"That's weird," Michael said. "Isn't it?"

"I'm thinking the CDC can control access to the patients better if they don't have other people coming in and out," Max said. "At the hospital, there's a big staff, and there are all the people who are already patients there."

"Well, they definitely want tight control," Michael agreed. "They've shut down the whole town. No one gets in or out."

"This makes me nervous," Isabel said.

"It's not an alien hunt, it's a quarantine," Max told her. "Still, we've got to put an end to it as soon as possible. We have to break into Meta-chem tonight."

"What?" Michael said. "Why?"

"Because I'm going to heal those people," Max announced.

9

"Liz! You awake?" Kyle whispered.

In the bed next to him, Liz stirred. "Yeah," she said. "I don't really feel like I can sleep anymore. All my senses just keep racing."

"I know what you mean," he said. "I keep hearing things even when I don't want to." That wasn't the worst part, though. The worst part was how much his skin hurt wherever the thin cotton sheet touched him… which was everywhere. But he didn't want to complain. He knew Liz must be bothered by it too. "What do you say we blow this joint?" he suggested.

"How?" Liz asked skeptically.

"Look around," Kyle said. "Everyone's asleep. And the doctors all went to some big doctor meeting about five minutes ago. I heard them talking."

Liz sat up in bed and glanced around. "Wow. I'm really out of it," she said. "I didn't even notice."

How could she not notice? Kyle thought. It's so much quieter in here without all the doctors asking questions.

"I feel like it's getting more internal," Liz went on. "Before, I was feeling things and hearing things that were going on around me. Now I keep hearing stuff inside me. You know, my heartbeat, and the sound of my own breathing."

Okay, Liz is tripping out, Kyle thought, worried. He needed her to be alert so that they could find an answer to all this. "Well, then, we need to take a little walk before you slip into a coma or something."

"Where?" Liz asked. "You want to try to sneak outside?"

"No, I was thinking we'd visit that lab again, the one you work in. I'm more interested in what's behind those locked doors than I used to be."

"You might be right," Liz said. "If I see what materials Dr. Sosa was working with, maybe I can figure out what it was that I spilled. And then we'll be able to tell if it could be causing all these diseases to spring up."

Suddenly Liz sank back on her pillow, as if all her energy had been drained just by sitting up for half a minute. She lay there exhausted, just staring up at the ceiling.

"Liz, you okay?" Kyle asked.

"I don't get it," Liz murmured, as if she was talking to herself. "How could one tiny spill do all this? I mean, I cleaned it up right away. It was like spilling a cup of coffee or something. There was hardly anything in those test tubes. That can't be what's causing this. Can't be."

He was really getting worried about her. They might share the same symptoms, but this sickness was obviously hitting Liz a lot harder than it was hitting him. She sounded practically delirious, and he couldn't tell whether she even remembered he was there. "Think about it," he told her. "This guy has been doing research on alien

cells… you saw them yourself. He's not to be trusted. How do you know he wasn't developing some kind of… alien repellent or something?"

Kyle knew he sounded like an idiot. But he wanted to keep Liz focused on the problem at hand. And as far as he was concerned, there was something fishy about a scientist who was mean to Liz Parker, had alien cells on a slide, and kept his supply closet locked.

Liz was giggling now. "If that was alien repellent, it sure didn't work," she said loudly. "You and I are the closest things to aliens in here, and we're not nearly as sick as everyone else."

"Shh!" Kyle said. He didn't want to be talking about aliens in anything other than a whisper. And besides, he heard footsteps approaching their beds. He and Liz both lay silently, pretending to sleep, while a nurse came and checked on them. Only when the footsteps had died away again did Kyle stir. He slowly swung his legs over the side of the cot and raised himself to his feet. He could actually feel the air rush over his skin as he moved. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it took some getting used to. "You ready, Liz?"

She had struggled up to a sitting position. She gazed at him and nodded. "Let's go."

"You can all stop the covert planning," Valenti said, coming back into the living room from wherever he'd been. Max couldn't keep track of everyone. All his thoughts were focused on Liz. Where was she? Was she feeling any better? Were they doing tests on her? Was she afraid? "Why?" he asked Valenti, trying to keep his mind on the

project at hand: figuring out how to break into Meta-chem.

Valenti held up a credit card. "Because Kyle left this in his room."

"You want to bribe them with Kyle's good credit?" Michael asked in a deadpan voice.

"No, you dope, it's a key," Isabel said. "Kyle works at Meta-chem, remember? He has a passkey."

Max snatched it out of Valenti's hand. "Excellent," he said. "Let's go." He started for the door.

"Whoa there, Maxwell!" Michael cried. "We still need a plan."

"Why?" Max snapped. "The plan is, I go there, I open the door, and I start healing."

Isabel put her hand on his arm. "I know you're worried about Liz," she said. "But you can't heal everyone in that place. Even if you didn't get caught, you wouldn't survive it."

"She's right, Max," Michael said. "Remember how wiped you were after you healed those kids on the cancer ward. And there are a lot more people at Meta-chem."

"Well, what's your plan, then?" Max exploded. He knew he was being unreasonable, but he couldn't help himself. Why did Liz have to be among the sick people?

"I think it has to be an information-gathering mission," Valenti said. "You go in, you see if those CDC docs have come up with any ideas on what's causing all this. Then we decide how to fix it."

"I go in, I heal Liz and Kyle and Maria's mom," Max said. "With her mom better, Maria will be able to help us without freaking out."

"Uh, I don't know about that," Michael put in. "Maria's dealing with some heavy stuff right now."

Huh? Max shot a surprised look at Michael. He'd assumed that Maria wasn't here because she was upset about her mother. Had he been so wrapped up in his own fears for Liz that he'd missed some big thing happening to Maria? "Is she okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. But count her out on this one," Michael said gruffly.

Max saw the concern in Michael's eyes. I'm not the only one worried about the woman I love, he thought. He clapped Michael on the shoulder. "We'll get through this faster if I can heal Liz and Kyle. Then they can help us from the inside. And Maria's mom, just for good measure."

"Fine. Michael will have to run cover for you," Isabel said. "So I'll do some snooping and see if I can find out what the doctors have discovered."

"What about me?" Valenti asked.

"You stay here," Max said quickly. He held up a hand to stop Valenti's protest. "I know Kyle's in there. But we'll take care of him. You've already gotten in enough trouble trying to help us."

Valenti's expression was worried, but he backed down. Max was relieved… he felt guilty that Valenti had sacrificed his job and his good reputation for them. He didn't want to put him in any more danger.

Michael and Isabel headed out the door, and Max followed. "If we're not back by tomorrow morning, get Maria and come up with Plan B," he told Valenti.

"I won't have to," Valenti said.

Max nodded and stepped out into the night, hoping Valenti was right.