Fear and Understanding

Max seemed all right, and he did save Liz, but what about the others? What about Isabel? Isabel seemed determined to freak her out. Deliberately messing with her Mom's Jetta, invading her dreams. Isabel said she couldn't change the dream, but still… If they could invade your dreams, what else could they do to your mind?

Maria felt that she had a duty to tell Sheriff Valenti that Max, Michael, and Isabel were Czechoslovakians… were aliens. They were clearly a danger; no one on Earth could possibly have any idea what they wanted. They could want to take over the world… wait a minute… That sounds ridiculous, three teenagers taking over the world, even if they have special powers.

Oh, Valenti was unnerving her! Asking he question after question, not giving her and peace. So much so that she was beginning to give non-sensical answers to the sheriff's questions; the answers that she and Liz had rehearsed. Maria flinched inwardly, knowing that Valenti would just get more suspicious.

Isabel should be here, Maria thought. She should know what it's like to have her brains picked by the sheriff. She should know what it's like to be scared out of her mind.

Or does she? Maria knew she was afraid of what the sheriff would do to her if he found out she was lying to him, that she was protecting these Czechoslovakians, these aliens. Was that what it was like for Isabel, Max, and Michael? She knew that they faced interrogation and worse if caught by the government. That was why Liz was so insistent that they protect them.

So Maria swallowed her fear and told Sheriff Valenti that Isabel was special because she came from a good home with two loving parents; something that neither Maria nor the sheriff's son Kyle had. Sheriff Valenti did not look happy about it, but in light of her answers. He could not hold her any longer. He let her go.

As Maria drove through the desert she saw Isabel standing by the jeep. Smoke coming out from under the hood. It was clear that the radiator was broken again.

"Need a lift?" she asked the alien.

"You alone?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "You see the army behind me?"

"You lied," Isabel stated.

Nodding, Maria explained why. After telling her that she looked dreadful, Isabel got in the Jetta. "What's with the school-girl look?"

Maria glanced down at her grey pinafore, white blouse and black tie. "I don’t know. I just tried to look vulnerable. I hoped the sheriff would go easy on me."

"Well it's got to go," Isabel shook her head. "It makes you look even younger than you already do."

"Are you saying I look young for my age?"

"You look like a blond pixie… No offence."

Maria glanced over at Isabel, who was shifting uncomfortably. It was a hot mid morning and the Jetta's air conditioning system was inadequate. "You can adjust the air conditioning, if you want," she said. Isabel looked at her. "With your powers, I mean. Just a little, though."

It was a big concession for Maria after what happened the first time she offered Isabel a ride, and Isabel knew it. "Thanks," she said, glancing at Maria's outfit once more. "The school-girl look has got to go."

"You said that before," Maria responded. "I can't exactly go home and get changed, my mom will flip. She doesn't know that I saw the sheriff this morning. What would you suggest?"

"Lose the headband and tie, for one thing. Maybe wear the blouse over the pinafore?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. "What sort of stupid things does your mom do?" Maria asked, remembering the conversation from the other day.