There was an odd pressure in his abdomen. Kyle's hand went to the spot and came up wet.

What? he thought looking down at his hand. It was wet with his blood.

As the haze of his adrenaline rush started to fade, Kyle realized that it wasn't pressure he was feeling in his stom- ach. It was pain.

The creature had stabbed him with his claw when they were struggling. It had gotten him pretty good, too, judg- ing by the fire in his abdomen now. Kyle tried again to get to his knees and found that he couldn't. A moment later, he was on his back, pressing his wound with one hand.

"Kyle, are you okay?" a voice called out. It was Max.

When Kyle spoke, he thought his voice was remarkably strong. "Yeah. I took him down, but he clipped me good. I'll have to sit out the rest of the game.”

"You sure you're okay?" Max said.

"Yeah, go… do what you have to," Kyle said.

He spoke the last sentence quickly as the pain got worse. Kyle knew that Max would stop to heal him if he knew that Kyle was hurt. They couldn't afford the time now. Liz's life depended on them striking hard and fast.

If they succeeded, there would be plenty of time for Max to help him when they were done and Liz was safe.

"Stay where you are," Max said. "We'll be back for you.”

No problem, Kyle thought. I'm not going anywhere.

Despite the pressure he was putting on the wound, Kyle felt the blood seeping from it. He saw the blood spreading over his shirt and begin to drip down to the ground.

Suddenly he knew he was a long way from all right.

Well, the important thing was that Max thought he was okay. Now, he and Michael could finish what the three of them had started. Kyle was glad he had been able to help, even if it was just to take down one of the bad guys.

He shivered. That was new. Had it gotten colder all of a sudden? Kyle figured it had. He noticed something else; the pain wasn't as bad now. The waves were gone, and he felt only a dull ache now.

He shivered again. When did it get so cold?

22

“Doesn't look like there are any more guards," Michael said.

"I'm not sure he was a guard. He didn't even have any weapons," Max said.

"Either way, it looks like they are all inside," Michael said.

They crept closer to the ship. A few more steps. Then a few more. They moved as silently as they could. Now they were less than twenty yards form the ship. Details were clearer. Max could see the landing struts and a single ramp that let up to some kind of hatch or doorway.

"How is that plan coming along, Maxwell?" Michael said.

"Slowly," Max replied, considering the scene carefully.

"We have no idea how many of the aliens are around or inside. We don't know what kind of weapons the ship has. And for all we know, they're watching us inside on the big screen now and laughing," Max said.

"Well, sure it sounds bad when you put it like that,”

Michael said. "I guess that leaves us only one choice.”

"The front door," Max said.

"On three," Michael said.

"One," Max said.

"T…," Michael began, but he was interrupted by a loud, high-pitched clicking that suddenly filled the night.

Max's eyes searched the ship for signs of movement. An instant later, he saw a spot near the top begin to glow. Reacting instinctively, Max threw up his hand, and two things happened nearly simultaneously. A green barrier appeared in front of Max and Michael and a bolt of some- thing tore out from the ship toward them.

It struck the barrier Max had created with tremendous force. The barrier held, at first. But the blast of whatever it was was still there… an angry ball of swirling white energy pressing itself against the barrier.

The blast was pushing into the barrier, closer to Max and Michael. In seconds it would be over for them.

No, not just for them. For Liz, too.

"Noooo!" Max said, pushing forward with his hand… except that Max knew that it wasn't his hand that was doing the real work.

Somewhere in his mind, in his cerebral cortex, power- ful forces were at play. When Max pushed, he pushed with his whole being. The green shield crackled with energy and blew outward, the blast that the ship had sent to them went flying back toward its point of origin.

It struck the ship in a shower of sparks that blinded Max for a moment. It also shook the ground.

Before his vision cleared, he said, "Three," and started running.

He sensed Michael next to him as a new sound emerged from the ship. No, not a new sound, a familiar one. It started to grow darker. Max felt a queasy sensation beginning in his stomach and heard Michael say, "No way. Not now." Before the darkness became total, Michael lifted up his hand and fired off a burst of his own.

This one hit the ship nearly dead center and shook it visibly. Instantly, the dark cloud dissipated.

"What did you do?" Max asked.

"Not sure, but it looks like it worked pretty well," Michael said.

They were at the foot of the ramp now. There was light inside the ship, and Max ran toward it.

Liz is in there, he thought.

An instant later, two figures appeared at the top of the ramp. They were pointing something down at Max and Michael. ' Even as that thought registered, a blast from Michael leaped out at them and tossed them very hard back into the ship. Max realized that Michael had taken the lead and was barreling up the ramp just ahead of him.

Well, he's better at this part than I am, Max thought. He had an instant to wonder where that thought had come from, and then they were inside the ship, standing on a landing with one door on each side of them.

The ship was filled with loud clicking sounds, which Max guessed were some sort of automated alarm. Some- thing was wrong. The floor was shaking beneath his feet. He and Michael must have hit the ship pretty hard.

Good, he thought.

An alien appeared from a door that slid open. Max cursed to himself. He had held out a slim hope that there might only be the three they had seen so far. Clearly, there were more. This one was similar to the one Kyle had taken down. Actually, it looked identical.

Michael blasted him back the way he came.

"That way," Max said, pointing into the hallway the alien had emerged from.

They stepped inside and found nothing. Just thirty or forty feet of hallway.

"What now?" Michael said.

Max thought for a moment. The ship was shaking now. Something was wrong with it. Whatever they did, they needed to do it fast.

No time. No time. No time.

There were sounds of movement from inside the ship. Max did the only thing he could think of: "Liz!" he called out.

He did it again. Michael called out as well.

"Shhhh," he said, holding up his hand.

Nothing.

They called for her again.

"Max," a voice said. There it was. Faint, but he had heard it. A look at Michael's face told him that it wasn't his imagination.

"Max," the voice said, louder this time.

It was coming from back behind the door. Max led them back to the small landing they had first reached when they entered the ship.

He heard Liz again, louder this time. Then he realized where they were. They were in the dead center of the ship. The landing obviously connected two main hallways that ran the length of the vessel.

Max started for the door on the opposite door, the one that would lead him to Liz. The door opened, but Michael's hand on his shoulder pulled him aside before he could step through.

"Let me check it out," Michael said, stepping through. Max was an instant behind him.

Faster than he could ever have reacted, Michael identi- fied and blasted two aliens that were waiting for them.