Quarantine r-4 Page 7

  There was a shocked silence. Maria could feel her mother's eyes on her, and Kyle's, and Michael's. They all thought she was being a bitch. But for all she knew, this girl was a Skin, or an alien bounty hunter, or something else otherworldly and bad.

  "I'm waiting," Maria added.

  Sadie's brown eyes filled with tears. She climbed off the

  bench, picked up her gigantic backpack, and shuffled out the door.

  "Jeez, Maria, be a little meaner, why don't you?" Michael said as soon as the door closed behind her.

  "Don't you even recognize her?" Maria cried, rushing behind the counter so she could talk to Michael without anyone else hearing. "She's the one who's been following you."

  "No kidding," Michael said. "I'm not a total idiot. I was trying to get some info out of her."

  "By talking about your bad taste in music?" Maria said.

  Michael rolled his eyes. "She's just a kid with a crush on me," he said. "She's nothing to worry about."

  Maria was speechless. A kid with a crush on him? Michael was supposed to be the commander of the aliens' military, or something like that. And this was how he assessed a threat?

  Michael plunked a tray covered with bowls on the order window. "Soup's ready," he told her. "Kyle gets some, and that guy with him. And give some to your mother. On me. Maybe it'll make her like me better."

  She just kept staring at him.

  "Now, Maria," he said. "Well talk about that kid later."

  Maria didn't know what else to do, so she picked up the tray and began serving the chicken noodle soup.

  6

  Did she drink the water?" Mails Wheeler demanded.

  Dr. Alan Sosa was rocking back and forth in his chair, sweating and moaning every so often. Maris found him disgusting. What kind of man could be so spineless, so frightened? She was certainly paying him well enough… he had nothing to complain about. "Alan!" she barked. "Focus. Did she drink the water?"

  "Y-yes," he stammered. "At least a sip or two."

  "Is that enough to get the serum into her system?" Maris asked.

  "I think so," Dr. Sosa replied. "I don't know. It's not like any medicine I've ever worked with. I have no idea how much it takes to affect a human."

  Maris rolled her eyes. "Well, that's why we're testing it."

  "I have nothing against testing on animals," Dr. Sosa burst out. "But this is wrong. This is using an innocent girl as a lab rat."

  "She's not so innocent," Maris said calmly. "This serum

  came from inhuman DNA found on her clothes. Don't forget that."

  "So what?" he cried. "She got shot, somebody healed her. She probably thought it was a miracle! And now we're filling her body with DNA that no one has even been able to identify in two years of testing?"

  "Oh, please, Alan," Maris said. "Do you think Liz Parker handed over her bloody waitress uniform of her own free will? It was taken from her. She was trying to hide it, to protect the person who healed her."

  "I don't care," he said. "We have no right to use her as a guinea pig."

  "You're wrong," Maris told him. "Liz Parker knows the Healer. She'll be able to withstand the serum. You'll see."

  "What do you want for dinner?" Michael asked as Maria parked in front of his place. "Chinese, pizza, or cereal from the box?" He opened the passenger door of the Jetta and unfolded his long legs from the tiny car.

  "How about a salad?" Maria replied, getting out of the driver's seat.

  "What's that?" Michael joked.

  "Michael, seriously. I don't care what we eat. But I want to talk about that kid."

  "What kid?"

  "Sadie." As if he didn't know whom she meant. She'd been complaining about that girl for two days now. The kid was following them, it was so obvious. And that was weird. And whenever anything was weird, Maria assumed it was some sort of threat to her boyfriend and his posse of aliens. "Why aren't you taking this seriously?"

  Michael fumbled in his pocket for his keys. "Because, Maria, she's a little girl."

  "Don't you remember Nicholas?" Maria demanded. The leader of the Skins had been a young boy, not much older than Sadie. Well, he'd been an evil alien in the body of a young boy. But same difference, as far as Maria was concerned.

  "I just… I like her," Michael admitted. He busied himself with unlocking the door.

  "What?" Maria cried.

  "I think she's cute," he said, still avoiding looking at Maria. "She cracks me up. She sort of reminds me of you, in fact."

  "What?" Maria cried again. Had he lost his mind?

  Michael pushed open his front door and stepped aside to let Maria in. "Look, Maria, she hasn't even done anything threatening," he said.

  Maria didn't answer. She was too busy staring at Sadie, who was asleep on Michael's couch. Michael stepped up beside her. "I think this is threatening," Maria said. "What is she doing in your apartment?"

  "What the… " The sound of his voice woke Sadie. She immediately bolted up off the couch and stood staring at them, breathing hard. She looks like a terrified little animal, Maria thought, suddenly feeling sorry for the girl. But Michael seemed to have the opposite reaction.

  He strode forward and grabbed Sadie by the arm, dragging her toward the door. "How the hell did you get in here?" he bellowed. "What do you want? Who sent you?"

  "Nobody," Sadie cried. "I just tried the door to the patio and it was unlocked… "

  "Why are you following me?" Michael sounded furious. Obviously he'd come around to Maria's way of thinking on Sadie.

  "I'm… I'm not," Sadie said. Her eyes were filled with tears.

  "Michael…" Maria took a step forward. She didn't want him to hurt the kid.

  "Why were you searching my place?" Michael demanded.

  "I wasn't!" Sadie cried. "I just needed a place to sleep! I haven't slept in a long time." And she began to cry.

  "Michael, let go of her," Maria said.

  Michael dropped Sadie's arm, but kept glaring at her. "You're the one who thinks she's a threat," he said. "Looks like you were right… she's been following me."

  "I have not." Sadie sniffled. "I was following Maria."

  What? Maria stared at her, stunned.

  "What?" Michael said out loud. "Why would anyone want to follow Maria?"

  "Shut up," Maria snapped. She pushed past him and stood in front of Sadie. "Why are you following me?" she asked.

  Sadie just shook her head and kept crying.

  "Sadie. Look at me." The girl raised her teary eyes to Maria. "Who are you?" Maria asked.

  "I'm your sister," Sadie said.

  "Hey, Liz. Your turn."

  Liz gazed down at the polished wood floor of the lane. Her eyes looked glassy. This is worse than I thought, Max realized. Maybe I shouldn't have pressured her into coming out tonight. He'd talked Liz into going bowling as a way to blow off steam. It had taken about twenty minutes to convince

  her, and even then she'd seemed reluctant. Max was sure it was because Liz thought this was a date. He didn't want to pressure her, so he was determined to do his best to act un-datelike. But Liz had barely even looked at him since they'd gotten here.

  Maybe she's trying to think of a way to tell me that she doesn't want us to be together, Max thought. Maybe she just can't handle the fact that 1 have a son. "Um, Liz?" he said again.

  Slowly she raised her big brown eyes to his. "Yeah?" she asked.

  "It's your turn."

  "Oh." Liz climbed to her feet and shuffled over to the ball return. "It's really loud in here," she commented. "Don't you think?"

  Max listened. All he heard were the usual sounds of a bowling alley… balls hitting the wood, pins falling, people talking and laughing. "Not really," he said. "Actually I think it's kind of quiet. Must be because it's a weeknight."

  Liz frowned. "Everything seems loud to me," she murmured. She picked up her ball and walked slowly to the lane. "And way too bright."

  Max didn't know what to say. As far as he could tell, the bo
wling alley was the same as ever. "Maybe you're getting sick," he suggested. "Do you have a fever?"

  "I don't think so," Liz said. "I did feel a little weird earlier today, but I thought it had passed. Otherwise I wouldn't have come out." She halfheartedly tossed the ball down the lane… and it flew through the air for about ten feet before crashing down onto the polished wood. People turned to stare, but Liz didn't seem to notice. She was gazing down at her hands in confusion.

  "Liz, how did you do that?" Max cried, rushing over to her.

  "My skin feels funny," she said. "Like there are little ants crawling all over me. But it feels like they're under my skin."

  Max took her small hand in his own. He studied it carefully, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. What was going on? Maybe Liz was having an anxiety attack or something. "I think we should get you home," he said. "You've been working really hard this week… you might just be overtired."

  Liz shook her head. "Dr. Sosa sent me home early today. I slept all afternoon because I felt strange. I can't be overtired."

  "Why did you get sent home?" Max asked, surprised.

  "There was a chemical spill in the lab," Liz murmured.

  "What?" Max cried. "Was it dangerous? Maybe that's why you feel strange."

  Liz looked up at him and smiled for the first time all night. "Of course it wasn't dangerous," she said.

  Then she collapsed.

  "So let me get this straight," Maria said. "Not only did my father leave me and never so much as send a birthday card ever again… "

  "Or a child support check," Michael put in.

  "But then he traipsed off to Arizona, got married again, and had a whole other family?" Maria finished. "A whole happy family?"

  Sadie wasn't sure what to say. It had all seemed so easy, back at home. She would just stuff some clothes in her backpack, buy a bus ticket to Roswell, and check out her half sister. She hadn't really planned anything beyond that.

  Sure, she'd fantasized about talking to Maria, maybe even becoming friends with Maria. But somehow it had never occurred to her that Maria would want to talk about their father. Or that Maria would say bad things about him.

  "Well, this is all crap," Maria muttered. She pushed back her chair and stomped outside to the patio.

  Sadie glanced over at Michael. "Don't sweat it, kid," he said. "She's not mad at you."

  "I feel so stupid," Sadie whispered. "My father is gonna kill me."

  "Not if Maria kills him first," Michael said.

  Sadie felt tears well up in her eyes… again. She had spent the last hour crying, at least that's how it seemed. "But I love my father," she sobbed.

  Michael looked frightened. "Yeah, I know. I mean, of course you do," he said quickly. "I didn't mean Maria would actually kill him!"

  Sadie buried her face in her hands and kept crying. She'd been mad at her dad when she'd first found out about Maria. She'd found a picture in his office. In fact, she'd found a whole file on Maria… report cards, pictures, and, most importantly, her address. Sadie had seen her last name and figured out she was his daughter from his first marriage. The only problem was, he'd never told her he had another daughter. So she'd been mad at him. Mad enough to run away…

  "I wanted to get back at my father for lying about Maria," Sadie sobbed. "But he must be so worried about me!"

  Michael opened his mouth, but couldn't seem to figure out what to say.

  "Michael!" Maria yelled, pushing back through the

  patio door. "What did you do to her?" She threw her arms around Sadie.

  Michael backed away. "I didn't do anything!" he protested.

  Sadie just sniffled and hugged Maria back. Maybe having a sister was worth running away for.

  "Yeah! Yeah! Go, D-Backs!"

  Kyle cringed and moved as far away from his father as possible while still sitting on the couch. Usually he yelled right along with Valenti whenever there was a game on. But he'd been feeling strange all afternoon. Noises seemed louder than usual, lights seemed brighter, and the food at the Crashdown had tasted funny.

  "Gonzalez, huh?" Valenti added, turning to Kyle. "He's great."

  Kyle cringed again. Even when his dad wasn't yelling, the sound of his voice was way too harsh.

  "What's the matter, son?" Valenti boomed.

  Kyle slapped his hands over his ears. He took some cleansing breaths and tried to clear his mind like he did when he meditated. But the air felt funny going into his lungs. He took another deep breath, and the feeling intensified. Now it seemed as if a thousand tiny moths had flown in through his mouth and were spreading throughout his body, fluttering their wings.

  Panicked, Kyle leaped up from the couch.

  Valenti jumped up next to him. "What?" he cried. "What's going on?"

  "I don't know. I feel tingly," Kyle said. He knew it was a lame explanation, but he simply couldn't find the words to

  express what was going on. Right now it seemed that every single hair on his body was squirming about in its follicle. He let out a little shriek.

  "Kyle, just calm down," his dad was saying. But Valenti's voice was not only too loud, it also seemed to vibrate strangely. Kyle glanced over at the TV He could no longer see the baseball game… now the screen was covered with blurs of color and motion, but nothing sharp or clear.

  "… an alien thing?" Valenti asked.

  Kyle stared up at his father, trying to figure out what he was asking. But the very sound of the words was still bouncing around his brain. It was hard to concentrate on anything else.

  "… taking you to the hospital."

  The last thing Kyle saw was his father's frightened eyes. Then everything turned white. The sounds disappeared, but the strange tingly feeling intensified. Kyle couldn't tell if he was standing or sitting, and he had no idea where his father was.

  I wonder if this is what Buddha meant by clearing your mind, Kyle thought. And then he stopped thinking anything at all.

  "How old is your brother?" Maria asked. She still couldn't quite believe that she had two half siblings out there. And that her father had never bothered to tell her.

  "He's six," Sadie replied. "His name is Richard Jr." Maria felt a lump rising in her throat and tried to swallow it down. He named his son after himself? It was like he'd just started over after he left her and her mom. He'd

  gone off and had the family he'd really wanted. I was just some mistake he made, Maria thought angrily. 1 guess that's one feeling he and Mom have in common.

  "Junior. Great," she said. "Well, it all sounds very well adjusted and super." She couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

  Sadie looked down at her hands. Now I've made her feel bad again, Maria thought irritably. The truth was, she liked Sadie. She didn't want to hurt her feelings. But it was hard to take in all this new information and not be bitter about it.

  "So he and your mom are happy together?" Maria asked, trying to sound friendly.

  Sadie nodded.

  "Did he tell her about me?" Oops, there was the bitterness again.

  "I don't know," Sadie said. "I found all that stuff about you in his office, but I never asked him about it. I never asked my mom, either. I just got on a bus and came to find you."

  "What I want to know is where he got those pictures of you," Michael put in. "And your report cards. He must've had a private detective following you."

  That's true, Maria thought. All these years, had there been someone watching her? She didn't know whether she should be happy that her father had bothered to keep tabs, or freaked out that he'd had some strange person following her as if she were a criminal.

  "Because if someone was watching you, they were also watching me," Michael added significantly.

  Oh, God, another alien crisis. Maria felt overwhelmed. If a private detective had been following her, he would have

  seen some strange things. Alien powers, the Granilith taking off, who knows what else. He might have one file on Maria, and a whole different kin
d of file on Michael and Isabel and Max.

  "You know what, I can't handle all this," Maria announced. She stood up. "Sadie, I'm sorry, but you have to go home now."

  Sadie nodded miserably.

  "It's not personal," Maria said gently. "I'm glad I met you, and I'm sure someday we'll be good friends, okay?"

  Her little sister looked up at her hopefully.

  "But your mother must be worried sick. And your… our father." Maria grabbed Michael's cordless phone and held it out to Sadie. "Call him to come get you."

  Before Sadie could take the phone, it rang. Maria jumped and almost dropped it. She pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

  "Maria, thank god I found you," her mother's nasal voice said. "I need your help."

  "Why, what's wrong?" Maria asked.

  "I can't breathe. I'm having some kind of asthma attack," Amy gasped.

  "But, Mom, you don't have asthma," Maria said, a gnawing fear growing in her stomach.

  "I used to when I was younger," Amy told her. "Maria, honey, I'm scared."

  Maria's heart leaped into her throat.

  "I need to get to the emergency room," Amy wheezed.

  "Hang on, Mommy," Maria said. "I'll be right there."

  7

  Isabel waited impatiently with the crowd outside the emergency room. Every time it looked as if she might be able to worm her way inside, another group of people would come running up with a desperately ill friend or relative, and she would have to step aside and let them in. She didn't mind, of course. But she was growing more and more worried by the minute. What was going on here? All these sick people… they seemed to have nothing in common except that they were sick.

  So far she'd seen one elderly woman who had an ugly rash all over her arms. A little boy with uncontrollable hiccups. A middle-aged guy whose entire body was shaking violently in a seizure. The latest one carried by had been a girl around her own age who had been vomiting and was completely dehydrated.

  What's wrong with Liz? Isabel wondered. Max had called almost an hour ago to tell her he was bringing Liz to the ER. Of course Isabel had rushed right over, but she hadn't been expecting some sort of epidemic.