Greg Cox: Loose ends

Alex gulped, finding it all too easy to visualize the bad- tempered hoodlum throwing him bodily into the Pit, where he would probably fall for several long minutes before ending up impaled on some razor-sharp stalagmite. Knock it off, he told his overeager imagination. No more of that now. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he ambled casually over to the end of the cave, faking an interest in one odd-shaped calcite deposit after another. Boy, could I use that newspaper! he thought yearningly.

Meanwhile, Bad Attitude waited with growing impatience by the Pit, tapping his foot restlessly while searching the faces of the tourists parading past the chasm. He was looking for someone, Alex deduced, but was it Liz? At one point, the man's bellicose gaze passed directly over Alex without any flicker of recognition or interest, and Alex had to resist an urge to sigh loudly in relief. Despite the chill atmosphere, he was sweating heavily beneath his sweater, the perspiration causing the fabric of his T-shirt to cling to his back. "Keep cool," he whispered to himself, avoiding eye contact with the menacing lone gunman. "We can do this, for Liz's sake."The hefty suspect, who had been known to fire off guns in public places, had grumpily checked his watch at least three times before another man finally approached him. "About time," Bad Attitude snarled, his raspy voice not sounding any friendlier or less intimidating than the rest of him. "You're late."The newcomer murmured something in reply, but Alex couldn't quite make it out. He took a second to scope out the Johnny-come-lately, risking a quick stare at the stranger, before concentrating, or so it seemed, on a rounded rock formation that bore a surprising resemblance to a Teletubby. Don't mind me, he thought, wishing he possessed some small fraction of Isabel's telepathic gifts. I'm just checking out Tinky-Winky here. Nothing for you to worry about…

Bad Attitudes tardy visitor could not have been more different than the disreputable-looking gunman. Clean-cut and neady groomed, the second man wore an unscuffed leather flight jacket, aviator-style sunglasses, and newly-pressed blue slacks. Alex had relatives in the military, so he recognized the type right away. Some sort of cop or soldier, he guessed, a theory confirmed only seconds later when he heard Bad Attitude address the other man as "Lieutenant."Probably from Fort Bliss or White Sands, he surmised; both military bases were only a few hours' drive from Carlsbad-and strictly off-limits to civilians. What sort of business could this lieutenant possibly have with a gun-wielding thug like Bad Attitude? He considered trying to snap a photo of the nameless officer, but was afraid that would give him away for sure. The region around the Pit was murkily lit, the better.to show off the colored spotlights illuminating the chasm; there was no way either the gunman or the lieutenant could miss the flash when it went off, and Bad Attitude had already let Alex take one "accidental" snapshot of him. Trying for a second surveillance photo would definitely be pushing his luck, maybe all the way into the waiting Pit.

"Over here," the shooter said gruffly, nodding toward a vacant corner of the cave, where they could better converse in privacy As the two men relocated, Alex stealthily circled around the nearest gnarled stone column, keeping the immense pillar between him and the unlikely pair. He still couldn't hear everything being said-the caverns irregular contours made for strange acoustics-but he could make out snatches of the conversation.

"Look, Morton, I got (inaudible) as soon as I could," the Lieutenant complained. From his tone, Alex could tell this was no friendly rendezvous. "You don't understand the pressure I'm under… (something, something) watching me all the time."The shooter, whose name was apparently Morton, was less than sympathetic. "Yeah, yeah. Have you (mutter, mumble) the merchandise?"The lieutenant lowered his voice, making it harder for Alex to eavesdrop. "(Something) hidden…(mumble) not here… (whisper) too public… (mutter) the money?"You'll get the money when (something)," Morton said firmly, if not entirely audibly. Alex wished he could somehow turn up the volume on the two co- conspirators. Whatever they were up to, it was obviously something fishy. "Tonight. Midnight. (Mumble, mumble) Slaughter Canyon."Alex recognized the name as the site of one of the less touristy caverns Max had mentioned earlier, a short drive away. Slaughter Canyon sounded like something out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon, but it was a real enough place to serve, so it seemed, as the locale for some sort of illicit transaction between Morton and the lieutenant. Is this about drugs? he wondered. Military secrets? Illegal aliens, of the non-extraterrestrial variety? This close to the Mexican border, it was easy to imagine all kinds of nefarious smuggling operations. We never did find out, he recalled, what that gunfight in the Crashdown was all about.

Having dispensed with the meat of their discussion, the two men wandered back toward the Pit, forcing Alex to shift position in order to keep out of their line of sight. "You stay here for a while," he ordered the lieutenant, making it pretty clear who was calling the shots in this partnership. "Don't leave too quickly." He spit rudely onto the floor of the cavern. "Let me get out of here first."Sure," the lieutenant said nervously. "Of course." Alex guessed that the unnamed military man was acutely afraid of being caught at whatever shady business he was up to; why else would he be wearing shades eight hundred feet below ground? Thoughts of international espionage raced through Alex's hyperactive mind. What in the world have we gotten into this time, he wondered, his heart pounding, and when did my life turn into a never-ending episode of The X-Files? Assuming that Morton would be heading for the elevator next, Alex decided he needed to report back to Max and the others before Morton left the caverns entirely. Making a break for it, he darted out from behind the tapered column and made tracks for the secluded grotto where he had left his friends, zigzagging through and around clusters of strolling tourists. Damn it, he thought impatiently, in a hurry to get where he was going, did the Big Room have to be so darn big? By the time he reached the grotto, maybe ten minutes later, he was out of breath and panting. At first he didn't recognize the redhead in the yellow sweater, tucked between Max and Maria, then he did a double take when he realized it was Liz. Whoa, he thought. That's just too weird.

Bent over gasping, his hands resting on his knees, he hastily told the others what he had seen and overheard. "Morton's probably on his way to the elevator now," he concluded, "although I got a pretty good start on him."Good work, Alex," Max said succinctly. His stony expression belied the volcanic intensity of his eyes. Max was your classic still-waters-run-deep kind of guy, Alex knew, but it was obvious that those waters were pretty stirred up at the moment. Max's fist collided with his open palm and he stared past Alex with a keen, determined gaze. "Now it's my turn," he said. 4.

"What are you talking about?" Michael challenged Max. Water dripped somewhere nearby, each steady drop echoing through the subterranean grotto. "Haven't you heard a word we've said? It's too dangerous, Max!"The dark-haired alien teen was undaunted by his friend's fervent outburst. "I told you all before," Max said. The once and future king of a distant alien world, he had seldom sounded more resolute. "I'm not going to let him get away."Isabel approached her brother, laying a concerned hand upon his shoulder. "But you don't have to follow him now," she pointed out. "You heard what Alex said. We know where he's going to be tonight. At that place, Slaughter Canyon."Slaughter…The name sent a chill through Liz, rattling her already jangled nerves. She knew she ought to have some opinion about Max's reckless plan, but she was still too stressed-out to think straight. Every time she tried to concentrate, she kept flashing back to that day at the Crashdown. Angry voices exploding. A noisy scuffle at the booth. Watch out! He's got a gun! "I don't care," Max said. "What if he gets spooked and doesn't show up at midnight?" He paced restlessly across the floor of the grotto. "I'm not going to take that chance."Okay, okay," Maria conceded, knowing as well as any of them how stubborn Max could be when he felt strongly about something. Like when he tried to get me back, Liz thought, after that whole scene with Tess. "But don't you at least want to know what Morton's up to before you do something stupid?"It felt strange, Liz thought, to actually have a name for the man who had once nearly killed her, and even stranger that she had gone all this time without knowing it. Morton. It was a surprisingly mundane label for such a malignant presence in her life. Is that his first name or his last name, she wondered, and did that really matter? Meanwhile, Maria was still reading the riot act to Max. "Use your super-powered, Czechoslovakian brain, Max!" She threw up her hands in sheer exasperation. "Right now you have no idea what you'd be getting yourself mixed up widi."Her cautionary words must have gotten through to Max, because he paused and mulled them over before replying. "All right," he said, sounding slightly less combative. "I won't do anything rash until we know more. But I am going to follow him and find out where he's going now."Okay," Michael grudgingly agreed. "But I'm going with you, just to make sure you don't get carried away on this whole avenging boyfriend kick."Was that what was driving Max? Liz asked silently. Even in her own distracted state, she was aware that Max was acting more recklessly than usual. Does he feel he has to pay Morton back for hurting me? Or does he blame Morton for making him reveal his powers, putting them all in danger from the Special Unit and the Skins? "Fine," Max told Michael. "Let's go." He marched briskly toward the grotto's exit, then paused right underneath the natural limestone archway. "The rest of you, look after Liz. Make sure she gets out of here okay." He slowed long enough to look back at Liz with concern. "We'll hook up with you again later."A sudden fear that Max was going to get himself hurt, or worse, over some misguided chivalric impulse flashed through Liz's brain. She saw the murderous gunman firing his weapon again, this time at her boyfriend and soulmate. "Please, Max," she urged him. "Be careful!"Yeah," Maria seconded that anguished emotion. "Both of you, play it safe, will you?" Worry radiated from her naked, openly emotional face. "Remember, we know this guy is armed and dangerous."So are we," Max reminded them before disappearing into the tunnel outside the grotto. Liz listened as his and Michael's footsteps swiftly receded into the distance.