"They're coming," she said.

"Who?" Valenti snapped.

"The drones," Isabel answered.

"What drones?" Valenti asked.

"The insect-things," Isabel said.

"Like the spider-thing I saw in the hospital," Kyle said.

"And like I saw when I dreamwalked Leroy Wilkins," Isabel said.

Max peered at the road, wondering if he'd even be able to see the small creatures. "What are the drones?"

"Tiny robots," Isabel replied. "The travelers have been using them to spy on the Mesaliko and Roswell."

"Spy gear," Michael said.

"And weapons," Isabel said. "River Dog says the ship is filled with drones. They were responsible for repairing the ship."

"So have you seen the travelers?" Maria asked.

Isabel shook her head. "River Dog said four of them entered the cave and captured him."

"I thought you said River Dog was in a prayer cave or something," Liz said.

Max saw his sisters brow furrow in frustration.

"River Dog is in the cave," Isabel said. "He thought they took him too. But it was all an illusion. They became forceful with him, trying to find more weaknesses and superstitions to use against the Mesaliko and the people in Roswell, and he found he was still in the vision quest." She pointed. "There's a road up there. Off to the right. It's a dirt road. You'll need to take it."

"They captured River Dog in his vision quest?" Maria asked.

"Yes," Isabel said.

"A psychic captive," Kyle said.

"More or less," Isabel agreed.

"Then River Dog hasn't even been to this downed alien ship," Valenti said.

"I've seen it," Isabel said.

Valenti glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "I don't mean to insult you, Isabel, but you've only seen what you thought was an alien spacecraft… the travelers' spacecraft… while you were dreamwalking River Dog."

"It's the only plan we have," Max stated quietly.

"If the travelers have River Dog captive, how did he get away?" Valenti asked. He pulled onto the dirt road when Isabel pointed again. At the speed he was traveling, the tires slid through the dirt for just a moment, then grabbed traction again and hurtled them down the road.

"When I dreamwalk, the things I see are real. You know that. That's how we found Laurie Dupree in Frazier Woods."

Nobody, Max noticed, said anything about that. Laurie Dupree's salvation had come at a cost to all of them in the long run.

"How can River Dog be in three different places at the same time?" Maria asked.

"When I leave my body on a dreamwalk," Isabel said, "part of my mind stays with my body, keeps the autonomous system going."

Maria looked over the seat at Michael. "The autonomous system keeps the heart and lungs functioning while you're sleeping," she said. "And other things."

Michael gave her a sour look. "I knew that."

"Maybe," Isabel said, "in time I could learn to do what River Dog has done and split off another part of my conscious mind so I can be in two places at one time."

"A doppelganger," Kyle said. "Another self. Some of the out-of-body-experience people talk about that."

"A psychic clone," Michael suggested.

"A master-slave system the way computers are set up," Maria said.

"Doesn't matter," Valenti said. "We'll have to accept that River Dog is in more than two places. However he's doing it."

Max stared into the darkness ahead. Off-road now, Valenti's SUV sped across the dirt road, raising a giant fog of dust that trailed after them like a predatory beast. Metal glimmered in the night, turning dusky gold from the SUV's headlights and occasional silver from the moon.

"There," he said, pointing.

Valenti looked at the tiny shimmering bits of silver and gold. "Could be dust picked up by the headlights."

Then the cloud of spots shifted directions, whipping around and heading on an interception course with the SUV

"Or not," Michael said.

The eeriness of the attack, Max decided, was the absolute quiet. The shimmering things closed rapidly, changing direction as if gravity had no effect on them. Hugging the terrain, they sped for the SUV without hesitation.

"How did they find us?" Valenti asked.

"I don't know," Isabel answered.

"How did River Dog know?"

"There wasn't time to ask."

"Doesn't matter," Michael said. "Just keep the speed up. What are those tiny things going to do? Shatter against the truck? They're stupid."

"They don't think," Isabel said. "They were designed to react."

Tensely, Max watched as the drones unerringly closed in on the SUV The cloud of attackers was broken up into patches, like formations. In the next instant the lead formation smashed into the truck.

The drones sounded like grit in a sandstorm peppering the SUV's body. Metallic pings echoed hollowly inside the truck, sounding virtually inoffensive. Then Max spotted the tears in the sheet metal of the hood just before the first of the drones smacked into the windshield.

More drones struck the windshield, penetrating into the glass. Spiderwebbed fractures ran across the glass instantly. As the safety glass broke into cubes the way it was designed to do, some of them blasted over Max and Valenti. The glass cubes weren't harmful, but they served to let Max know that the windshield wasn't going to stand up to the battering. If the attack kept up, the drones were going to tear through the glass and rip like arrows into the flesh-and-blood targets on the other side.

"Max," Isabel called, maintaining control with effort.

Understanding, Max threw up his hand. Energy and blue-white light pulsed from his hand, creating the force field he'd used before. He started with a surface on the other side of the windshield, watching as the drones struck the shield and burst into brief, sparking wisps that died almost at once and sounded like popcorn popping.

Valenti cursed, not at all happy with how close the attack had come. One of the SUV's headlights burst in a muffled explosion.

Max kept the shield in place, straining himself and making the protective surface bigger, bending it until it became a bubble that protected them all the way around.

Keeping the shield intact while aboard a moving vehicle made it even harder.

The SUV slowed slightly.

"Drive," Max said.

"People," Valenti groaned. "There are people ahead."

Gazing ahead, trying to keep focused enough to maintain the force field, Max saw figures suddenly lurch and stumble from the shadows. The single cone of light that remained from the SUV's headlights played over the swaying figures of men and women. Blood covered their faces. Some of them were missing arms and legs, and others dragged their broken bodies with their hands.

18

Freakin' zombies," Michael griped from the back of the SUV

Looking at the sprawling group of undoubtedly dead people who filled the dirt road ahead, Max silently agreed. The zombies turned like a pack of predators and started toward the SUV even though it was racing toward them. Max kept the energy shield in place, aware that more drones smashed to pieces against the glowing barrier.

Valenti pulled his foot from the accelerator and shoved down on the brake. The SUV stuttered across the uneven surface of the dirt road, scratching up bigger clouds of dust. Realizing that the vehicle wasn't going to stop in time, Valenti started cutting the wheel, slewing the SUV sideways.

"Max!" Liz called. "I don't see anything. I don't see any zombies."

Shuddering across the rough dirt road, the SUV rocked to a stop. The motor growled. The cloud of dust caught up in their backdraft suddenly blew by them, playing out like a wave washing up onto the beach.

Max kept the force field in place with effort. The number of drones shattering against the energy barrier were almost nonexistent, but some still came, leaving miniature fireworks to mark their destruction.