Nevertheless, the off-balance scientist tottered backward, leaving an empty sneaker in Max's grasp. The flailing teenager tossed the shoe aside and scrambled to his feet. Concentrated mental energy flowed into his fingertips, turning them into instruments of death. If I have to, Max realized, I'll gladly burn my handprint into Morton's heart to stop him from hurting Liz again. The techie, too, maybe.

"Not so fast, Bruce Lee," Morton snarled, before Max could put his lethal intentions into action. To his horror, he saw that Morton now had one arm around Liz's waist and the muzzle of a semi- automatic pistol pressed to her head. Her beautiful face was white as a cadavers, while pure, unadulterated fright filled her glistening brown eyes. "Stay right where I can see you, or your pretty little girlfriend is history."Max went still as a statue, his left hand poised at his side as though reaching for his gun. Morton nodded at the briefcase clutched in Max's other hand and barked at his hapless cohort. "Get the case!"The techie approached Max hesitantly, glowering at the paralyzed youth through die thick lenses of his wire glasses. "Don't give me any trouble, kid," he spat, although his threats were a lot less convincing than Morton's. "Just hand over the bag."Max hated to surrender such valuable links to his native world to the likes of Morton and his geeky accomplice, but he wasn't about to sacrifice Liz for pieces of a broken flying saucer, no matter what planet it came from. "Take it," he said coldly, his dark eyes fixed on Morton and his scared hostage. The lab guy snatched the briefcase from Max and scurried away. "Now let her go."The gunman ignored Max's urgent plea. He glared at his partner instead. "Make sure the merchandise is still inside," he ordered the scientist while keeping his gun pressed against Liz's temple.

The techie placed the case atop the closest bed and rapidly inspected its contents. "It's all here," he reported a moment later. He was sweating profusely and kept looking at the door, as though he ardently wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Good," Morton grunted. "Pack it up. We're getting out of here."But my equipment…," the distressed lab worker objected, locking the briefcase shut once more.

"Leave it!" Morton snapped. Still holding onto Liz, he backed toward the door. "Let's go!"Wait!" Max shouted, afraid to move an inch for fear of inciting Morton's eager trigger finger. "You don't need her! Take the briefcase, sure, but let her go!"Morton sneered cruelly. "Sorry, kid, she's coming with us." He waited until his nerdy partner had slipped out of the door behind him, carrying the crucial samples, then swung the muzzle of his handgun toward Max. "Tough luck."The gun fired, its jarring report almost deafening in the close quarters of the motel room. Acting on instinct, Max threw up his hands and a shimmering emerald force field instantly formed between Max and Morton, shielding him from the oncoming bullet, which ricocheted off the protective energy bubble, slamming into the ceiling instead. Pulverized plaster rained down on Max, only to slide harmlessly off the verdant force field.

"Wha-!" Morton's jaw dropped and his bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets. He fired again, this time out of panic, but the radiant green barrier once again shielded Max from the gunfire. Visibly freaked-out, his blubbery jowls quivering, the berserk felon turned his gun back on Liz, shouting hoarsely at Max as he dragged Liz out of the dingy motel room. "Keep away from me, you freak! Stay back!"Trembling with fear and frustration, Max ground his teeth behind the translucent green energy, which added a bizarre emerald tint to the awful sight of a terrified Liz being carried off by the gun-wielding killer. His alien powers had saved him from almost certain death, but what about Liz? Morton had her!

Oh my god, Alex! What are we going to do?"Maria was beside herself, sniffing rosemary oil like it was the elixir of life, to absolutely no effect. Beside her in the front seat of the Jetta, parked outside the Motel 6, Alex looked just as horrified and helpless. The whole plan was falling apart right before their eyes! First, Mortons blue Chevy had come squealing back into the parking lot, taking Maria and Alex by surprise. Then the two criminals had charged back into room #19, before either of the teens in the Jetta could do anything to warn Max and Liz that they were about to be caught in the act.

And what could we do anyhow? Maria realized, paralyzed with shock and uncertainty. Neither she nor Alex was armed with anything more potent than a half dozen miniature vials of scented oils, all of which she would have gladly traded at this moment for a working Uzi and the skill to use it. How were a couple of ordinary teenagers, like her and Alex, supposed to rescue their friends from a trigger-happy felon like Joe Morton? As they watched impotently, the other man-the lab tech from the university- rushed out of the motel, clutching what had to be the legendary black attache case. Gunshots sounded from within #19, causing Maria to almost jump out of her skin. Two shots, she counted, going pale. One each for Max and Liz- She clasped her hands over her mouth, holding back a scream, and looked hopelessly at Alex, to make certain that she wasn't hearing things, but the anguished look on his face made it clear that he'd heard the shots, too. Tears welled in her eyes as she imagined Liz and Max lying bleeding and dying on the floor of room #19.

' Where are Michael and Isabel? she wondered desperately, looking frantically for the Jeep, which she thought she spotted parked across the street, which was now filled with the noise and confusion of a multi-car pileup. It's not fair! She and Alex were both one percent human; neither of them had the power to heal Liz and Max if they'd really been shot. There's nothing I can do to save them.

So convinced was Maria that her friends had been gunned down that it came as an actual relief when Joe Morton backed out of #19, his meaty arm around Liz's squirming waist. She's alive! Maria rejoiced, then noticed the gun in Morton's free hand. But what about Max? The gunshots, along with the crashes on the highway, attracted plenty of attention. Numbered wooden doors opened up all along the length of the motel, as potential witnesses poked their heads out of their rooms to see what was happening, then ducked back inside at the sight of Morton and his smoking pistol. The imposing gunman fired a shot into the air to keep any onlookers at a distance as he tossed Liz into the backseat of the Chevy and, gun in hand, clambered in after her.

With the cowardly-looking science guy at the wheel, the blue convertible burned rubber out of the parking lot, passing the Jeep as Michael and Isabel suddenly arrived on the scene. Morton fired repeatedly at the Jeep, clipping one corner of the windshield and forcing the army-green vehicle to swerve across the parking lot, almost colliding with the parked Jetta. Sticking to the shoulder of the road, to avoid the accident blocking the highway, the Chevy sped away in a cloud of dust and gravel, taking Liz Parker with it.

Maria gripped the steering wheel in front of her, uncertain whether to take off in pursuit or to check on Max first. Her dilemma was solved when Max himself came running out of Mortons motel room, seemingly unharmed. A desperate look upon his face, he dived into the backseat of the Jetta, breathing heavily. "Max!" Maria shouted, twisting around in her seat. "Are you all right?"I'm fine," he gasped, "but you have to follow them!" His voice was ablaze with urgency. "They've got Liz!"1 know!" Maria told him. Afraid of losing her best friend forever, she fired up the Jetta even as Michael and Isabel, side-by-side in the Jeep, still wearing their faux military uniforms, pulled up beside them. Maria shuddered at the sight of the bullet hole in the Jeep's windshield. That could've been Michael's head, she realized.