A Lesson in Sacrifice
Part 2
When Max came to his senses, he was lying on a cool metal surface. He was disoriented and had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He opened one eye slowly and stared at a blue ceiling. Everything came back to him in a rush and he struggled to get up. And failed.
The restraints he noted around his wrists and ankles did nothing to ease the panicky feeling that threatened to take over his mind.
He heard rapid footsteps and in a flash, the same woman from before was standing next to him.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” she said in a soothing tone. The look of complete terror she saw in the eyes of the body that was once occupied by the soul of her boss, Dr. Beckett, broke her heart.
“The restraints are only there so that you don’t hurt yourself,” she continued. “If you think you can sit still and give me time to explain, I will take them off.”
Max nodded. Anything to help ease that feeling of being trapped.
The doctor worked quickly and she deftly undid the ties that held Max down. He sat up slowly, rubbing his wrists.
“Can you tell me your name?” she asked softly. Everything about her suggested gentleness. Against his better judgement, Max found himself trusting her. Not completely, of course, but enough to cooperate. At least for now.
“I’m Max. Max Evans. But… you know that, don’t you?” he whispered.
The doctor cocked her head to the side.
“I’m Dr. Beeks,” she said. “Why would I know your name?”
Max was taken aback by the question. He had expected her to tell him the truth, at least at first. When she felt he trusted her enough, only then would she start lying to him. His answer was defensive.
“You mean you just kidnap random citizens?”
She smiled warmly and shook her head. “You haven’t been kidnapped. You’re only here temporarily. I’m here to make your stay as comfortable as possible.”
“What you’re saying is not making any sense,” Max replied, his voice still low.
“I know,” she answered. “But it will, somewhat.”
Max looked at her, doubt evident in his eyes. He was obviously calmer. Still, he jumped a bit when a second female voice resounded in the mostly empty room.
“Dr. Beeks, the Admiral would like to talk to you now.”
Dr. Beeks closed her eyes in an attempt to hide her exasperation and shook her head. Her face was the definition of serenity again when she gave Max another one of her warm, friendly smile. She got up.
“I’ll be right back, Max,” she told him. “In the meantime, try to relax. I promise, it’s not as bad as you think.” And with that, she stepped out of the door that had once again materialized out of nowhere. It closed swiftly behind her.
“‘Not as bad as you think’. Right. What a joke,” Max thought. The doctor’s assistant, or whomever it was that had spoken, had pretty effectively blown their cover when she had mentioned the admiral. So this WAS a military operation after all. Max cursed himself for trusting the doctor, even for just one second.
Was this some remnant of the special unit? With Pierce dead and Congress dismantling the unit at the end of the summer, could it be possible that some faction of the FBI was still after him? He let out a shaky breath and leaned against the wall. He ran an unsteady hand through his hair and tried to focus. He tried to block the fact that the hand was not his own. There was too much to deal with right now; the fact that he had somehow shape-shifted would have to wait.
How did he get here? They must have had drugged him or something. He had no recollection of the drive here. What had happened to the others he was with?
His head snapped up and terror filled his soul when he remembered where he was and what he was doing before getting here.
Liz.
How could he have forgotten about Liz? He remembered wondering briefly about where she was when he first came to in the room. How could he have not made her his first priority? The rational part of his brain spoke to him in a voice that was remarkably like Liz’s. “You had the right to think about yourself first. After what happened to you in the White Room, no one can expect you not to look out for yourself first.” The voice was partly right, Max guessed. But still. She was his life. Without her, there would be no him.
So where was she?
Anger was rapidly rising in his heart.
What had they done to Liz?
*****
“Ziggy, what are the rules?” a very discontent Dr. Beeks asked staring at a random spot on the ceiling.
“I’m not supposed to contact you in the Waiting Room when you are with a Visitor,” was the reply of the hybrid computer.
“So?”
“So I decided to break the rules.”
Dr Beeks looked up in disbelief. “And just why did you do that?”
“To see what would happen. And nothing did. So why do we have these rules?”
Dr. Beeks didn’t like the condescending tone the computer was taking with her. There had been something odd with Ziggy ever since that Leap when she had decided to go on strike. Dr. Beeks made a mental note to discuss it with Admiral Calavicci, and with Gooshie, the head programmer.
“Where is the Admiral, Ziggy?”
“You haven’t answered my question, Doctor,” Ziggy pointed out complacently.
“And I’m not going to. Where is he?”
The computer took an unnecessary long pause to show Dr. Beeks that she didn’t have to answer if she chose not too, and that they should all be very grateful that she was indeed gracious enough to choose to share her infinite knowledge with them.
Dr. Beeks sighed and waited.
“He’s in the Control Room,” the computer finally answered.
“Thank you!” Dr. Beeks told the room before taking the narrow corridor that led to the Control Room. She was still muttering under her breath when she stepped in the Room.
The familiar sight of Gooshie hunched over the brightly coloured console greeted her. The Admiral turned to her when she walked in.
“Has he calmed down a bit?” he asked around his cigar.
“Yes, a little bit. Enough to tell me his name, anyway.”
Al Calavicci raised an eyebrow in question. “Well?”
“Max. Max Evans.”
“And what else can you tell me?”
“I’m afraid not too much at this point, Admiral. As you know, we had to sedate him for a little while after he collapsed. From his general behavior, I would say he’s young, maybe in his late teens, early twenties. He was delirious for a while. He seemed very worried about a girl named Liz.”
“Liz. Okay. I guess that will have to do for now. Have Ziggy run a check on him.”
“I can hear you, Admiral. Please do not act like I’m not in the room.” Ziggy’s voice boomed in the Control Room.
“I see you’ve been practising indignation,” was Al’s reply. He clearly was not impressed by the computer’s burst of temper. “What’s up with her?” he asked Beeks and Gooshie.
Beeks just shrugged. Gooshie’s face reddened and he started stuttering something about having a talk with Ziggy. Al waved his hand in the air, indicating he didn’t have the time or the inclination to discuss the prima-donna computer at this particular moment. Gooshie promptly shut up and went back to the console.
Al moved quickly up a little ramp and pressed his palm on a lock to his right. A door whooshed open. “Center me on Sam,” he ordered before stepping in the Imaging Chamber.
******
It didn’t take Sam too long to find Murray Lane. He parked the Jeep in the driveway behind what he figured must be Mr. Evans’ car and got out of the vehicle. The house was nice, the kind of suburban home you find everywhere in America. He made his way to the door and opened it slowly. He cautiously poked his head in. There was no one in sight. He stepped in and closed the door behind him as silently as he could.
“Max, honey, is that you?” he heard a female voice say from the room to his right.
“Um… yeah…” he answered, stepping into the living room. A man and a woman who looked to be in their forties were watching an old movie on television. Sam couldn’t place what it was, but he had a feeling he had seen it before. Something about an American Café in a foreign country. The man on the TV screen started playing a melody on the piano that Sam recognized immediately, but he couldn’t put a name or an actual memory on it. God, he hated that. Curse his swiss-cheesed brain!
“You should go to bed, honey. It’s late and you have school tomorrow.”
“Um.. yeah, sure Mom. I’m going to bed right now.” He turned, unsure if he should take the stairs or not.
“Could you tell your sister that it’s time to go to bed, too?” his mom said. She caught the look her husband gave her. “I know they’re old enough to know whether or not they’re tired, Philip. I just worry, that’s all.”
Philip leaned in and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Did I say anything?” he asked smiling innocently. Diane blushed slightly and put her head on her husband’s shoulder. Before she turned her attention back to the movie, she wished her son good night.
Sam answered and tried to find Max’s sister’s room. He probably wasn’t here to help Max’s parents either. This process of elimination could take forever. Where was Al?
“Watch it, Max!”
Lost in thoughts as he was, he almost bumped into someone he assumed to be Max’s sister. She was about the same age as he was, and about the same height too. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was very beautiful. These kids really had great genes.
“Sorry…” He followed her to her room and leaned in the door frame. “Mom said to go to bed,” he said, trying to put just the right amount of “can-you-believe-she’s-telling-us-that-at-our-age” in his tone so that his “sister” wouldn’t be too suspicious. It must have not worked, for she eyed him dubiously.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
Sam figured that if what he did tonight was an habit of Max’s, then his sister would know. He saw no reason to lie to her about it.
“Lizzie’s,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you calling her Lizzie?” Before Sam could even attempt to answer, she went on.
“And are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, with all that’s going on right now, the Skins, the Granilith, do you think this is really the best way to spend your energy, trying to win her back?”
Sam had no idea what to say. His only theory so far on this leap was blown to hell. ‘Win her back’? So they weren’t together? What could have possibly gone wrong? Then the other part of what the girl said registered. What the hell were Skins? And what’s…
“The Granilith?” he finished out loud.
“Yeah… Max are you ok?” she asked, a look of concern taking over her features.
“Yeah, I’m just tired I guess. Can we talk about this in the morning?”
“Sure…” The concern was still evident on the girl’s face. “Are we still going to the pod chamber tomorrow morning before school?”
Pod chamber? What?
She was obviously waiting for an answer. Sam nodded hesitantly. A familiar sound behind him made him sigh in relief.
“Al…” he said softly, resisting the urge to turn to face the Observer.
“What?” Max’s sister said. When Sam only looked at her, she went on. “You never said anything about Alex coming along. Why would we take him with us? Michael’s not gonna like that idea. I mean, I know he took Maria, but that’s different. And you know Alex hates to be called Al. Why don’t we take the whole town…” she stopped, realizing that she was babbling.
Sam only had time to wonder who Alex was and why the mention of his name was putting his sister in such a state when the girl pushed him back into the hall and started to close the door.
“I’m going to bed now. Good night, Max,” she said, the last part muffled by the closed door.
“Good night…” he started.
“Isabel,” Al supplied.
“Isabel!” Sam finished.
When no reply came from Isabel’s room, Sam turned to Al.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“Must that always be your first question?” the hologram replied, taking the cigar out of his mouth.
Sam looked sheepishly at him. “Ok, I guess you got here faster than usual this time. Not that I have a clear recollection of all the other times. But this feels faster,” he added with a grin.
“Thank you,” Al replied before putting his cigar back between his teeth. Sam started walking down the hall to what he hoped was Max’s room, Al floating along beside him.
Al was trying to read the link he was holding. The screen was ridiculously small. Why couldn’t they make something more user-friendly? Did Ziggy have something to do with the design? He couldn’t remember.
Sam had reached the room. Al walked through the wall. He squinted at the letters, trying to make sense of them.
“You’re Max Evans. That was your sister, Isabel. You live in Ros.. Row… Argh!!” With that cry of frustration, he slapped the handlink.
“Roswell, New Mexico, “ Sam finished for him. “The kid has a driver’s licence,” was how he answered Al’s surprised look. The handlink wailed.
“And a FBI file, apparently,” Al replied gravely.
“What?!”
“Ziggy’s accessing his files right now. Max Evans, born March 15, 1983, was adopted by Philip and Diane Evans in 1989, along with his sister Isabel. They were found wandering in the desert not too far from here.”
“They were abandoned?”
“It would appear so… By the way, today’s date is October 30, 2000.”
Sam headed snapped up. “I’m in the future?”
“You’re a time-traveller,” was Al’s lame response.
Sam gave him an exasperated look. “No, I mean, MY future. I first leaped in 1995. What year is it where you are? How long have I been gone?”
Al’s eyes were hard when he answered. “You know I can’t tell you that.”
“And whose stupid rule is that?” Sam asked, frustrated. “Don’t answer that!” he warned the hologram. Of course, they were his own stupid rules. This was his own stupid project.
Al’s gaze softened a bit. “Too long,” he whispered. “You’ve been gone too long.” There was a moment of silence between them.
“And I’m not going back until I figure out why it is that I’m Max Evans today,” Sam said resignation in his voice. “So, he has an FBI file because he was found wandering in the desert?” Somehow, that didn’t make sense.
“No. Ziggy’s having trouble accessing the file.” Al whacked the handlink one more time. “She should have clearance…” he added almost as an afterthought.
“Al, what’s a Granilith?”
The Observer was stumped. He entered the data in the handlink. Nothing came back. “We’ll look into it… where did you hear that?”
“Isabel mentioned it, along with Skins and a pod chamber.” He caught Al’s look. “It doesn’t make any sense to me either.”
“Okay… well, try to get some sleep and Ziggy and I will look into it. I’ll see if Dr. Beeks had any luck talking to Max. He was pretty shaken by the leap in.”
Al punched in a new sequence on the handlink and the door to the Imaging Chamber opened. He stepped through it, and came back out quickly.
“How’s Liz?” he asked.
“Liz? She’s fine, I guess. Last I saw she was home. Why?”
“Max was worried about her.”
“You think I’m here to help Liz?”
Al looked at the handlink. He shook his head. “Too early to tell.” And with that, he stepped back through the Imaging Chamber door and vanished.
Sam sat on Max’s bed and looked around. This was your average teenage boy’s room. A computer. Posters on the wall. A giant stop sign. Lots and lots of CDs. Sam picked a couple of them up: Moby; Counting Crows. No one he had ever heard of. Not surprising, since he was in the future. Besides, the last few years before that initial leap were spent listening to classical music, show tunes and classic rock. He was probably 20 years behind everybody else when it came to popular music.
Sam got up and put the CDs back with the others. He took a peek at Max’s bookshelf. School textbooks were dispersed between astronomy and UFO books. Not surprising, Sam thought, for someone growing up in Roswell, UFO Capital of the world. There had been a crash here, right? He couldn’t quite remember. When he had first started Project Star Bright, he had done a lot of research on all the UFO sightings, but now he seemed to have forgotten most of it. What was the point of having a photographic memory if he couldn’t remember anything? Determined not to let his frustration get the best of him, he continued rummaging through Max’s things.
He smiled when he found Max’s work badge. The UFO Museum. This kid was hooked, all right. He let out a small laugh. When Max woke up in the Waiting Room, he probably thought he had been abducted by aliens.
Sam yawned and decided to take Al’s advice. He laid down on Max’s bed and was asleep in minutes.
************
Max was about to explode when Dr. Beeks came back to the Waiting Room. As soon as she was through the door, Max was on her.
“Where. Is. Liz.” he demanded.
Dr. Beeks knew from his tone that he was not going to calm down until he had an answer. She wondered who Liz was to created such feelings in the boy, and why he was so concerned about her. Had her life been in danger before? Did Max feel responsible for her?
She decided that the truth was the best way to go. “She’s not here,” she answered.
“Then where is she?” Same tone. He hadn’t moved an inch.
“She’s home. Exactly where you last saw her.”
“You took only me?”
“Yes. Only you.”
He seemed to relax a bit with that information, but he didn’t move.
“I want to talk to the Admiral.”
“The Admiral usually does not--“
“I DON’T CARE! I want to talk to the Admiral, and I want to talk to him right NOW!”
Dr. Beeks didn’t think that Max would be violent, but she also didn’t think he would co-operate until he talked to Al. She nodded, and keeping her eyes on Max, she spoke.
“Ziggy, please ask the Admiral to come to the Waiting Room as soon as he gets back.”
“Dr. Beeks, the rules indicate--“
“Ziggy, I know what respect you’ve had for the rules so far today. Just tell the Admiral!” She gave Max a “sometimes-I-wonder-why-we-put-up-we-her” look that didn’t get any kind of reaction from the Visitor. “Why don’t we sit down while we wait for Admiral Calavicci?”
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