Pursuit r-7

by Andy Mangels

  "Keep trying," Phillip said, pulling his pants on over his still-damp legs. As he fastened them at the waist, he moved toward the window and pulled the curtain a few inches open.

  Hitting the re-dial button, Diane was dismayed to hear the busy signal again. She scanned the list for the special pager number Jim had given them, and dialed it. A tone buzzed, and she punched in their phone number.

  Phillip closed the curtain. "A black car and van are coming up the street. They're coming for us. “

  "Oh my God, Phillip. What are we going to do? “

  He threw some clothes at her and grabbed his shirt. "Get dressed and come downstairs. Keep trying Valenti. “

  Diane hurriedly got dressed. She was oddly calm, even though the situation was frightening. After all, they had faced the worst already, just a few months ago. Could today be any worse? As she made her way toward the living room, she heard Phillip talking on his business cell phone. She wasn't sure who he was talking to, and she couldn't make out what he was saying. She rounded the corner and saw that he was fiddling with the Nanny-Cam. They had once used it to spy on Isabel, afraid she was on drugs or involved in something dangerous, never imagining in those carefree days that they would end up with videotaped proof that their adopted daughter possessed bizarre alien powers.

  Phillip positioned the camera on the bookshelf, pointing it out into the living room, toward the front door. He was still talking on his phone, hurriedly.

  Diane tried Valenti's number again, and tugged on some tennis shoes.

  Then she heard a noise on the porch.

  The door crashed open, the doorknob smashing a crater into the wall.

  As the men in black swarmed in, guns drawn, Phillip dropped his cell phone and stomped on it, grinding it into countless tiny, broken components.

  Amy DeLuca wasn't wild about talking on her cell phone while she was driving, but since she was the only person on the road, she decided to take the chance. "Hello," she said.

  "Amy, it's Jim. Are you okay?" There was an edge to his voice that she'd rarely heard before.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm about a quarter mile from home. Why?" She could see her street up in the distance.

  "Stop the car. Don't go home. Turn around. “

  "What? Jim, you aren't making any sense." She saw something then, on her street. A black sedan.

  "Amy, turn aroundl" His voice was harsh and commanding, but it got her attention. She stepped on the brakes, squealing to a stop. She put the car into reverse, spinning the wheel.

  "What's going on?" In her rearview mirror, she saw the sedan pull out into the street.

  "I think we're all in danger," Valenti said. "We've got to find the others and get out of here. “

  She knew without asking who "the others" were. The Evanses and the Parkers. She and Jim had become inextricably tied to them in a way that even in-laws weren't linked. She flicked her eye up to the rearview mirror and saw that the sedan was gaining on her.

  "Jim, there's somebody following me in a big black car! “

  "Where are you?" His voice projected concern.

  "On Katims Road. Near the lumberyard. “

  "I'm almost there, Amy. See if you can lose them somehow. “

  Amy spun the wheel, careening her Jetta to the left into an entrance. For a moment, she was afraid the car would tip over, but it shuddered and righted itself. She smiled grimly, her mind flashing on the things she had read in Liz's diary and that Jim had told her; apparently, the sturdy little VW had been through far worse scrapes over the last few years.

  In her mirror, she saw that the sedan was pulling into the entrance as well, but she had a good lead on them, and she figured she knew the layout of the lumberyard better than they did.

  She steered the car around a tall stack of boards, then pulled what was almost the equivalent of a U-turn around another stack of wood. Now she knew she was out of sight of the sedan, but she was aware that her temporary invisibility worked both ways.

  "Jim? I think I got ahead of them in the lumberyard," she said into the phone.

  "Hang on, honey. I'm almost there," he said.

  Thankful that there were only a few people present this early, Amy curved the Jetta to the right, around a stack of plywood, then spun the wheel to the left. Down this section, she thought she could get to a clear area, and maybe even sneak back out onto the street before the sedan's driver figured out that she was no longer inside the maze of wood.

  Except that a huge pile of scrap lumber and sawdust now barred her way. That wasn't here last week, she had time to think, just before the Jetta plowed straight into the pile.

  Amy shook her head and sat back from the steering wheel. She wasn't sure how long she had been out, or if she had actually lost consciousness at all. She put a hand to her head and felt wetness there. Her hand came away with blood on it.

  She pushed the door open, then grabbed the cell phone and her purse. I'm trapped back here, she thought, looking down at the wood that created an alley on either side of her. She heard the sound of a car nearby, then yet another engine.

  Amy clambered up a stack of four-by-fours, trying to get to the top of the pile. Maybe then I can get my bearings.

  But as she did so, the blood began to seep into her eyes, and she was momentarily blinded.

  But she wasn't deaf, and what she heard was one car crashing into another. As she used her arm to wipe the blood out of her eyes, she lost her balance and tumbled down the other side of the woodpile. She landed on the ground, hard, and the impact knocked the wind out of her. But she remained alert enough to hear the sounds of the car nearby Familiar sounds.

  "Amy!" Through the red haze, Amy smiled as Jim Valenti's strong arms helped her up. He shoved her into the Rover on the passenger side and slammed the door closed.

  Amy finally succeeded in wiping the blood from her eyes as Jim jumped into the drivers seat. They were racing away even before he'd finished closing his door.

  "Better put your seat belt on," he warned.

  She started laughing. "My seat belt? “

  He laughed as well, but she knew that neither of them felt anything humorous. It was just the tension talking.

  As they raced back onto Katims Road and began speeding off… without any black cars following them… Amy saw Jims emergency pager on the seat next to his phone. She picked it up and looked at it. "Phillip and Diane called you. “

  He nodded gravely "I know. And Brody Davis before that. You can try calling them back, but I'm not sure you'll get an answer. “

  "What's… whats happening, Jim? “

  "I don't know for sure, baby, but I do know that we've got to get out of Roswell. “

  "Does it have something to do with our kids? “

  He snorted. "I think that's a safe bet. Those were Special Unit guys. I'm sure of it. “

  Her breath caught in her throat for a moment. "What are we going to do? “

  He put a hand over on hers, and she knew he was doing his best to calm her. "If we can help the others, we will. If not, we'll try to go to Plan B. “

  She nodded, then reached down and grabbed the bottom hem of her skirt. She tore the fabric and pushed a strip of it against her temple. The wound stung, but it was the best she could do for now.

  Amy dialed the phone number of the Evanses, but it only rang repeatedly, unanswered. She tried the Parkers next, but the answering machine picked up after three rings. She hung up.

  "No answer at the Evanses or the Crashdown," she said. "I'll try Brody next. “

  Jim Valenti nodded, and she could see his jaw muscles clenching and unclenching as he drove on through the early morning light of Roswell.

  17 Bushnell, Nebraska

  I he Microbus had passed out of Wyoming on 1-80, and cut over to Highway 30 once they'd entered Nebraska. Just past the tiny town of Bushnell, they came to the Oliver Reservoir near Lodgepole Creek.

  Max pointed to the side of the road. "Pull over up there, Michael." He knew they all n
eeded to stretch, and thought that the sunlight and natural setting might help lift their collective mood. There was a picnic area with lots of trees. A few people were eating or roaming nearby, while children waded along the shore of the lake. A bridge crossed over the water, fashioned to look like an old-style train trestle bridge, and people were using it to cross back and forth.

  "Isn't this a little public?" Michael asked. "Some of these people might recognize us. “

  Max sighed. "Thats a risk we're going to have to take now, apparently “

  The group piled out of the Microbus, stretching and yawning. Liz and Maria retrieved some food from the back, and they all made their way toward an unoccupied picnic table.

  They began to eat in silence. Max finally broke it. "So, the question becomes, what do we do now? “

  "Are we open for discussion, or are you just going to make decisions for us all as King Zan?" Michael said sourly.

  Max decided not to rise to the bait. "We're open for discussion, Michael. Always. “

  Michael opened his mouth to speak, but Maria interrupted him before he could. "We need to go on the offensive. Now. We need to stop letting them chase us. “

  Michael nodded, as did Isabel. Kyle spread his hands and asked, "How exactly do you propose we take on the federal government? “

  "Maybe it's time we started playing their game," Isabel said, her voice cold. "If they want to kill us, we kill them first. No mercy. “

  "If we do that," Liz said, shaking her head, "then we really will be terrorists. “

  "It's not like we haven't done it before," Isabel said. "I killed Congresswoman Whitaker, Sheriff Valenti killed that alien hunter and Agent Pierce, Jesse took out that government agent, we've all killed Skins… “

  "Not all of us," Kyle muttered.

  "And that's not even mentioning the people who've died because of us. Topolsky, Grant Sorenson…" Isabel's voice trailed off.

  "Yeah, how about Alex?" Liz said, sarcasm in her voice.

  "And all the people Tess killed on that military base? “

  "They probably wouldn't even be after us if Tess hadn't come back," Michael said. "It was her spaceship crashing that sicced the Special Unit on us again. “

  Max held up his hands. "Hold on. As much as I hate Tess for what she did… as much as we all hate Tess… there's no way the Special Unit could have mobilized fast enough to come after us when she blew up Rogers. “

  "Max is right," Isabel said, nodding. "Nasedo might have dismantled most of the Special Unit when he was posing as Pierce, but it couldn't have gone away completely. They've probably just been gathering information and building up their strength, waiting for the right moment to strike. “

  A little girl squealed in the water while another child splashed her, and an older woman quickly hurried over to the girl's side. Kyle turned to look, his expression sad. "You know, we got away, but we left the others behind. How do we know they won't go after our parents? How do we know they haven't already?" He massaged his temple with one hand and added, "I've been getting some fairly strong impressions that somethings very wrong back home. “

  They all fell silent for the moment. Finally, Isabel spoke. "I can try to dreamwalk them again. “

  "Too far away" Michael said. "You've already tried it. “

  "Maybe Kyle and I can figure out some way to amplify my powers using whatevers going on with him," Isabel said. "It might give me enough power. “

  "We don't know what's going on with me," Kyle said. "And until we do, I'd rather not push these new powers of mine along too quickly, thank you. “

  Across the highway, on the north side, a train blew its whistle as it approached the scenic stop. They all watched as it whizzed by, boxcar after boxcar moving parallel to the highway.

  "How long will it be before somebody else goes public with our pictures?" Maria asked. "All of our pictures? Yesterday's shopping trip didn't exactly fit into the quiet category. J. Lo and her entire entourage couldn't have made a bigger splash than we did. “

  "I still don't think they want our pictures out there," Liz said. "The Special Unit guys, 1 mean. I'm betting that they aren't happy about the news leaks. “

  "I agree," Kyle said. "So what if we took it public? Come out of the alien closet ourselves. “

  They all turned to look at him as if he were crazy, but Michael was the one who actually said it. "You're insane, Valenti. What, do you think the American public is going to just accept that they've got aliens living among them? And exactly what gives you the idea that even if they did, they'd accept that three teenagers are actually alien royalty from another planet? “

  Max motioned downward with his hand, looking around at the few people who surrounded them. How much had they heard? "A little quieter, Michael. “

  Maria slapped both her hands onto the table. "You know what? I'm getting really tired of this. None of us has a normal life now, and none of us are even thinking about a normal life in the future. That is just not acceptable*. They've taken our futures from us! “

  The others nodded, and Maria continued. "We thought we could be the good little aliens and sidekicks, traveling around the countiy in our Mystery Machine, righting wrongs and doing good deeds. Well, that's a load of crap! We're in danger. Our families are probably in danger. The Special Unit isn't going to leave us alone. Your alien adversaries aren't going to leave us alone. So what the heck do we do? Do we keep running, or do we turn around, stand our ground, and fight? “

  As Maria sat down, her rage apparently spent for the moment, Max looked around the table at the others. Michael and Isabel, Liz and Maria, Kyle… they were all at a crossroads.

  But he could see it in their eyes. He didn't need psychic powers to read what was in their minds.

  It's time to fight back.

  To be concluded in TURNABOUT

  About the authors

  Andy Mangels is the coauthor of the Roswell novels Skeletons in the Closet and Turnabout, coming soon, with Michael A. Martin, as well as a number of Star Trek novels, e-books, and comic book projects. Flying solo, he is also the author of Animation on DVD: The Ultimate Guide, as well as the best-selling book Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Characters, plus Beyond Mulder and Scully: The Mysterious Characters of The X-Files and From Scream to Dawson 's Creek: The Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson.

  Mangels has written for Hollywood Reporter, The Advocate, fust Out, Cinescape, Gauntlet, Dreamwatch, Sd -Fi Universe, SFX, Anime Invasion, Outweek, Frontiers, Portland Mercury, Comics Buyers Guide, and scores of other entertainment and lifestyle magazines. He has also written licensed material based on properties of Lucasfilm, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Microsoft, Abrams-Gentile, and Platinum Studios. His comic-book work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, Wildstorm, Image, Innovation, WaRP Graphics, Topps MVCreations, and others, and he was the editor of the award-winning Gay Comics anthology for eight years. He has also written DVD supplemental material and liner notes for Anchor Bay.

  In what little spare time he has, he likes to country dance and collect uniforms and Wonder Woman memorabilia. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his longtime partner, Don Hood, and their dog, Bella.

  Visit his Web site at www.andymangels.com.

  Michael A. Martin, whose solo short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy amp; Science Fiction, is also coauthor (with Andy Mangels) of last year's Skeletons in the Closet and the forthcoming Turnabout, both Roswell novels. Martin and Mangels also cowrote Star Trek The Next Generation Section 31… Rogue; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Mission: Gamma Book Three… Cathedral; the forthcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers #30 and #31 (Ishtar Rising, books 1 and 2); and Star Trek The Lost Era; 2298… The Sundered.

  Martin was the regular cowriter (also with Andy) of Marvel Comics' monthly Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comic-book series, and has generated heaps of copy for Atlas Editions' Star Trek Universe subscription card series. He has written fo
r Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, Wild-storm, Platinum Studios, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the States nonfiction books.

  Martin lives and works in an ancient house in Portland, Oregon, surrounded by his wife, Jennifer J. Dottery, their two boys, James and William, and much love and laughter.

  ROSWELL “

  Read all the books in the new series.

  Shades

  Skeletons In The Closet

  Dreamwalk

  Quarantine

  A New Beginning

  Nightscape

  Also available

  Loose Ends

  No Gooddeed

  Little Green Men

  And don't miss any books in the series that started it all.

  ROSWELL HIGH

  #1 The Outsider

  #2 The Wild One

  #3 The Seeker

  #4 The Watcher

  #5 The Intruder

  #6 The Stowaway

  #7 The Vanished

  #8 The Rebel

  #9 The Dark One

  #10 The Salvation

  Available from SIMON PULSE

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  Document creation date: 10.01.2009

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