Greg Cox: Loose ends

"Everything's fine. Nothing to see here," Michael called out to a bunch of passing sightseers, who had paused to! see what the matter was. "Just a bout of claustrophobia, that's all," Michael assured the strangers.

"Please, Liz," Max urged her softly. She felt his warm arms holding onto her tightly, and she remembered how, on that terrible day at the Crashdown, he had healed her with his special powers. "Tell me what happened," he pleaded.

She nodded weakly, anxious to share her fears with him and the others. But first she needed to put still more distance between her and the site of her terrifying encounter, just in case the man in the red jacket was looking for her. "Not here," she whispered plaintively. She tilted her head toward the entrance to the Big Room. "Let's just go a little further, please?"Okay," Max said, looking puzzled but willing to do whatever it took to make her safe again. He draped her arm over his shoulders, lending her support as he guided her toward the cavern opening. "In there," he instructed the others, taking the lead while exchanging worried looks with both Michael and Isabel. No doubt he had to be wondering, Liz realized, whether one of their human or inhuman enemies had caught up with them again.

Not this time, she thought ruefully, leaning against Max as they walked along the underground trail, gladly letting him prop her up. For once, this wasn't an alien thing; it was Liz's own past that had come back to haunt them.

The Big Room was just as awe-inspiring as she remembered it. Hundreds of stalactites hung from the ceiling, over twenty-five feet above dieir heads, while the vast underground chamber stretched out before them like some enormous subterranean cathedral. "Wow!" Alex exclaimed, impressed despite the crisis with Liz. "It looks like you could fit most of downtown Roswell in here and still have room to spare."But Liz was in no shape to appreciate the stupendous natural wonders surrounding her. Max led her gently into one of the Big Room's many vaulted grottoes. A towering stalagmite, the size and width of some ancient Egyptian obelisk, loomed over them as he slipped out from beneath her arm in order to look her directly in the face. "Is this far enough, Liz?" he asked solicitously. "Can you tell us what happened now?"I-I think so," she stammered, swallowing hard and sniffling. Although still badly shaken, she was starting to feel a little calmer now; the initial panic was fading, giving way to a feeling of slighdy greater security now that she had Max and her friends to comfort and protect her. They were all clustered around her now, watching her with concerned and caring eyes as they waited nervously to find out what had frightened her so badly. "It's him, Max," she whispered finally. "The man who shot me at the Crashdown. He's here."What!" Max reacted explosively. "Where?"Quickly, she told them about her chance encounter with the man at the gift shop, and how she had fled the scene in terror. Saying the words somehow made the entire awful experience even more real, and she had to pause for a second before continuing. Isabel thoughtfully handed her a napkin to wipe her eyes and nose with, and she dabbed at her face with the paper towel while she struggled to regain her composure. Now what do we do? she wondered, scared and uncertain. Is there anything we can do, or should do? Max, on the other hand, had apparently heard enough. "That son of a bitch!" he exclaimed with uncharacteristic rage. His expression darkened and he clenched his fists before stepping back and glaring furiously at the way they had come. Without warning, he stalked away from the group, heading straight for the exit.

"Hey, Max!" Michael called out, taking off after him. "Where do you think you're going?"The rest of you take care of Liz," Max shouted, not even looking back. He was halfway out of the grotto by now. "I'm going to get the slimeball who shot her!"Whoa there, man!" Catching up with Max, Michael laid a restraining hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hold on! We've got to think about this."Max spun around angrily. For a second, Liz thought he was going to punch Michael in the face; she couldn't remember the last time she had seen Max look so enraged. "What's to talk about?" he snapped, brusquely knocking his best friend's hand aside. "That bastard nearly killed Liz!"Michael looked around furtively. Max had deliberately selected a natural alcove off the beaten track, but he and Michael's tense confrontation was still starting to draw stares from the handful of other tourists present. "Chill out, man," he whispered intently, indicating with a gesture that they should lower their voices. "We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention, right?"A lifetime of cautious anonymity seemed to supersede Max's seething fury, at least in part, and he weighed Michael's words carefully. His blazing eyes swung back and forth between Michael and the route back to the gift shop, as if torn between conflicting impulses. "I don't know," he said through gritted teeth, his fists remaining clenched at his sides. "He might get away."Let's just talk this over for a few minutes," Michael insisted. Despite the upsetting circumstances, Liz couldn't help noting how bizarre it was to hear Michael acting as the voice of reason; usually, Michael was the impetuous one, while Max advocated common sense and caution. She didn't know whether to be flattered or alarmed by Max's violent reaction to her unplanned reunion with the shooter. I never realized he hated that guy so much.

With open reluctance, Max returned with Michael to where Liz and the others were standing, in the shadow of the colossal stalagmite. "Make it fast," he said impatiently. "I don't want that trigger-happy scumbag to get away." He looked back at the exit, then glanced at his watch. "For all we know, he's already heading for Mexico."Hey, how about if I keep an eye on him," Alex volunteered, "while the rest of you plot strategy or whatever." He shrugged his lanky shoulders, as if it were no big deal. "I wasn't there that day at the Crashdown so he doesn't know me from Adam."Max frowned, clearly wanting to go after the shooter himself, but not seeing any obvious flaws in Alex's proposal. "You sure you can identify him?" he asked skeptically.

"Big guy, red jacket, orange cap, bad attitude?" Alex re- cited, quoting the description Liz had given them. "N(problem."Sounds like a plan, then," Michael agreed. Liz knew what he had to be thinking: If nodiing else, Alex seemed to| be in lot calmer state of mind than Max, and thus less likely to cause a scene that might attract undue attention. "Go for it."Be careful, Alex," Isabel said as Alex took off back toward the gift shop. He grinned back at her, visibly de lighted by her concern. Liz hoped that Alex wouldn't take any unnecessary chances just to impress Isabel.

The remaining teens huddled beneath the giant calcite peak. "Okay," Michael said, looking around warily to make sure no strangers were listening. "How do we want to handle this?"Are you kidding?" Maria asked incredulously. She had draped her own arm protectively over Liz, who was still trembling like a rabbit caught in a trap. "We've got to tell the police right away!" She scratched her head with her free hand, puzzled by a new thought. "Er, do park rangers count as police?"Not so fast," Michael said. "The last thing we want to do is call the authorities' attention back to that incident at the Crashdown. Officially, remember, there was no shooting. Max healed Liz before the cops showed up."But I was shot, Liz recalled. Her hands strayed once more to the spot where the bullet had entered her body There wasn't even a scar there now, she knew, thanks to Max's miraculous powers, but that didn't mean she couldn't still recall the sudden burning pain in her belly, and the horrible way she felt her life slipping away through the hole in her stomach. Darkness closing in on me. Blood soaking through my uniform…