike and Liz with Reggie per their request in the van. Wearily, the young man made his way over to a nearby bench and sat down so he was facing the parking lot and the vehicle. Sam could understand their wanting to discuss what was happening in private, but he was nevertheless awfully curious to know what they were saying.

After a few minutes, Maxine had come outside to sit next to him, silently holding out a room key for him to take. Patting him on the shoulder, she asked, “Are you okay, Sam?”

He sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “As well as can be expected... You know, considering that the two people I’ve known as my Aunt and Uncle may have to sacrifice themselves to save me.” Sam looked up at her, a sad glint in his eyes. “I don’t want to die, Mom, but I don’t want them to, either!”

“That’s the last thing I -- and I’m sure, your father -- want, too,” Maxine responded. “But, this plan to destroy their whole system... It may be our only choice, Sam. And let’s face, our time, as it is, is limited. We can’t afford to look for alternatives because there may not be one.” When he looked up at her with a startled expression, Maxine added, “I’m fond of Mike and Liz as well, but I’m trying to give you a realistic look at what’s happening... Sometimes, you have to let go of something, of someone, if it’s for the greater good.”

Sam nodded numbly. He wasn’t sure how long he and his Mom waited for their companions to emerge from the vehicle, but he perked up when he saw that the side door on the van was sliding open. Wordlessly, Reggie, Mike, and Liz stepped out -- the latter’s face was stained with tears -- and made their way over to where mother and son were waiting.

While Liz sat on the opposite side of Sam, Mike settled onto the sidewalk at her feet; Reggie remained standing. After a long silence, Liz said, “I’m so sorry... I can’t begin to tell you how much.” Another pause, then, “We should have told you there was a way from the start, but... I don’t know when or how Mike and I got to be so selfish, stubbornly clinging to what life we have left.” Feeling a lump in her throat, Liz reached out to touch her boyfriend, if only to comfort herself. “But I do know we can’t go on this way, walking in both worlds but belonging to neither... They’ve kept our minds alive for a long time, and... maybe this is just fate’s way of stepping in and setting right the natural order of things.”

Mike continued when Liz remained silent. “We’ve existed for a long time, be it physically or mentally, and by all rights, no one should live for eternity.” He looked up at Maxine. “The point is, we’re willing to face up to the consequences, if Liz’s vision is indeed accurate... We just... We just ask that you give us one more night. We can head out tomorrow morning.”

Sam bowed his head, wanting to speak up in protest but lacking the strength to do so. “Are you sure there’s no other way?” he asked softly.

“I’m sorry,” Mike responded, looking at Sam. “But your Mom and Dad are right, and it’s likely we were chasing after an opportunity that wasn’t there.” He glanced down at the sphere he held in one hand; Sam hadn’t realized he’d had Z’anautie with him until that moment. For a few long seconds, Mike was silent, his head angled as if listening to something. “Well, it seems our friend here shares our thoughts,” he said at last. “She wants some time also.” He let go of Z’anautie, and the five of them watched, transfixed, as she immediately soared away up into the night sky.

“Where’s she going?” Reggie asked after a slight pause.

“To her home world,” Liz answered. “She has her own loved ones that she wants to say goodbye to, and to let them know not to fear... The nightmare is soon coming to a close, for everyone.” She paused, then added, “We should get some sleep, Sam. We have a big day ahead of us...”

***

Not a word was spoken between the five friends the next morning as they packed up the van and set out. They simply took turns driving through half the day, and no one said anything until Maxine noted that they were five miles from their destination. “Before we do this, what exactly can we expect?” she asked Mike. “I know that their entire compound is made up of different sections, locked doors and all... Unless you and Liz go through and manually open up all the rooms... How can we be sure the whole mainframe will be targeted?”

“One of us -- Mike or I -- will need to go in and simply access the first computer we come across to override their system,” Liz answered. “It will give us a window of five minutes before those alien bastards figure out what’s going on... But by then, it will be too late.”

“And the spacegate we’ll need to carry this out? You know we’ll need it to stay active for as long as possible for this to work... Destroying just a few computers won’t close it?”

Liz shook her head. “This is going to work, Maxine,” she said in a numb tone. “Trust us.”

In the back, Sam went to perusing the floor of the van, feeling a lump in his throat as he took in just how worn-out Mike and Liz looked\sounded. It both amazed and scared him that they were going to such lengths -- wiping out an entire race -- just to save his life. Was he really worth the sacrifice it entailed on their part, Sam thought; it seemed so. Hugging himself at the notion and all it could mean, he just barely caught sight of the exit sign on the side of the freeway, as his Dad prepared to turn off:

Not ten minutes later, they’d reached one of the city’s beaches overlooking the Pacific Ocean...

Chapter Ten

As they made their way down the sandy enclosure, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing against the beach, the only thing Sam, Reggie, and Maxine had to worry about was whether or not they were being followed or watched. Not by any agents from the Tall Man’s world, but by people in general; the better to avoid questions on why the three of them were headed for a deserted area looking edgy.

Having reached a secluded beach surrounded by a cliff, Reggie stopped and set down the backpack he’d been carrying. After a moment, he said aloud, “You can come out now.”

At his request, two golden orbs rose from the bag, transforming immediately into their human counterparts. With a sigh, Mike put his arm around Liz, looking out over the sparkling waters. “I’d almost forgotten what the ocean looked like,” he said wistfully. “If I had to pick the last place I’d ever see, this would be it.”

Maxine let out a breath, letting the tranquility of her surroundings descend on her. After a long moment, a glance at Sam prompted her to speak. “Are we ready?”

Looking over, Mike responded with, “We’re ready.” He willed a spacegate to open before him, lightly biting his lip. “I’ll be right back,” he said simply, before stepping through the two short metal poles that made up the gate.

Feeling tense, Reggie exchanged a glance with his son, then looked towards Liz when the latter let out a gasp. “What is it?” Reg asked, not liking the way his friend had stiffened. “Are you in contact with Mike? Is he hurt?”

Shaking her head, Liz took a step away from the gate, then two, sending a few psychic shouts to her boyfriend and praying he heard them. Reaching out for her companions, she said simply, “Get back. The Tall Man’s coming... Bastard has been searching for us since we escaped the mausoleum, and we just provided him the clue he needed!”

Before Liz could finish, a figure stepped back through the gate, and it wasn’t Mike. Swearing under her breath, Maxine instinctively reached for the Colt tucked in the waistband of her jeans; trust them not to have anticipated this. “Liz,” she said in a low, frightened tone, even as the Tall Man fixed his gaze on them.

Sam dared not breathe as the Tall Man focused on him directly, and his mother seemed to realize the bastard’s intentions. Fiercely, Maxine reached over and pushed Sam behind her and his father. “No!” Maxine said in a furious tone when the Tall Man took a step in their direction. “You stay away from him!”

The Tall Man shifted his gaze to Maxine, and a wry grin came to his face. “How endearing,” he said in deep-pitched, deliberate tone. “You think you can deny us what is rightfully ours?”

Maxine would not be put off that easily, and she slowly began to inch away with her loved ones in tow. “Playing God doesn’t give you any claim to my son, or anyone else!” she challenged, drawing the gun out and holding it at the ready. She knew bullets weren’t likely to affect this guy, but it still felt comforting to have her weapon where she could use it.

Mike, unfortunately, chose that moment to come back through the gate, and the Tall Man turned his head sharply to regard the new arrival. Before he even knew what was happening, Mike was backhanded across the face, knocked off to the side, reverting to his sphere self. Liz flinched at the attack, half tempted to go to her boyfriend’s aid. Instead, she told herself to remain calm, sending a quick telepathic message out to Sam as an idea came to her.

Startled, Sam shifted his gaze to Liz, more than frightened at what she was suggesting. *I don’t know if...*

*We can!* Liz responded sharply. *And it’s our only shot... When I say go, grab your Mom and Dad, and follow my lead.* Out loud, she added, “The game’s over, and you’ve gotten everyone you’re going to from this planet, you bastard.” With those words, she feinted left, pleased when the Tall Man fell for the ruse. *Sam, go! And stay close!* she communicated, running off slightly to the right and making a beeline for the seawater, picking up the Mike-sphere in one fluid motion as she went.

Although Reggie didn’t see Liz put up a shield, the fact that the water “divided” as they rushed in told him it was there. When they were waist-deep, Liz stopped and turned with her friends following suit, and they noted that the Tall Man was simply standing at water’s edge, looking more than angry at this development. Liz had almost expected it; the Tall Man’s race wasn’t exactly familiar or comfortable with the concept of oceans and the like “If he was going to follow us, he would have done so already,” Liz said for Maxine’s and Reggie’s benefit, leading her friends deeper so they were completely submerged. “Come on. Let’s finish this.”

***

As he watched his quarry disappear beneath the water, the Tall Man tried his best to control his rage. Perhaps if he’d been calmer, he would have realized they’d be coming back, but at the moment, he was determined not to let the boy get away that easily. Erecting a shield for himself, the Tall Man took a few tentative steps into the waves. Then, certain there was no harm in it, he strode forward in a determined manner, expecting to catch up with his prey in no time.

What he was not expecting, once he caught sight of them, was to see that they had called forth one of the dimensional forks right there on the ocean floor. Seconds later, as the seawater began to flood through the gate, the Tall Man frantically attempted to reach his people psychically, to provide a warning. Yet, he could feel that it was coming too late, as he began to slowly lose power as the computers, one by one, began to short out.

The last thing he was aware of, as even the protective shield he’d put up broke down, was the dying telepathic screams of his people...

***

There was something disconcerting about being in a bubble of sorts surrounded by tons of water; it took Maxine everything she had not to panic. She knew that the plan was to head back to the surface once they’d finished what they meant to, but the fact that there was a window in which to do so worried her. “What if we don’t make it back to dry ground before the factory gets flooded?” she asked Liz. “If you and Mike... expire.. too soon, then... And if the Tall Man is still there...”

“We’ll time it just right so that it doesn’t happen that way. We’re not that deep underwater as it is,” Mike answered, having assumed his human guise once more. “As for our Tall friend, well... Odds are he won’t survive the destruction of the system any more than the rest of them will.” After a few seconds of walking forward, he stopped and instructed the others to follow suit, then widened the shield and willed a spacegate to appear before them.

At that point, Reggie thought to glance back the way they’d come, paling when he saw the Tall Man was coming after them, sheltered from the water the same way they were. “Uh, guys,” he said uneasily, causing Maxine to turn and look. “Better make this quick! Our Tall friend’s coming, and he does not look happy!”

Encompassing the two metal poles that made up the gate in smaller shields so they wouldn’t short out, Liz and Mike looked up at each other simultaneously so their eyes locked. As she reached for her boyfriend’s hand, her emotions evident on her face, Liz said, *I love you.*

Mike offered a sad smile. *May we meet on the other side.* So saying, he and Liz faced forward, taking a few steps away from the spacegate until it parted from the primary shield... and a rush of water began to flood into the factory waiting beyond.

Sam was both lucky and bothered to have caught the brief exchange, definitely not liking this ability to read someone’s thoughts. He, too, took a step back, but nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that another spacegate had opened up behind Mike and Liz. Before he could yell a warning, he could see some creature materialize in the center of the shield -- though there was barely enough room for it -- and reach for Mike and Liz’s heads with clawed hands...

Chapter Eleven -- Three Days Later

“I still can’t believe it’s over,” Reggie blurted out, seated in front of the fireplace in the family room with Maxine and Sam. It was early in the afternoon, and they had just finished lunch; Tina and Jonathon were still at school, thus allowing the three to talk freely. He had plans to tell his younger children the truth someday, but for now, he was content to leave them in the dark. “Half the time, I expect to wake up and find the whole thing was a dream.”

Maxine set her plate aside, folding her hands in her lap as she gazed at her husband. “It’s no dream... We won, Reggie,” she said quietly. “As far as we’re concerned, the war is over for good. Mike even told me as much; it’s not very likely there were any survivors...”

Maxine shot a quick look at Sam, managing a slight smile. She had taken him in for another cat-scan just that morning, and much to their mutual relief, there was not a trace of any sphere inside his skull. It amazed her how quickly the thing had dissipated, but she was grateful nonetheless. “They were an advanced species, and very powerful, that’s true,” she added. “But even they couldn’t withstand or foresee everything.” A pause, then, “So how does it feel knowing that you have a wife who single-handedly devised a way to exterminate an alien race?”

“It feels amazing, and you’re incredible, honey,” Reggie replied, trying to keep the edge from his voice. “I just can’t believe that Mike and Liz...”

Maxine took a sip of her coffee, still reeling herself from the unexpected turn of events. “We have Z’anautie to thank for how that turned out,” she stated, reaffirming the facts as she knew them. “She was partly telling the truth; she was headed back to her own world, but it wasn’t to say goodbye... She made a quick pit stop at the factory to free as many of her friends as she could, and steal one of the SOB’s computers... Her people, it seems, are about as advanced as the Tall Man and his race were, and they were able to alter the CPU’s programming to sustain those that she wanted it to.”

Sam picked up where his Mom left off. “Z’anautie told Liz she really had to hurry to get back to Earth, once it was done. She was already linked to the new mainframe; it was just a matter of getting to Mike and Liz in time to do the same for them... After they had freed her from the bastard’s control, she figured it was the least she could do.” Sam paused, feeling a slight chill as the image of Z’anautie’s true form came to mind; he had a feeling it would take him a while to get used to the fact of what this new alien looked like.

Reggie sat up straight. “Well, I have to say I’m glad it turned out the way it did. I don’t know if I could have gotten used to life without them, for a second time. It was bad enough when...” He paused, his thoughts turning to Mike and Liz and how he had failed them the first time around. So many years, he’d blamed himself for their deaths, despite their assurances that there was nothing he could have done. “That aside... I can’t wait for them to come back. Boy, will we have something to celebrate!”

Maxine bit her lip, thinking back on the events of three days ago. Interested in learning about Z’anautie’s people (the Xunarli) and their technology, Mike and Liz had elected to go to their new friend’s world to find out what they could. “Isn’t that the truth?!” Maxine replied with a laugh, shifting so she could pull her husband and son into a big hug. “But for now... It’s over, my darlings...”

***

Standing on the veranda of a Xunarli palace wrapped in each other’s arms, Michael Pearson and Elizabeth Reynolds found themselves staring peacefully up at the evening sky. For a while, they basked in the glow of the planet’s three moons, feeling more relaxed than they’d been for a long time.

Turning to gaze into her boyfriend’s eyes, Liz whispered simply, “Forever?”

“Sounds odd, doesn’t it? But that’s what we get, if we want it that way,” Mike replied. There were a few of the chameleon-spheres (the older members of the Xunarli race, to be precise) who’d opted not to carry on as they were, and they had been deactivated shortly after the requests had been put in. “Well, continuing to live doesn’t sound so bad under the circumstances.” He looked down at her. “Especially if it means I can be with you.”

“And your brother?” Liz couldn’t help but ask.

Mike sighed. “If there’s a Heaven, I like to think that that’s where Jody is, and where we’ll go someday, should we choose. For now... Our ties to Earth are still there, as long as Reg and his family are around.”

Liz nodded. “I understand,” she told him, and went back to perusing the night sky. After a long while, she added, *Freedom feels good, doesn’t it?*

*I wouldn’t trade it for anything,* Mike answered, and bent over to touch his lips to hers...

***

If anyone should glance at the ruins of what had once been a thriving civilization, they would think that the world was completely dead. There was barely a section of the enormous factory that wasn’t flooded, the silent remains of spheres and dwarves, and the aliens who’d created both, drifting aimlessly through the waters originating from Earth.

Yet, somewhere deep amid the desolation, something stirred. Of the thousands of aliens populating the planet, there were but four left, sheltered in much the same way that Liz and Mike had been. Gingerly, the one known as X’anos, who’d been overseeing operations on the Xunarli home world, picked up one of the shorted-out mainframes. He was flanked by one of the dwarves, and two of the spheres as he made his way to the spacegate room, knowing that the sooner he could find somewhere to rebuild the computer and start over, the better. He didn’t have much time before the lack of his power source caught up to him; the auxiliary supply he’d tapped into would only last so long.

Finally, standing before one of the gates (it took all of X’anos’ will just to hold it open), he turned to cast one more look over the dead world. He’d been fortunate to hear that last communication from the one called the Tall Man, so at least he had an idea of who was responsible for the devastation that had unfolded here. It would take X’anos some time to recover even 1/8 of the army his people had generated, but once that happened, those renegades would pay dearly.

With a wry smile, X’anos made his way through the spacegate after the dwarf and spheres, anxiously awaiting the day...