All That Glitters

Disclaimer

The characters of Adam Newman, Megabyte Damon, Kevin Wilson, Ami Jackson, Jade Weston, General William Damon, Colonel Masters, Millie Damon and Caroline Damon belong to Roger Damon Price, Thames Television and Nickelodeon. So do any other names or events linked to the Tomorrow People TV series.

Max Evans, Liz Parker, Maria DeLuca, Michael Guerin, Isabel Evans, Alex Whitman, Kyle Valenti, Sheriff Jim Valenti and Milton belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and WB. All other concepts and events linked to Roswell also belong to them.

The characters of Joe Dawson and James Horton (who appear in name only) belong to Panzer/David, Rysher/Gaumont Television. So do the concepts of immortality, the Watchers and the Hunters.

The characters of Geoff Anderson, Gil Hawkins, Jim Beckett and Simon Trent belong to me and should not be used without permission.

Author's notes

This is the third story in the series Tears in Heaven. For further information regarding the series please check out the web site at http://www.alternate-realities.net/tearsinheaven/

The events that take place during the prologue of this story happen during the first story in this series The Medusa Stone.

.The remainder of the story takes place during the first season of Roswell between the episodes 'The Convention' and 'Blind Date.' Slight spoiler for season two opening episode.

Summary

All that glitters isn't gold. A case of mistaken identity leads an old enemy to the Tomorrow People. (A NS Tomorrow People/Roswell xover)

Telepathy is indicated by []

Rating: PG

Fandoms: NS Tomorrow People / Roswell / Highlander (mention only)

Archive: Yes please, but let me know first

Thanks to Jocelyn, John, Nicole, Sarah, Caroline and Kristin for their feedback and support while I was working on this story.

Special thanks to Wendy, beta reader extraordinaire. We had many long chats about this story as I was writing, and she helped with the fine-tuning of quite a few of the ideas.

Feedback to anneo@paradise.net.nz

Prologue

November 1999

Jade Weston paced up and down on the beach outside the Tomorrow People's ship, trying not to think about the last telepathic message they had received from Adam and Megabyte. Every few moments she glanced over her shoulder at the tip of the spaceship protruding out of the white sand, and then back again at the foam crested waves surrounding the island. It was almost as though she was hoping against hope that either of the boys might suddenly appear out of thin air in front of her and that the whole situation had been nothing but a bad dream.

"Jade, are you okay?" Kevin Wilson put his arm around the young British girl, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.

"No, I'm not!" snapped back Jade. "I'm really worried about Megabyte and Adam. What if General Damon doesn't find out what's wrong with them? Kevin, what are we going to do if they stay in that coma, or if they…" Her voice tailed off.

The two boys had gone with Megabyte's father, General Damon, to Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, to the NORAD base there. What was supposed to be a simple tour of the base had soon turned into something much more dangerous. Jade, Ami and Kevin had received some very disturbing images from both their fellow Tomorrow People, followed by pain. Adam had told them all to stay away until he and Megabyte had found out what was affecting them and why.

Jade remembered arguing with Adam, but the older boy had been quite insistent. Shortly afterwards Megabyte had sent her some strange images involving a tall dark haired man. All telepathic contact had then been lost with her two friends.

"Jade, I'm sure that's not going to happen. You've got to think positive. Come on, let's go back to the ship, Ami's worried too you know."

Ami had rang General Damon on his cell phone, surmising that if he had been with Adam and Megabyte he would know what had happened to them.

Megabyte's father had sounded worried. Both boys were hooked up to life support, and growing steadily weaker. Jade had talked to him and explained about the flash Megabyte had sent her, and he was going to look into it. That had been a good ten minutes ago and still they hadn't heard anything, or received any form of telepathic communication from either of their friends.

Jade backed away. "Look, Kevin, I think I need time to myself. I need to find something to keep my mind off things." She saw the worry in his eyes as she spoke, a mirror of what she was feeling herself. "I'll come back if anything changes, or when I feel I can cope better, promise."

She closed her eyes and concentrated, disappearing in a flash of white light, leaving Kevin on the beach, staring at the spot she had just been.

**************

Jade materialised in the small town of Roswell, New Mexico. She smiled to herself, a small shaky smile. Looking around, she noticed with relief that no one had seen her arrival.

It makes sense I suppose, she thought to herself. Megabyte and Adam are involved in something weird so I go and visit something equally weird. Strange way of keeping your mind off things, she chastised herself. Still, watching that programme about the Roswell landing with Megabyte the night before had made her curious about the whole thing. It was better she occupied herself here checking it out, than mope around the ship worrying.

Jade started walking through the town when a building with what she supposed was meant to be a flying saucer on a big sign, caught her eye. UFO centre, she read, noticing the pictures of so called aliens in the windows. Might be a giggle. After all it's not as though these people actually know what aliens really look like. Jade shivered, remembering her encounter with the alien pod people.

"Can I help you?" asked a dark haired middle aged man coming towards her. Jade noticed all the UFO buttons and badges on the man's jacket as he came closer. Well, he looked normal enough, she thought, if maybe a bit on the geeky side.

"I was just thinking about looking in the UFO centre," she replied. To her surprise the man burst into a huge grin and took her by the arm.

"Ah," he gushed. "Are you a believer? You're in luck young lady. I'm just about to open up for the day. You can be our first visitor. I'm Milton by the way and you are?"

Jade backed off a bit. He seemed a bit…weird. Still, why not? The way the guy was rabbiting on, he would certainly take her mind off her current worries. If he got too much, she could always make her excuses and disappear anyway. She noticed he was still talking. In fact he hadn't even noticed she hadn't told him her name.

Jade followed the man in through the front door. The place was really quiet. Quiet, apart from Milton talking on and on that was. He turned and asked her a question directly, and she realised with a touch of guilt, that she hadn't really been taking in much of what he had been saying.

"I've just given my young assistant a very interesting book to read. In fact he seems quite taken with it. Have you read James Atherton's 'Among Us?"

"No, I don't think I've heard of that one," Jade replied honestly. She looked around the museum, and spotted a display which took her interest. "Do you really think the UFO crash in 1947 was a weather balloon?" Old newspaper clippings were tacked to the board. There were also a couple of models of weather balloons of the time sitting on a nearby table. An artist's impression of a spaceship looking suspiciously like a weather balloon sat framed next to it. It was there to emphasis the likeness between the two, she surmised.

"No, of course not. It was a government cover up, don't you think? I mean there are probably aliens and the like walking around among us right now and we'd never know. The government likes to keep all that stuff to themselves you know. I mean, how do you know I'm not some sort of mind reading alien, knowing exactly what you're thinking right now?"

Milton's last question took Jade a bit by surprise, and she stared at him, not sure how to answer. 'Well, I'd know because I'm a Tomorrow Person' didn't really seem to be the answer to give under the circumstances. She was about to change the subject when she heard a familiar telepathic voice in her mind.

[Hiya, squirt.]

[Megabyte! Are you and Adam okay?]

[Yeah, we're fine, but keep the volume down okay? My head still hurts.] Jade could feel the red head mentally wince as he 'spoke'.

[We're fine, Jade,] Adam sounded quiet, as though he had a lot on his mind. [I'm still not sure the danger's over though.]

Ami's mental voice interrupted the telepathic conversation. [Jade, come back to the ship…]

Jade was aware of a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Milton seemed concerned. "I didn't mean to scare you with all that talk about government cover ups and aliens you know." He lowered his voice. "It's just that most people don't realise that stuff exists. It's important that they do, that's why I told you."

"I'm fine." How was she going to get away from the man, she thought? He certainly seemed to enjoy having a captive audience. She giggled to herself, as she thought of her next course of action. Adam wouldn't be impressed, she knew, at what she was about to do, but hey, she needed a bit of a laugh after the last few hours.

"Hey," she said, pointing to the other side of the room. "Isn't that one of those mind reading aliens you were talking about earlier?"

As Milton turned around to look where she was pointing, Jade closed her eyes and teleported.

February 2000

Jade looked around as she and Megabyte materialised on the outskirts of Roswell. "Five minutes walk and we should be at the UFO centre," she told him.

"Five minutes walk?" Megabyte complained. "At least you could have found a spot closer to town, couldn't you?"

"Considering the amount of breakfast you helped yourself to when you picked me up, its not going to do you any harm is it?" Jade still found it amazing the amount of food her fellow Tomorrow Person managed to pack away. She had a sneaky suspicion he'd already eaten when he'd teleported in too.

"Hey all this TP stuff makes me hungry," retorted the redhead. "It's a long trip teleporting between my house and yours."

"Yeah right, Megabyte." Jade said. "I think you'll like this UFO centre. A lot of the alien artefacts reminded me of those cheesy movies you like so much."

"Attack of the Killer Cucumbers is a classic," protested Megabyte. "Did I ever take you to see the sequel?"

Jade shuddered. "Yes you did, unfortunately. It's an experience which haunts me to this day."

Megabyte ignored her in favour of a small dog being chased by two children down the footpath of what she presumed was the main street. As Jade watched the dog skidded to a halt as it approached the kerb and one of the children, a small darkhaired girl, slipped a leash around its neck and waited for her companion to catch up. "This place is quiet for somewhere that supposedly had an alien landing back in the forties. I always thought Roswell would be bigger for some reason. " Trust Megabyte to come out with a statement like that, she thought.

"You mean in comparison to Vermont?" Jade watched the other townspeople going about their business. There were children playing ball in the nearby park and a couple of high school age boys talking to each other enthusiastically as they headed for what looked like some sort of sporting practice. At least that 's what she presumed they were heading for. She ducked as their football sailed over her head.

"Sorry," yelled one of the boys as he ran past her enroute to saving his ball from the oncoming traffic. A car skidded to a halt, narrowly missing both the boy and his ball. He waved to the driver and continued on his way.

"Hold up," yelled his companion and broke into a sprint, as a couple of middle-aged women with toddlers in tow looked up to see where the noise was coming from.

She hadn't thought it was that quiet, but Megabyte was used to the middle of London these days, she supposed, even though he still seemed to think of Vermont as *the * place to be on the planet. "Do you still think it's quiet?" she asked him.

Megabyte reached out and ruffled Jade's hair with his hand. "I suppose where you come from this is as much excitement as you get in a week. You forget I don't come from a small English village where nothing ever happens. Oh yeah, apart from the odd alien invasion, but who's counting."

Jade grinned at Megabyte's reaction to her dig at his own hometown in the States. Roswell was a lot bigger than her village in England and they both knew it. As to the size of Vermont, well she only had Megabyte's word on that one. One of these days she'd talk him into taking her there and giving her the grand tour. "The UFO centre is over this way." Jade pointed to the building across the street.

"You mean it's that building that says UFO centre?" Megabyte's voice had a touch of sarcasm in it. Jade turned around to say something equally sarcastic back and noticed Megabyte was looking at something in the window of a nearby building. You have got to be joking, she thought as she noticed what it was he was reading.

"Hey this looks interesting squirt. Maybe we should check this out first." Megabyte gestured to the sign on the door. "I think all this walking has given me an appetite."

Jade groaned. "I'm beginning to think everything gives you an appetite, Megabyte." Crashdown Café she read, noticing the alien spaceship over the door. These people certainly seem to have aliens on the brain. I wonder what they'd think if they knew there really were aliens out there, she thought. "Okay, we'll stop and eat first. You have to pay though, I've only got English currency on me."

"You mean you brought me to the States without any money? Typical." Megabyte started to walk through the door of the cafe when he paused and turned to Jade. "How were you planning to get into the UFO centre then?" he asked.

Jade shrugged and flashed him a grin. "Isn't the man supposed to pay for these things?" she asked sweetly. She pushed her way in ahead of him and sat herself down at the nearest table. As Megabyte sat down across from her, she noticed with amusement how his face seemed to be changing colour. Got you, she thought.

"No way this is a date…" Megabyte started to say, then fell silent as he started to read the menu. A rather large grin formed on his face as he eyes travelled down the length of the small piece of laminated cardboard in front on him.

Jade ran her hands through her long blond hair, and wondered what was so interesting about the menu that it had stopped her friend mid- sentence. "Honestly, Megabyte, if I didn't know you better, I'd swear you were more interested in reading the menu than actually ordering." She wondered again if she had made the right decision in asking Megabyte to come to Roswell with her. Maybe Kevin would have been a better choice.

"So what do you want to try first, Jade? What about the tossed alien salad, or maybe the unidentified french flying object?"

Jade snatched the menu out of his hand. "Very funny, Megabyte. I suppose you think that's really smart, don't you?"

Megabyte laughed as he saw the expression on her face as she started reading for herself. "Got you, squirt. I knew you wouldn't believe me when I started reading it out to you."

Jade snorted in disgust and was about to say something when a waitress approached their table. She was about the same age as Jade herself, and was very pretty with long dark hair. The silver apron over her blue waitress' dress was shaped to look like an alien's face. There were even black oval eyes printed on the front to complete the theme of the outfit. In her hair she wore what Jade presumed were supposed to be alien antenna.

"Hi," said the waitress. "My name's Liz. Are you ready to order yet?"

"Almost," replied Jade, kicking Megabyte under the table. Her companion seemed lost for words for once. She could see him staring at the waitress. In fact he didn't seem to be able to take his eyes off her.

[Megabyte!] she 'pathed. [Don't look so obvious. Keep your mind on the menu and stop drooling.] You're supposed to be here with me, anyway, she added to herself. One of these days she was going to give up hoping that Megabyte Damon was going to ever think of her as anything but a friend. I suppose I can always dream, she thought.

"Sorry, Jade, did you say something?" asked the redhead.

Jade felt her face going beet red, and checked her mental shields to make sure they were still securely in place. "I said that we were just about to order," she retorted.

*****************

"So, are they a couple?" asked Maria DeLuca as Liz gave the order to the cook. "Did you find out what the redhead is called? I still think he's really cute. Maybe I should take their order to them when it's ready. What do you think?"

Liz Parker watched the interaction between the two with amusement. They reminded her in a way of her friends Maria and Michael, constantly baiting each other while hiding their true feelings. Well at least these two didn't have the added complication that one of them wasn't exactly a normal teenager. Scratch the teenager bit, she added to herself as she eyed up Megabyte again. He was definitely at least a couple of years older than herself or Jade.

"I think you're still trying to make Michael jealous," replied Liz. "Honestly, Maria, he's not even here to notice."

"Well, girlfriend, I might as well just go and check out the talent then. I mean, at least this guy's not Czechoslovakian. It would be nice to chat to someone who's not tied up with you know what, for a change."

Liz smiled to herself as Maria used the word Czechoslovakian, the word they had agreed to use instead of 'alien.' Of course Alex had pointed out that Czechoslovakia hadn't existed for quite some time but that was beside the point. It reminded her of a time when things were still simple, before Max had saved her life by healing her when she had been shot. Before he had told her that he, his sister Isabel, and friend Michael Guerin, were not, to use the term he preferred, of this earth. Even though life had been less complicated then, she still wouldn't go back to the way things were. She couldn't imagine not having Max Evans as part of her life, even though their relationship still wasn't exactly the way she would like. Max seemed too worried about how a relationship with him might put her in danger.

Liz was still deep in thought, when the cook finished the order for table seventeen. Maria grabbed the plates before her friend could change her mind, and headed for the redheaded guy and his friend.

**********

"Hi, I'm Maria, hope you enjoy your lunch. Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

Jade stared at the blonde girl in front of them, wondering what had happened to the other waitress. "I'm Jade," she said, "And this is my friend, Megabyte."

"Megabyte. That's an interesting name. Are you good with computers or something?"

"Something like that," mumbled Megabyte, glaring at Jade at the same time. He had noticed the look on her face, and was wondering what she was going to say. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to tease her the way he had. Hopefully Jade wouldn't say anything *he * might regret later.

Maria was still talking. "You're not from around here are you? I mean I haven't seen you before, and I didn't think anyone new was moving into town. You aren't starting at Roswell High are you?"

"Sorry I've done my whole torture in high school thing already. I'm concentrating my efforts on college these days. Jade, though, she's still into…" Megabyte's voice tailed off as Jade kicked him under the table and said something rude telepathically. He grinned. Funny how Jade knew what he had been about to say. "Yeah, we're just passing through for the day. Jade wants me to have a look at this UFO centre that you guys have."

Maria motioned Liz over as she continued. "Actually, we might be able to help you there. Liz' friend Max works there. If you ask for him, he'll be able to give you the grand tour. Isn't that right, Liz?"

[Told you she had a boyfriend, Megabyte,] 'pathed Jade.

"Thanks, that sounds really cool. So if we just ask for Max, we should find him, then?"

Liz nodded again and gave the two Tomorrow People a friendly smile. "I'm off work in a bit. If you like I can…" She noticed the frantic signs Maria was giving her, and amended what she was saying. "Or rather, we can, meet you over there afterwards and maybe we can all go out for coffee or something."

Part Two

As Jade and Megabyte approached the UFO centre, Jade paused and looked around, shivering as she did so.

"What's wrong?" Megabyte sensed her uneasy feelings, and saw her shiver. This wasn't like Jade. He hoped this wasn't sign of something bad about to go down. The last couple of months had been uneventful, at least from the Tomorrow Peoples' point of view. The psychos of the planet seemed to have taken an extended vacation, which was a good thing. At least Megabyte hoped it was an extended vacation; that they weren't merely lying in wait, ready to pounce when he and the others weren't looking.

"Nothing. Just had a funny feeling for a moment. It's gone now. It's probably nothing."

"Hope you're not going to start getting premonitions on me," joked Megabyte. "I thought that was supposed to be Ami's speciality."

Jade still didn't look happy. "Must be my imagination," she reasoned out loud, "I mean, if there was something here you'd feel it as well, wouldn't you? I'm not the only Tomorrow Person here, remember."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Megabyte put his arm around Jade to reassure her. "Probably just your imagination. Come on, let's have a look inside and try and find this Max." He didn't tell Jade that he was also getting a sense of something not quite right. He'd been feeling a bit jumpy ever since that run in with that madman, Ramiis, a few months back. He hoped Jade wasn't picking up on his overactive imagination. Yeah, that was probably it. No point ruining the day. He knew Jade was really looking forward to showing him what she had seen here. Maybe he'd have a talk to Adam when they got back to the ship. He glanced around before he ushered Jade inside anyway, just to reassure himself.

***********

Neither of them had noticed the nondescript black car parked a few metres down the street, on the other side. One of the men in the car nudged his companion, a middle aged man dressed in jeans and a casual shirt.

"Yes, Hawkins, what is it?" Jim Beckett shot his partner a look that said what Hawkins already knew. His partner thought this stake out was a total waste of time.

Their employer had told them to keep an eye on a teenager who worked at the UFO centre. He seemed convinced he had some kind of psychic powers. Hawkins remembered his partner's reaction to the reports as they read them. Beckett hadn't believed a word of them. The reports were full of some wild idea that the boy had healed some girl just by placing his hand on her. So far they hadn't been able to substantiate any of the story, but still who was he to argue? They were both being paid very well to keep up the surveillance, very well indeed.

Hawkins himself was a lot more open to the possibility that there were things out there they didn't know existed. Teenagers who appeared human, but were actually freaks of nature. With what he knew existed in the world, he was sure it was possible.

"Did you see that redheaded kid who just walked in? The one with the young girl? I'm sure he's one of the kids we're supposed to be looking out for." Gil Hawkins looked again at the photo in his hand. It certainly looked like the same kid, though of course he would be older now. It was a shame they didn't have a photo of the other boy, the one whom they were presuming was the one they were watching. Apparently he was a bit elusive. Their employer only knew that his name was Adam and that he was Australian. The boy who worked in the UFO centre was called Max but the description was similar, and he could have always changed his name and accent.

Their employer was convinced that Max was this Adam he had known some years ago. He had told them to watch the boy carefully and to let him know if he did anything out of the ordinary, though Hawkins and Beckett weren't quite sure what he meant by that statement. It had been assumed that they would know if and when it happened. They had also been told that the boy was a teleporter and that the others they were supposed to be watching out for were as well.

Beckett dialled the number they had been given and waited for the person at the other end to answer. When he relayed what, or rather whom, Hawkins had thought he had seen, the man on the other end of the speaker phone paused for a minute before replying. When he did so, he spoke faster, the urgent tone obvious in his voice.

"Are you sure it's the same boy?"

"As far as we can tell from the photo, sir. Looks a bit older, but definitely the same boy."

"This confirms my suspicions. He must be here to meet the other one. Proceed with extreme caution. I want both of them alive. Remember what I told you about their special abilities. Do you have the weapons you were issued with?"

Both men checked their sidearms and confirmed that they did. They still didn't quite believe what they had been told about those so-called abilities, but then again they weren't being paid to believe, just to get the job done.

************

Megabyte looked around the room with interest, as Jade showed him the various displays. Someone had certainly gone to an awful lot of trouble to research this whole alien landing thing.

"Here's the bit about the weather balloon," explained Jade. "Isn't this place so cool? So what do you think?"

"Yeah, really cool, Jade. These so called aliens don't exactly look the same as those pod people though, do they?" Megabyte was referring to the aliens they had run into when Jade had first broken out, that is, become a Tomorrow Person.

"Come on, Megabyte. Don't you believe that a UFO could have landed in 1947? You can't tell me, after all you've seen lately, that you don't believe it's possible."

Megabyte shrugged. "Who knows? I mean, the whole thing sounds like something out of a movie or a TV series. But then again…"

"When you consider what we know exists," Jade finished his sentence. "I suppose what we can do sounds like science fiction as well, and what about…" She stopped as she noticed someone approaching.

A dark haired teenager was walking towards them. "Hi," he said. "I'm Max. Milton said you were asking for me."

"Milton?" asked Megabyte.

"Yeah, the guy that runs this place. He told me on his way out that you wanted to see me."

Oh yeah, the geeky guy who kept giving Jade funny looks. Megabyte wondered what exactly Jade had gotten up to the last time she was here. His train of thought shifted as both he and Jade stared at the newcomer. This must be Liz's friend. He looked like a typical teenager, but he was getting some really strange vibes from him. Megabyte's mind went back a couple of months to the last time this had happened to him. Tell me this isn't another immortal, he thought.

Max reached out his hand, and as Megabyte took it the flash hit him. Within moments The Tomorrow Person found himself gazing at the twinkling lights of some sort of starscape. He didn't even have time to register what he was seeing before some kind of white light blinded him. As it faded he had the sense of being inside some kind of spaceship. At least it seemed like some kind of spaceship. Yeah right, like he was an expert on the interiors of spaceships. He then felt as though he was climbing out of some sort of cocoon thing and reaching out to someone else. Megabyte felt himself sway slightly as the familiar walls of the UFO centre re established themselves in front of his eyes. Whoa for a flash, that was strong. Who was this guy?

[Megabyte, are you okay? What was that?] Jade's voice had an edge of panic in it. Obviously she had seen the same thing he had. As Jade showered him with telepathic questions, Megabyte realised that Max was speaking.

"Sorry," Max said. "I didn't catch your names." He was obviously trying to pretend nothing had happened though Megabyte got the impression that Max was just as unnerved by their meeting as he and Jade were. What or who was Nasedo? As he picked up on the rather loud surface thoughts that were running through Max's mind, Megabyte couldn't help but wonder if he had received some sort of flash too. Was that possible?

Megabyte decided the best approach was to put on a friendly act, and leave the questions for later. He didn't sense anything hostile from this Max, and yet there was something not quite normal about him. He laughed to himself nervously, as a thought occurred to him. Yeah like Jade or himself were what you would call normal, either. Maybe if they gained Max's confidence they could find out some answers later.

"I'm Megabyte, and this is Jade. Your friends Liz and Maria, at the Crashdown, told us to look you up."

Megabyte waited for Max to reply, but instead the young man fell to the floor as a bright light struck him squarely in the chest. Megabyte spun around as two men stepped out from behind one of the display boards in the room. Both were holding weapons of some sort, weapons that were pointed at Jade and himself.

[Teleport, Jade. Go warn Adam and the others.]

Jade hesitated. [Megabyte…]

[Don't argue, Jade. Go now. I'll grab Max and be right behind you.] Megabyte watched in horror as he saw a bright light hit Jade just as she vanished from view. [Jade!]

"Quick, grab the other one before he teleports as well."

Teleports? Thought Megabyte. Oh crap, they knew about the teleporting, he realised. He tensed himself, ready to dive over to grab Max and teleport after Jade, when he felt something pushed against his back, and his arms were twisted behind him.

"Disappear, and I'll kill the other one."

Megabyte turned his head and saw a man in his late twenties pointing some sort of weapon at him. His bleached blond hair stood out in the dim lighting of the room. His companion, who looked about ten years older, had a similar weapon aimed at Max.

"Okay," he said. "I won't disappear. Who are you, and what do you want?" He reached out telepathically and tried to contact Jade. If she had lost consciousness before she had finished teleporting she could be in big trouble. He felt Jade at the edge of his mind, but couldn't get her to answer. As Megabyte prepared to contact Adam to warn him about what was happening, he felt a shock run through his body. He felt himself start to fall as he tried to fight off the approaching darkness. As he lost consciousness the memory of Jade teleporting re ran itself through his brain and he frantically tried to reach out for help telepathically. Hope you're okay kid….

Part Three

Adam Newman put down the book he was reading as Jade materialised in front of him. As she appeared, he felt an echo of something run through him, reminiscent of a mild electric shock. She looked around her, as though in a daze, and then collapsed.

Adam shook her, calling her name as he did so, but got no response. He lifted her onto the mattress he used as a bed when he stayed at the ship, and tried to contact her telepathically.

No reply.

He could still sense her, but couldn't establish any communication at all. She was definitely unconscious. It was lucky, he reflected, that she had managed to teleport when she had. Obviously she had initiated the teleport only moments before whatever had caused this, had affected her.

[Jade!]

Adam frowned. That sounded like Megabyte. He hoped that the American hadn't run into the same thing as Jade had. Adam concentrated and reached out for his friend, hoping to get some answers. He stopped his telepathic search as he felt something similar to what he had picked up from Jade minutes before, but a lot stronger. Whatever it was, the sensation had come from Megabyte.

[Megabyte! Are you okay?] Adam was sure his friend was definitely in some sort of trouble. What had he and Jade walked into?

Two light signatures materialised in front of him. Ami Jackson and Kevin Wilson looked around, taking in the situation in a single glance.

"Adam, did you feel that?" Ami looked worried as she bent over Jade. "I thought I heard Megabyte call out, but I can't contact him."

"I felt something like some sort of electric shock," added Kevin. "Do you know what's wrong with Jade? She and Megabyte were…" His voice tailed off as he began to think the worse.

Adam nodded in reply to Ami's question. So she and Kevin had felt it as well. "She and Megabyte were what, Kevin?"

"They were going to Roswell today, to look at that UFO centre Jade's been talking about," the young British boy replied.

Adam came to a decision. "Ami, you and Kevin stay with Jade. I'm going to teleport to Roswell to see if I can find Megabyte. If he's been affected by the same thing as Jade, he's going to need some help."

Ami shook her head in protest, dark braids flying in all directions. "Adam, you don't know what's happened. How is walking into the same thing going to help Megabyte?"

"Well, I can't just sit here and do nothing. I'll call for help if I need it, promise. Besides you know me, I can always teleport out if I need to." Adam closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the Roswell UFO centre, and Megabyte.

******

Kevin looked at the empty space where Adam had just been and turned to Ami. "Do you think one of us should go after him? I know he said that he can teleport if he needs to, but Megabyte wasn't able to, was he?"

Ami looked at the swirling water outside the observation window of the ship, trying not to sound as worried as she felt, as she replied to the younger boy. "There's no point in all of us running into danger, Kevin," she said, very aware of how much that sounded like something Adam himself would say. "We'll just have to hope that Adam and Megabyte are okay."

She knew that Adam saw himself as the leader of their group, but his tendency to put himself in danger to protect them, without a single thought for his own safety, was beginning to concern her. Someone was going to have to talk to him about sharing responsibility. After all he was only a few years older than herself and Megabyte. It was time he learnt that he didn't have to shoulder all that responsibility on his own. Maybe she could get General Damon to have a talk to him as well. After all he seemed to respect the older man's opinion, more than Megabyte himself did anyway. Mind you, Ami amended to herself, Megabyte's relationship with his father seemed to have improved quite a bit since the events at Cheyenne Mountain.

*************

Adam materialised in what he presumed was the main part of the UFO centre. Looking around, he noticed behind him a display board about the 1947 crash. His eye caught the picture of a weather balloon. He remembered that that had been one of the more popular theories.

Adam closed his eyes and sent a telepathic probe out, hoping to get a sense of the whereabouts of his friend. He caught a sense of something, he wasn't sure what. It was similar to what he had felt from Jade earlier. It had to be Megabyte, but if it was, the other boy must be unconscious.

"Can I help you?"

Adam snapped open his eyes and looked at the man in front of him. Careless! He reprimanded himself. He had been concentrating so hard in finding Megabyte that he had failed to notice someone enter the room. The man repeated his question and Adam decided to play the innocent tourist.

"Sorry," he said. "I was just taking in the wonder of this place. It's really great, isn't it? Better go and join the rest of my group now, before they realise I've been left behind."

The dark haired man drew his weapon, his intention clear. "Hold it right there, kid, or should I call you Adam?"

Adam felt his body stiffen. How would this man know his name? Had Megabyte and Jade walked into something by accident, or had someone been expecting them? But how would anyone know they were coming to Roswell, when they hadn't decided to visit until that morning themselves.

"Don't even think of teleporting, if you want to see your friends again."

"Teleport? I don't know what you're talking about." Adam tried to sound as innocent as possible. "And what makes you think my name is Adam?" Whoever this guy was, it sounded as though he had Megabyte and… Friends? What was he talking about? Megabyte and Jade had been the only Tomorrow People in Roswell, at least that he was aware of.

"Your description and your accent for one. The fact that your friend was probably trying to contact you when I shot him, for another."

"Shot him?" Adam was so taken back by the man's last statement that he forgot about the innocent tourist routine he was supposed to be following. He realised too late that he had probably given himself away with his outburst.

His captor replied by motioning to Adam with his taser gun. "Yeah,don't worry. He's okay, for now. The boss insisted we bring you freaks in alive. Mind you he didn't say undamaged, if you get my drift. Don't try and contact any others of your kind, either. We've been told how to pick when you're using telepathy. If you want to see your friends I suggest you do exactly as I tell you."

Adam nodded to show that he understood. "Okay," he said. "I'll do what you say."

[Adam! Adam, can you hear me?]

As he heard Ami's voice in his mind, Adam automatically found himself starting to reply. He felt a gun in his ribs, and stopped.

"I thought I warned you about using telepathy. Whoever you are talking to, ignore them. Unless you'd like to invite them to join the party, that is."

Adam nodded, and raised his mental shields, blocking his thoughts so Ami wouldn't be able to contact him. He hoped that she had enough sense to realise that something was very wrong, and that she wouldn't try and teleport here. It looked as though Ami had been right, after all. Adam was beginning to realise that he hadn't been very clever walking straight into the lion's den, as it were.

"Beckett." Adam's captor sounded annoyed as he answered his cellphone. "Well, of course Evans would be starting to come round. You gave him some of the sedative like we were told to? Good, and Hawkins? Sedate the other one as well. I don't feel like taking any chances. By the way, it looks as though we're going to be having some more company on our trip. See you shortly."

"Evans?" asked Adam. This must be the person who had been captured along with Megabyte. "Whoever, he is, he's not one of us. Look you've got two of us, let him go."

"The Colonel warned me you might say something like that. Even though it's obvious now that you're the one the Colonel was after, he's still a loose end. Besides, having an hostage will help to keep you and your friend Damon under control."

"The Colonel?" Adam was beginning to get a really nasty feeling about all this. He hoped this colonel wasn't who he was starting to suspect it might be.

"You'll find out soon enough. Move!"

*******************

Maria looked at her watch again, "Why do you think they're taking so long?" she asked Liz. "Even if Megabyte and Jade waited for Max to close up, they should be here by now."

She opened the front door of the UFO centre, and gestured for her friend to follow her inside. " Michael and the others will be wondering where we are." Michael, Isabel and Alex had called in at the Crashdown just as the girls' shift had ended, and were going to join them for coffee. If you're going to party, do it properly, Maria had said as she extended the invitation to include them.

Liz opened her mouth in protest. "Maria, we shouldn't…" she started to say, but then changed her mind. Once Maria made her mind up, she was usually hard to discourage from her chosen course of action.

"Come on, Liz. It's time we reminded them how long we've been waiting out here."

Liz frowned. "It's not like Max to forget something like that," she observed. "If he says he's going to be somewhere at a certain time, he usually is. Megabyte and Jade would have told him we were meeting them after work for coffee. I'm sure they would."

Maria poked her head around the main display room and saw a tall dark haired boy standing next to one of the displays. He seemed to be miles away, totally lost in thought.

"Come on Liz," she repeated her earlier statement. "We'll go ask that good looking guy if he's seen them."

Liz smiled to herself. Trust Maria to come out with a statement like that. She was about to enter the room when a thought occurred to her. "What's he doing here after closing?" she asked. "Maria?"

Maria was feeling around in her pockets, first one then the other. "I can't find my keys," she complained. "Mom's car keys are on that ring. She'll kill me if I've lost them." She looked at the boy in the display room, and then back down the corridor towards the front door a few times before coming to a decision.

"Give me a minute while I just go check if I can find them. Keep a look out and don't let that guy out of your sight, okay?"

"Yeah sure, Maria. Don't take too long though." Liz glanced around nervously as she waited for Maria. Even if this guy could tell them where Max was, there was still something not right about the whole situation. She knew Max well enough by now to know he should be there, waiting by the door with their new friends.

After a few moments Liz walked out into the corridor, gesturing to Maria that she'd been long enough. She glanced at her watch, wondering again what had happened to Max and the others.

"Found them," exclaimed Maria triumphantly, waving her keys at Liz. "I must have dropped them just as we came in. Is that guy still there?"

Liz nodded. She headed back towards the display room and then stopped, gesturing Maria to be quiet. "Did you see that other guy just enter the room?" she hissed, pressing herself against the wall, hoping he hadn't noticed them. "Something strange is going on."

"Weird, weird or alien weird?" interrupted Maria, following Liz's lead and speaking softly.

Liz shrugged. "Weird enough to be worried about where Max is," she replied. "Maria! What are you doing?"

Maria pushed past Liz, edging into the room so that she could see what was going on. In the couple of minutes they had been in the corridor the two men in the display room had started talking. One of them had an accent, Australian by the sound of it.

"If Max is in trouble, don't you think we should try and find out what's going on?' she reasoned.

Liz peered over Maria's shoulder and stifled a scream. "Maria," she whispered. "He's got a gun!" She grabbed Maria's arm and bundled her behind one of the bigger displays as the shrill ring of a cell phone echoed through the room.

What was going on? She wondered. The middle-aged man had his gun pushed into the younger man's back and was talking into his phone. She strained to hear what he was saying, picking up the end of the conversation.

"…more company on our trip. See you shortly."

Liz noticed the expression on the dark-haired boy's face. He looked scared, though he was obviously trying very hard to hide it from his captor. As she listened to him speak, Liz felt an echo of that fear run through her own mind.

"Evans?" he asked. "Whoever he is, he's not one of us. Look you've got two of us, let him go."

Maria squeezed Liz's arm and she realised the other girl was as scared as she was. She turned to give her a shaky smile, and turned back to catch the tail end of the reply the man gave.

"…keep you and your friend Damon under control."

"The Colonel?" asked the young man.

"You'll find out soon enough." Came the reply. The man gestured with his gun. "Move!"

As the two men started towards the door, Liz saw the younger one look around and then hurriedly try to hide his action. He reminded Liz of an animal picking up a scent. It was almost as though he had sensed we were here she thought, dismissing the crazy idea quickly.

The older man paused in the doorway, checking to make sure the coast was clear. As he did so, the boy looked straight over at Liz and Maria and their eyes met. He did know we were here Liz thought. But how? His huge brown eyes reflected the fear she felt herself and he subtly shook his head, mouthing the word 'no' at the same time.

"You're not thinking of calling for help, I hope?" asked the other man, waving his gun as though to make his point clear. He had a suspicious look on his face, but luckily didn't seem to realise they had company.

Liz held her breath and hoped their luck would hold.

The Australian looked at the man and shook his head. "No," he said. "I think you've made it perfectly clear what you'll do if I did."

"Sensible boy. Come on, I think your friends are waiting for us. The Colonel is very anxious to see you again." He gestured towards the door, and they headed towards the exit of the UFO centre.

Liz and Maria exchanged worried glances as they saw the two men leave. "Liz, did you hear that? They've got Max, we'd better tell Michael and the others."

Liz's mind was racing. What had the young man meant by 'not one of us?' Surely he wasn't talking about aliens? What had happened to Megabyte and Jade? They must have been here when … Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of Max in the hands of this Colonel, whoever he was. If the Colonel and his men found out Max's secret, they could all be in great danger. Her train of thought came to a crashing halt as she realised that Maria was still talking.

"Who do you think that young guy was? What did he mean by 'you have two of us'?

Liz, are you listening to me?" Maria ushered her out of the UFO centre, and they headed back to the Crashdown where they were meant to be meeting Michael, Isabel and Alex. Hopefully if they all put their heads together they would be able to work out what to do next.

Part Four

"Michael they've got Max!" Liz sounded distraught as she and Maria entered the Crashdown.

"Calm down Liz," Alex Whitman offered his friend a seat. "Who's got Max? What's happened?"

"Over at the UFO centre. There was a guy holding a gun on this other Australian guy…" As Maria paused for breath, Michael interrupted her.

"How do you know the guy was Australian?" he wanted to know. After all it was important to have all the facts wasn't it? He peered out of the window of the Crashdown as he waited for the answer, carefully pulling the blinds to one side. The UFO centre seemed quiet, especially considering what Liz and Maria were telling them.

"I saw Crocodile Dundee didn't I?" Maria sounded indignant as she replied. "Anyway the guy with the gun said that he had Max and that he'd hurt him if the Australian and his friend didn't… "

"What friend?" asked Isabel. "Why would this man take Max? Do you think he knows who he is?" She sat down on the empty chair next to Liz, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

Michael knew all too well what must be running through Isabel's mind. If whoever had Max found out who or what he was, he didn't want to think about what they might do to him. Better not to think the worst. "Sounds to me as though it might not be Max they were after," he commented. "Is it possible that they want this Australian and his friend whoever they are?"

"Damon," said Maria.

"What?" asked Michael.

"That's the name Beckett used for the friend. Beckett was the man with the gun," explained Maria. "I got the feeling that maybe he and the other bad guy were waiting for them to show at the UFO centre or something."

"And Max was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," reasoned Liz slowly. "After all the Australian said something about Max being 'not one of us.' It struck me as a weird thing to say at the time. I'm not sure what he meant by it exactly." She paused as another thought hit her. "Megabyte and Jade!"

"Who?" Michael wondered just how many strangers were wandering around Roswell today. The number of disappearances also seemed to be rising. Obviously Roswell wasn't as safe as Sheriff Valenti would like to make out it was.

"Maria and I met them at the Crashdown earlier. We were going to meet them at the UFO centre after Max finished. They must have been there when Max was taken. Do you think they might be in trouble too?" Liz was beginning to look upset again.

Michael rose to his feet. It was definitely time for someone to take charge of the situation. "I'm going to go have a look over there," he announced. "We're not going to find out what's happened to Max unless we do."

Isabel stood up and headed for the door. "I'm coming with you. Don't look at me that way Michael. Max is my brother. Besides I can look after myself. You're not the only one around here with powers remember."

Michael shrugged. There was no point even trying to argue with Isabel when she got that look in her eye. He hoped he wasn't going to regret his decision to let her come as he looked out the door and onto the street again. All quiet on the western front or at least in a small New Mexican town.

"Be careful," Maria told him. "We don't know if that guy is still lurking around out there. He looked dangerous you know."

"They'll be fine Maria." Alex tried to reassure her, as he turned and spoke to Michael. "I'll stay here with the girls. They still look pretty shaken up. Besides if Megabyte and Jade show up, there should be someone here in case."

"Yeah okay," Michael waited for Isabel to grab her jacket and then headed for the UFO centre. He stopped just outside the entrance and looked around carefully. It looked quiet enough. Even that idiot Milton didn't seen to be anywhere in sight. Still he didn't feel like taking any chances, at least not where he, Isabel and Max were concerned. He looked again at the small alien figures standing guard in front of the small ticket box. If only Milton knew who he really had working for him.

As he and Isabel walked along quietly towards the main display room, Michael mulled over the conversation in the Crashdown in his mind, trying to make sense of it all. He deliberately hadn't told the others that he suspected that the person that Beckett had referred to as Damon was probably the young man Liz and Maria knew as Megabyte. It was the only thing he could think of that made sense, but if so who was the Australian guy, and what had he meant by not one of us? At least it didn't sound as though Beckett knew who or what Max was, for now.

It appeared that Maria had been right and it was Megabyte and the Australian that Beckett and his companion had been after. He wondered what they could have done for someone to come after them like that. From what Maria and Liz had said, they had seemed quite normal. But then, he thought to himself, so did he, Isabel and Max.

Michael smiled to himself as he thought of Maria, and how concerned she had been about him coming here. She'd got a lot closer to him than anyone else ever had, though of course he'd never admit that to her.

"This must be where it happened," Isabel interrupted his musings. She looked around, a puzzled look on her face. "Can you feel all the energy in the air, Michael? I've never felt anything like it before, have you?"

Michael shook his head. He bent down and ran his hand over the floor, trying to get a sense of what had gone down in the room. The flash hit him very suddenly and clearly. The air itself seemed to crackle with strong psychic energy. He leant again one of the display boards, trying to steady himself and saw that Isabel was doing the same.

"Did you feel that?" he asked her. "I've had flashes before, but never one that clear. There's definitely something very strange going on here." As she nodded, he remembered what he had seen;

Max being hit by some kind of strange energy weapon, followed by a blond girl, about the same age, disappearing in a bright light. A redheaded young man, slightly older being held at gunpoint and then being shot by the same weapon that had downed Max. Michael then saw another, dark haired boy, maybe a fraction older than the redhead, appear out of thin air in the same sort of flash of light that the girl had vanished in earlier. The same man that had shot Max then appeared and pointed a gun at the Australian. At least Michael presumed this was the same young man whom Maria and Liz had described earlier. It certainly matched the description of what they had said they had witnessed anyway.

Michael put his arms around Isabel. He could feel her shaking. " Don't worry," he said. "We'll get Max back. We have to. Come on, let's head back to the Crashdown. It looks as though we've done all we can do here."

Well, he thought to himself, it looks as though we know what happened to Jade and Megabyte. He was concerned by what he had seen in the flash though, whoever had Max and the others seemed to be very dangerous, judging by the weaponry they were using. Also he'd never seen anyone disappear into thin air like that before. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he, Isabel and Max weren't alone. Were there other aliens on the planet beside themselves? Maybe if they tried to track down who exactly Megabyte, Jade and their Australian friend were, it might help them to find some answers. Time for Alex to do some more hacking on the net, he decided.

As they crossed the street on their way back to the Crashdown, Michael looked around again for a sign that anything was out of the ordinary. No, things looked quiet enough. It's amazing how deceiving looks can be, he thought.

He opened the door to the Crashdown and was surprised to see two teenagers sitting talking to Liz, Maria and Alex. The boy he hadn't seen before, but the girl he recognised straight away from the flash.

Michael decided to get straight to the point, as time wasn't exactly on their side. If whoever had Max found out he wasn't exactly human, it wouldn't exactly take them long to figure out there might be others like him. There was no way Michael would let anyone get hold of himself or Isabel, and do to them what were done to the original aliens in the 1947 crash. Nor would he stand by and watch the same thing happen to Max.

***************

Kevin looked up as the door of the Crashdown opened. Two teenagers, a tall blonde girl and a brown haired boy about the same age, walked in.

The young man marched up to Jade and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Where's Max?" he demanded. "What have you done with him?" His eyes met Jade's and she pulled away. Kevin could sense the anger coming from him, in fact he seemed to be full of it. This was all Jade needed after what she'd been through.

Maria glared at him. "Michael! Try to come across with at least a bit of understanding. She's had an awful fright."

Jade and Kevin exchanged a very long look before Kevin answered. "Yes, we do know what's happened to Max, and no we don't know who has him. Nice to meet you too, Michael. I'm Kevin, by the way."

Kevin put his hand out to shake Michael's. Might as well be polite, he thought to himself, even if this guy doesn't seem to want to be. As they shook hands, he experienced the same strange flash that Jade had said she and Megabyte had picked up earlier from Max.

"He's like Max!" exclaimed Jade. She put her hand up to her mouth as Kevin looked at her warningly.

[Use telepathy, Jade. Remember Ami said not to tell them about the Tomorrow People unless we had to.]

"Telepathy? Tomorrow People?" asked Michael, suspiciously.

Kevin tried not very successfully to hide his surprise and then decided not to bother. "You heard what I said? Who are you people?" What had Adam and Megabyte got themselves into, he wondered. He thought about contacting Ami, who had gone to let General Damon know what had happened, but thought against it. Besides, he was a bit dubious about using telepathy until he and Jade worked out exactly how much of their conversation would be overheard.

Michael sounded angry. "I think it's you who owes us an explanation," he said. "Who's got Max, and what's going on here?"

Liz put her arms around Jade, who was looking very upset. "Don't mind Michael," she said. "He's just worried about Max. We all are."

Jade seemed to pull herself together as she glared angrily at Michael. "You're not the only one who's worried about someone, you know. Whoever has Max also has Megabyte, and probably Adam as well. I've already been shot at once today, and barely escaped myself. I'm really not in the mood for your macho crap." With that last statement, she sat down again and stared into her cup of hot chocolate.

Alex inserted himself between the two of them, quickly. "Truce, okay," he said. "Look, it sounds as though you guys have got as much at stake here as we have. I think we should trust each other. Michael?"

Michael nodded, although Kevin could still sense a great deal of suspicion coming from him. He'd be very surprised if they were told any more than Michael felt he had to. Whatever was bugging this guy, it had been doing so for quite some time. There was more than just the disappearance of his friend behind his strong emotions. Wonder what that weird stuff in that flash was? Kevin thought about strengthening his mental shields a bit more for a moment, to try and deaden some of the feelings he was picking up on, but decided against it.

"Jade?" Alex looked at the British girl.

She nodded, and turned to Kevin. "Do you think we can trust them?"

Kevin nodded. Even with what he had been receiving from Michael he still thought that trust was the best way to go in this situation. Besides, he had a suspicion that these people had just as much to hide as the Tomorrow People did. If he were right it would certainly explain all these vibes in the room.

"Do you think we should tell Ami first?" asked Jade.

"Who's this Ami?" asked Michael. The boy wasn't happy with the thought of someone else becoming involved; that much was obvious from the thoughts Kevin could hear running through his mind. "With Max gone I think it's up to me to take charge here and that includes working out what we should do next and who we should include in those plans."

Jade interjected before Michael could add anything else. She sounded annoyed, and Kevin didn't blame her. "If anyone should be making decisions here it should be Kevin, at least until Ami gets here."

"Like I’m going to take orders from some kid," Michael replied angrily. "No way."

Kevin sighed. The fact that he was a good inch or so taller than the other boy hadn't even come into the equation. "Hello, do I look like a kid?" he asked Michael. "I'm eighteen." He noticed the annoyed tone creeping into his own voice and smiled to himself. Good. Even though they needed to work together, Michael was fast starting to get up his nose. It was probably a good thing Megabyte wasn't here. He and Michael would be at each other's throats by now, of that Kevin was sure.

"You don't look it," Michael muttered. "Still doesn't mean you're going to take over."

Liz spoke before Kevin could think of a suitable reply, saving him the problem of how to avoid an argument with the younger boy. Couldn't the guy see they had enough problems without fighting amongst themselves?

"I've just remembered something I overheard at the UFO centre. The Australian guy, Adam, said something that I couldn't make sense of at the time. He said you've already got two of us." She turned to Jade and Kevin. "He was referring to himself and Megabyte, wasn't he? They're like you, whatever that means. The man who took him mentioned some Colonel, as well. Do you know anything about that?"

All of the colour drained from Kevin's face, as he put two and two together. It couldn't be, could it? If it was, then Adam, Megabyte and Max were in really big, big trouble.

"Kevin, what's wrong?"

"I think we should contact Ami. If this Colonel is who I think he is, none of us are safe."

Jade caught a trace of Kevin's thoughts as he spoke, and shuddered. [Ami?] she 'pathed, focusing her mind on the older girl.

[Yes, Jade, what is it?] Ami's telepathic voice sounded worried, very worried. [I'm just heading over to meet General Damon at the hospital. Millie's been involved in an accident.] Millie was Megabyte's younger sister. Kevin felt sorry for Ami, having to tell the General that not only was his daughter in hospital, but his son was missing as well. No wonder she sounded so worried.

Kevin interrupted the conversation. [Don't worry, Ami, we'll talk to you later, when we're a bit more sure about what's going on.] After listening to what she had told Jade, he'd decided that he and Jade could sort this problem out by themselves. No point in worrying her about their suspicions until they had proof.

[Are you sure, Kevin?]

[Sure, contact us later, when you've talked to Megabyte's dad, okay.]

[Okay. I'll get back to you when I've checked on things here in London.]

Michael and Isabel exchanged glances as Ami broke the link. Judging by Isabel's expression she too had picked up the telepathic conversation. There was something about those two, but Kevin wasn't sure what. If Michael and maybe Isabel were telepathic, why then couldn't he pick up on them using it themselves. Unless of course, their telepathy was only limited. Maybe they could pick up, but couldn't broadcast. It was the only thing that made sense.

Obviously Michael didn't trust them enough to let them know that Isabel and he were the same, whatever that was. Kevin decided to keep his suspicions to himself, for the moment. No need to get the other boy even more on edge than he already was.

Kevin cleared his throat. Explanation time, he thought, hoping the trust they were going to put in this group wasn't misplaced. Hopefully if the Roswell teens saw how much trust the Tomorrow People were placing in them, they might be persuaded to share their secrets too.

Part Five

Ami entered the busy London hospital and looked around for directions to the casualty department. Frank, General Damon's aide, had told her that this was the hospital that Millie had been taken to. Hopefully it would be fairly straightforward to track her down, though Ami still wasn't sure how she was going to tell the General what had happened to Megabyte and Adam.

The receptionist glanced up at her, and Ami noticed the name tag she was wearing on her floral blouse. Teresa Cording was probably used to seeing worried people she decided. She must have seen enough of them during her time as receptionist in the casualty department.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"I'm looking for a friend who was brought in earlier by the paramedics. Her name is Damon, Millicent Damon."

Teresa keyed the name into her computer and waited for the details to come up. "Yes, here it is. Take a seat and I'll see what I can find out for you. Do you want me to tell the family you're here?"

"Yes, please. My name is Ami. I need to get a message to Millie's father. It's rather urgent."

As she sat down, Ami looked around the waiting area. The hospital seemed very busy. There was a group of kids with various degrees of scrapes and bruises sitting in the chairs behind her. They were dressed in soccer uniforms and it looked as though they'd had a very enthusiastic game judging by the state of them. Behind them sat a young girl, holding her arm in pain, leaning against an older woman. Probably her mother, Ami surmised.

"Ami?"

Ami turned to see a young blond man dressed in blue nurses' uniform. She'd been so deep in thought she hadn't even noticed him approach. She nodded.

"Hi, I'm Steve. I've been looking after Millicent Damon." He continued hastily, noticing Ami's reaction. "Don't worry, she's going to be fine. Her father asked if you could wait in the relatives' room for him. He seems really pleased that you've come. Follow me and I'll show you the way."

As Steve showed her into the room, Ami recognised the gangly teenager waiting inside immediately. She nodded her thanks to the nurse and turned to the boy seated on the chair in front of her.

"Geoff, what are you doing here?"

Geoff Anderson looked up at her, relief flooding his features. "At last, someone to talk to. All this waiting is driving me insane" He looked behind her, almost as though he was waiting for someone else to walk through the door. His face dropped slightly as he realised she was alone. "Ami, I thought you must have come with Megabyte. Isn't he here with you? Don't you know what's happened?"

Ami shook her head, in answer to both questions. "I went to WorldEx to find General Damon, and Frank told me that Millie had been in an accident." As she looked closer at Millie's boyfriend, Ami noticed he had a bandage around his hand, and dried blood through his sandy brown hair.

"Yeah. Some idiot tried to run her down. Luckily I noticed the car in time and managed to get her out of the way just before it hit. We hit the ground pretty hard though, as you can see." Ami could hear the anger in Geoff's voice as he continued. " Now that I think of it, the car had been following us for a couple of blocks. When Millie went to cross the road, the driver deliberately accelerated. It wasn't an accident!"

********

"Are you sure about that Geoff?" Both young people turned at the sound of a male voice with a strong American accent. General William Damon, Megabyte and Millie's father stood framed in the doorway.

Geoff nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure. It's not every day that you see someone try to run down your girlfriend. If I ever get hold of the…" His voice tailed off, as he tried to control his feelings.

Bill Damon decided to change the subject quickly. He didn't really need another teenager looking for trouble. He'd had enough of that with his son and his friends to last him a lifetime. "Ami, am I glad to see you. I've been trying to contact Megabyte on his cell phone for hours. Finally got an answer about an hour ago, and it turns out to be Penny Weston. Apparently Megabyte left the phone there when he picked up Jade this morning."

Bill noticed the look on Ami's face as he spoke and his heart sank. Surely Marmaduke wasn't in trouble again. He was beginning to think the Tomorrow People should just paint bullseyes on their backs and hang a sign saying 'I'm a TP, come and get me.' Obviously the talk he'd had with his son and Adam after the episode at Cheyenne Mountain had been totally ignored, as usual.

"How's Millie?" Ami's question shook him out of his reverie.

"The doctor thinks she may have a broken arm, but apart from that she's fine. Just a bit shook up. We're waiting for the x-rays to come back before the doctors do anything further treatment wise. Millie's a very lucky young lady. It sounds as though you might have saved her life, Geoff. Thanks, I owe you one."

"When can I see her?" asked Geoff.

"She's with her mother now, in one of the cubicles. I'm sure if you ask one of the nurses, they'll let you see her while they wait for the results."

Bill breathed a sigh of relief as the teenager left the room. He had a feeling that whatever Ami had to say it wasn't something that Geoff should know about. The fewer people who knew about the kids' special powers the better, especially with the fact that the list of people who were aware of the Tomorrow People seemed to grow longer each day.

"So," he demanded. "Where's Megabyte? I know he's out with Jade, but Penny hasn't seen either of them since this morning. She sounded very worried when I spoke to her, and frankly so am I."

Ami hesitated before replying and Bill felt himself groan inwardly. He'd known her long enough to know that bad news was coming. Why did he have this nasty suspicion it was to do with his son…again. He ran his hand through his dark hair. He was amazed he had any hair left after some of the more recent exploits of his son and his friends. "Go on Ami, I've already thought the worst."

"Megabyte's been kidnapped. We're not sure who has him, but they took someone else as well. A boy called Max, he works at the UFO centre in Roswell."

"Roswell, as in Roswell, New Mexico?" Bill didn't even want to know what his son was doing visiting a UFO centre, especially in that town. Why did it have to be that town, of all places. He noticed that Ami wasn't finished. "Okay," he groaned. "What else? No, don't tell me. Adam went looking for him and has disappeared as well."

Ami stared at him with wide eyes. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Let's just say I've know Adam long enough to know his habits by now." And long enough to know he isn't going to change those habits either, Bill thought.

Bill sighed, trying to stay focused and keep all the thoughts on who might have Adam and Megabyte out of his mind. "Okay, Ami. I need you to sit down and tell me everything you know about what happened, everything." Another thought occurred to him. "Is Jade okay? Penny said she was spending the day with Megabyte. How come whoever has Megabyte, Adam and this Max didn't manage to grab her?"

"She teleported."

"In front of the kidnappers? So, in other words, they probably now know they're dealing with kids who can teleport."

"Megabyte told her to teleport. Besides she didn't really have a choice. They had fired at her with some sort of weapon." She thought for a moment before continuing. "Jade said it was like those taser weapons she and Megabyte saw in an episode of Buffy last month."

"Buffy?"

"The Vampire Slayer. Anyway, the weapons fired some sort of electrical current. That's what the one that hit Megabyte felt like anyway."

This story was getting more worrying by the minute, thought Bill. "Megabyte's been hit by a taser weapon? But how would you know, no forget that question, I wasn't thinking." He stopped, and suddenly paled. "Oh, hell."

"General Damon, what's wrong?" asked Ami, concern showing in her voice as she spoke.

"Don't you see, Ami? Why would anyone use a taser weapon against ordinary teenagers in the first place? It sounds to me as though they must have known about you kids being able to teleport. In fact I'm starting to wonder if whoever has Megabyte and Adam knows about the Tomorrow People." He thought for a moment and then added, " This Max who works at the UFO centre, what does he look like?"

"Tall, dark hair, dark eyes…" Ami's voice tailed off as she realised who else she knew who fit that description. "You mean, they thought Max was Adam? But why?"

"I received a file on my desk, a couple of months back. It was to do with a WorldEx investigation, one that I was trying to look into, discretely, of course. I hadn't mentioned it to Adam yet, as I didn't have anything concrete. A while back in Roswell, there were reports of a boy healing a waitress, a boy with dark hair. The boy's name was Evans. I knew it wasn't Adam, even though the description of the boy was similar, but anyone else who knew about the Tomorrow People might have put two and two together and come up with six."

"Max's last name is Evans," added Ami, confirming what Bill had already worked out for himself. "You mean these people deliberately went after Max because they thought he was Adam? Do you think that when they saw Megabyte they must have recognised him? Then when Adam…" Ami realised something. "General, Kevin and Jade are in Roswell now. I'd better warn them"

As Bill watched her eyes glaze over, he knew she was initiating telepathic contact with Kevin and Jade. To his surprise she opened them again, brown eyes meeting his own as she asked another question, concern showing both in her voice and the worried look she gave him. "Do you have any idea who might have Adam and Megabyte? Who would know enough about the Tomorrow People to deliberately go after us like that?"

Bill knew the expression on his face was as grim as the thoughts going through his mind as he replied. "I'm afraid I've got a very fair idea of who it might be, Ami. I'm just hoping I'm wrong." He remembered a very worrying report he had received a couple of days ago, a report he now wished he'd shared with the Tomorrow People, and then to what Geoff had said as well. Surely the fact that Millie had been involved in a deliberate accident at the same time her brother had disappeared was a coincidence wasn't it? Wasn't it? Bill sat down on the spare chair in the relatives' room, and tried not to think about what could be happening to Megabyte and Adam. He felt sorry for this Max kid, whatever was going down, it sounded as though Max Evans was now well and truly part of it as well.

Part Six

As Beckett ushered Adam down the long hallway, the Australian tried again to contact Megabyte. He hoped that as he had his back to the man, Beckett wouldn't be able to notice the telepathy. Adam could sense that Megabyte was nearby, but couldn't raise a reply. Megabyte was definitely unconscious. Drugged, judging from the conversation he had overheard earlier.

Adam was careful not to drop his mental shields too far. He didn't want the other Tomorrow People in the same situation that he, Megabyte and whoever this Max was, were in. He had felt Ami try to initiate contact with him a number of times since leaving the UFO Centre but had managed to block her.

Beckett opened the door to what looked like some sort of office and shoved Adam, not too gently, through. A man was sitting at the desk, talking on the phone. His back was to Adam, and the Tomorrow Person could only just hear what was being said.

"Yes, I've sent the information a short time ago, Trent. It should be in your inbox now. Yes, I've received what you sent me as well. As far as I can tell our problems don't look as dissimilar as I first thought. I can see our arrangement is going to work out very satisfactory for both of us." The man paused for a moment before continuing. "Yes, I'm sure we can keep to the same arrangement I enjoyed with your predecessor. Remember if you need any help dealing with the man responsible for his death, you know where to come."

The man spun round in his chair, a cruel smile lighting up his mouth, as he noticed Adam. "Trent, my delivery has arrived. I will contact you after I have tested the next phrase. Goodbye."

Adam felt the colour drain from his face as he recognised the man sitting at the desk. It was a man he had hoped none of the Tomorrow People would ever see again.

"Well, Adam, we meet again. How many years has it been? Seven?" He's trying to gauge my reaction to seeing him again, the Australian realised, knowing full well that he wasn't hiding his shock as well as he should have been able to.

"Not long enough, obviously."

"Now Adam, is that a very nice way to greet an old friend? I suggest for your own good, and the good of your friends, that you try and keep things civil. It's never a good idea to upset someone who has the power of life and death over you."

Adam bit his lip, and tried to control himself before replying. "Where's Megabyte?" he demanded. "What do you want with Max? As I told one of your men, he's not a Tomorrow Person. You've got no reason to hold him. Let him go."

Masters laughed, sending a shiver down Adam's spine. "I see you haven't changed young man," he said. "I seem to remember you saying the same thing about your friend, Megabyte, when we first met. Let him go he's not one of us, you said. And what happens? The brat holds a gun on me, and then teleports his father away before I can have the satisfaction of killing him. No, I haven't forgotten what happened last time we met. In fact I've been looking forward to meeting both of you again for some time."

Adam sat down in the chair Beckett pushed him into, and tried to compose himself. He was feeling scared, both for himself, and for the other Tomorrow People. He wondered if he dared to contact Ami and the others, but then thought against it. Better not to take the chance. At the moment he'd concentrate on finding where Megabyte and Max were being held. Hopefully Megabyte wouldn't be feeling the effect of the drugs for too much longer, and then they could teleport out of here, taking Max with them.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Obviously you don't want to believe me about Max, but it's true. He's not a Tomorrow Person. What are you planning to do with us, anyway?"

"Let's just call it an experiment, one that I have been working on for sometime. You're very privileged, you and your friends, you know." Masters paused for a moment. "How many of you teleporters are there now, by the way? Beckett here reported a young blond girl teleporting at the UFO centre. I'd like to also give my regards to Lisa, and that young British boy. Wasn't his name Kevin?"

" I haven't seen Lisa for quite a few years," replied Adam honestly. After her mother had been kidnapped and threatened by Masters, Lisa had severed all contact with the other Tomorrow People. She had blamed herself for what had almost happened to her mother and was scared that next time she might not be so lucky. Adam had gone to her home to talk to her a few months later and found both Lisa and her mother gone. The neighbours had no idea where they were, but thought it might be somewhere overseas. All attempts made to find her had come up with nothing, and she ignored all telepathic communications as well. After a few months, Adam, Megabyte and Kevin had decided to respect her wishes and gave up trying. Kevin, in particular had been very upset by Lisa's decision, as he had really connected with the older girl.

"What about the others?" asked Masters. "Who was that blond girl? I don't remember seeing her before."

Adam sat back in his chair, saying nothing. There was no way he was going to betray his friends. Mentioning Lisa had been different altogether, if the Tomorrow People couldn't find her, he doubted that Masters would have any more luck. Wherever Lisa was, at least she was safe, which was more than he could say for himself at the moment.

Masters glared at Adam, "Still the determined one, I see. We'll discuss the rest of the teleporters later, when you've had time to realise the futility of your silence." He walked around the side of his desk so that he was staring straight into Adam's eyes, as he spoke.

Masters glanced at his watch. "We'd better fit the devices while there's still enough sedative in their system to stop them teleporting. Tell Doctor Brooke-Smythe to meet us in the laboratory." The last statement was directed at Beckett who nodded and headed out the door.

"What devices?" asked Adam, not sure he really wanted to hear the answer. Part of him wanted to teleport away right now, the other part needed to find Megabyte and Max first. Besides Adam couldn't just leave Megabyte and Max in Masters' hands. He couldn't just look after his own welfare, put himself first. As a Tomorrow Person he really didn't have that option.

Masters chuckled. "You'll find out soon enough…"

*********

Kevin paused as he heard Ami's voice in his mind. [So General Damon thinks Millie's accident wasn't an accident?] he asked telepathically.

[It gets worse,] continued Ami. [He also has a theory that whoever has Adam and Megabyte took Max because they though he was Adam. Apparently a report came into WorldEx about a boy healing someone by placing his hand on her.]

[Max healed someone using some sort of psychic power?] asked Jade. [That would explain the vibes Megabyte and I got when we first met him.]

Isabel and Michael looked at each other, and Michael laid a warning hand on Jade's shoulder. "Who are you talking to?" he demanded. " Did you say *General * Damon? I thought you said you people are peaceful. What are you doing confiding in the military?" He stepped back and raised his hand, acting almost as though it was some kind of weapon.

[Talk to you later, Ami] said Kevin. [I think we've got a problem here. Come to Roswell when you've finished talking to the General.]

[Is everything okay, Kevin?] Ami wondered what he meant by a problem.

[Yeah, don't worry. Just got to explain a few more things, I think.] Kevin reassured her.

[I'll be with you shortly. I just want to say hello to Millie, and pop in to pick up Megabyte's cellphone from Jade's Mum. General Damon wants me to take it in case he wants to contact us.]

[ I forgot about Mum,] remembered Jade. [Tell her I'm okay, and I'll talk to her later.] Jade knew what would happen if she popped home to see her mum now. There was no way that Penny Weston would let her come back to Roswell. She was pleased it was Ami going to pick up the phone and not her.

Michael interrupted again. "Are you people listening to a word I'm saying?" he asked, starting to lose patience.

"Hold it a minute, Michael. It sounds as though they might have some more information about Max." Isabel sounded as though she was prepared to listen to what Kevin had to say, which was more than Jade could say for Michael. She decided she liked Isabel. Michael she wasn't too sure of still. He seemed to think the whole world was out to get him for some strange reason. Jade shrugged. That was his problem, not hers. As long as he was prepared to help them get Megabyte and Adam back, he could be as strange as he liked.

"Thanks, Isabel." Kevin paused before continuing, almost as though he wasn't sure of the right words to use. "Michael, you're not like us, are you? I mean you seem to be able to hear some of our conversation, but I get the impression you can't hear all of it. A bit like a one sided phone call." His question took Jade completely by surprise. What on earth was Kevin talking about?

Maria dug her elbow into Liz, and dived straight into the conversation. She looked very annoyed, to say the least. Obviously she'd had plenty of dealings with Michael and his rather tactful ways before. Or maybe her look was due to the fact she wasn't prepared to sit and listen to Kevin try and explain things? Jade wasn't really sure. All she knew was as she waited for the blonde girl to speak; she was starting to feel annoyed herself. All this talk wasn't exactly helping Megabyte and the others was it? At least it seemed as though someone else here was beginning to feel the same way she was.

"Okay, we could spend all day here working out the difference between you Future People and aliens, but I get the impression Max, Megabyte and Adam would like us to rescue them sooner rather than later"

Jade nearly choked on her hot chocolate. This wasn't exactly what she had been expecting Maria to come out with. She put her cup down and waited to see what else was coming because it certainly didn't sound as though the girl was finished, not by a long way. In fact she sounded as though she was only getting started.

"Isn't that right, Liz? Alex? Also could you guys stop using telepathy or whatever as it's really rude for us mere humans who can't hear any of it." Maria stood there glaring at both Michael and Kevin, trying to pretend she couldn't see the filthy looks her friend was giving her.

"Aliens? Yeah right." Jade tried to keep the amazement out of her voice. "Where are the green glowing eyes and the dark glasses?" She remembered what Adam and Megabyte had told her about their experience at Cheyenne Mountain and blushed. "Oh, okay a different kind of alien then…" Jade decided to get straight to the point. "Michael, are you an alien? Is that what Maria's trying to say?" It would certainly be an explanation as to why he seemed to be able to overhear their telepathic conversation.

"Gee thanks, Maria," said Michael, with a sarcastic tone that would have made Megabyte proud. "Feed them the whole alien story why don't you? Don't you think we've got enough problems without you putting that nonsense into their heads?"

"So are you an alien,Michael?" Kevin repeated Jade's question.

"If you want to believe that I'm some kind of alien, that's your problem, not mine."

"You must admit, Maria has got a point," said Liz. She sounded worried. Maybe she was as concerned about Max as Jade herself was about Megabyte…and Adam. "About the sooner rather than later thing I mean. I think the guys need our help now. The more time we waste talking, the more things could be happening to them."

Jade opened her mouth to add something to the conversation when she felt a sharp pain in her arm. Judging from what she was picking up from Kevin, so had he.

"What's wrong?" Michael sounded concerned.

"I felt a prick in my arm, like a needle," explained Jade. "Kevin?"

The British boy nodded. "So did I. Must be Adam or Megabyte. Maybe we should try and contact them again. Do you feel up to a mind-merge?"

Jade nodded. She still felt a bit shaky physically after her exposure to the taser weapon, but it hadn't seemed to have affected her telepathic abilities at all.

Kevin turned to Isabel and Michael, an idea forming. "Hey I know you guys have some psychic ability, maybe if you joined in the mind-merge, we might stand a better chance of reaching them."

"I don't have any psychic powers, and I'm not alien, I've already told you that," snapped Michael.

Jade gave Kevin a questioning look, wondering why he asked Isabel to join the mind-merge with them. After all Michael was the only alien here wasn't he? Did he think the girl had psychic powers, was that it? She noticed no one else in the room seemed to have noticed his slip, and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

Isabel nodded. "Look Michael, what harm can it do? I'm not sure I can help but I'll join in the link as well if that's okay with you. After all Max is my brother."

Michael looked hesitant. He still doesn't trust us, Jade realised. Mind you, if the situation were reversed would you? Maybe that whole alien story was true even though he had denied it emphatically? After all he seemed to be reacting to the idea of General Damon being involved as though he had certainly something to hide. As Michael turned away from Kevin his gaze met Maria's.

"Come on Michael, this is Max's life we're talking about here. Somewhere along the line you've got to learn to trust someone. I'm sure if the situation were reversed, Max would do it for you." As Maria spoke, Michael's intentions seemed to visibly waver.

Michael thought for a moment and then seemed to reconsider, though it was obvious he was still reluctant by the tone in his voice. "Okay," he said. "I'm in. I'm warning you though, the first sign of something screwy and I'm out of here. Fast."

Part Seven

Megabyte felt as though he was trying to climb out of a thick mental fog. As he forced his eyes open, he felt the sharp prick of a needle slide into his arm.

"Hey that hurts," he protested weakly, trying to move his arm away from the man leaning over him.

"Stop moving, or it will hurt even more." Doctor Brooke-Smythe spoke with a clipped British accent. "We need blood samples taken before we fit the device."

"It's A positive. Can you stop now?"

Megabyte tried to sit up and found that he seemed to be strapped securely onto some sort of trolley. His eyes began to focus more clearly as he looked around in a panic. The British man leaning over him seemed to be in his early fifties and was tall and thin, with grey hair and a moustache.

To the side of him the redhead could see Max, the teenager he and Jade had met at the UFO centre in Roswell. Jade, where was Jade? Megabyte looked around and couldn't see the young British girl anywhere. His gaze settled back on Max who was staring at the needle in undisguised horror.

Brooke-Smythe smiled. The guy was enjoying inflicting his own weird brand of torture judging by that sick grin. "Don't worry, young man, you're next." He nodded towards a blond man, whom Megabyte remembered seeing in the UFO centre, as he carefully finished placed the blood samples into a test tube rack.

Hawkins moved towards Max as the boy started to struggle against the restraints, and drew his weapon. "Didn't you hear what Doctor Brooke-Smythe said to your friend? Stop struggling! I don't want to have to shoot you again." Max winced as Brooke-Smythe slid the needle into his arm. This guy certainly needed some lessons on how to take blood. Someone also needed to tell him about the whole bedside manner thing.

As he watched Max's reaction to Brooke-Smythe's vampire imitation, Megabyte tried to fight the fear he could feel rising within him. Get a grip. Losing it isn't going to help anyone, least of all yourself. At least they only have you. The other Tomorrow People were still free. Maybe Jade made it to the ship. Help could be on the way even now.

The frosted glass doors to the laboratory swung open as a voice called out in an authoritative tone, "No, don't use the weapon. I want to make sure they are conscious when the device is fitted."

Megabyte looked towards the owner of the voice, his feelings of panic multiplying as he recognised the speaker all too well. Yeah, the man still looked the same as ever. He'd never been able to get that face out of his head, the guy still had the same look in his dark eyes, that look that betrayed his ruthlessness and total lack of decency. "Colonel Masters…" he started to say, and then stopped as he heard a familiar voice in his mind.

[Megabyte, are you okay? Can you teleport?] Adam's telepathic voice sounded very urgent, and extremely worried. Megabyte looked up and saw his friend being escorted through the door by one of Masters' goons.

"I thought I warned you about using telepathy," hissed Beckett, as he pushed the Australian sprawling towards his fellow Tomorrow Person.

[Adam, are you okay?] What was Adam doing here? What the hell was Masters up to?

Megabyte noticed Max look at Adam and then back again at Masters, a look of surprise briefly cross his features. Weird. It was almost as though Max had reacted because he'd overheard the telepathy. That wasn't possible. Megabyte tried to process all the information running around frantically in his brain, then decided to give up. Wait till whatever they gave you wears off. You're not functioning on warp drive yet. Get yourself past impulse first.

Masters gestured towards the two Tomorrow People. "You heard what the man said. Use speech please. At this point in time it might pay you not to rely on your so-called special powers too much. If this experiment is a success, you're not going to be able to use them for much longer anyway."

Not going to be able to use them much longer? What had Masters meant by that comment exactly? Megabyte didn't feel like sticking around to find out. This guy was seriously up to no good and he had the sneaking suspicion that he and Adam weren't going to enjoy whatever it was the creep had in mind.

Adam repeated his earlier question, [Megabyte, can you teleport?]

Megabyte shook his head, before he thought about what he was doing. [I don't think so,] he 'pathed back. [My head's too fuzzy from whatever they zapped me with. I don't think I could concentrate enough. I'm having enough trouble with telepathy at the moment.]

Adam gasped as he doubled over from the effect of the gun butt hitting him in the stomach.

"Adam!" Megabyte glared at Beckett, as he felt the waves of pain coming from his friend. "What did you do that for?"

"Now, come on Megabyte," answered Masters in a silky tone that made the young American really wish that there were exceptions to the Tomorrow People couldn't kill rule. "Don't act dumb. I know you and your Australian friend were talking telepathically after you were warned not to. While you are my guest, you need to learn to follow my rules. After all we wouldn't want to have to damage the merchandise, so to speak."

Adam pulled himself to his feet. "Is that what we are to you, merchandise?"

"I believe that is what I just said wasn’t it? You should feel privileged, having the opportunity to help your kind save mankind from the curse you have brought upon it. If this treatment works, we will be able to use it to help others as well."

Adam frowned, his brow creasing as he looked at Megabyte, and then at Max. Their options seemed to be running out really fast. From what Masters had said they had better get out of this place while they still had the powers to do so. His eyes met Megabyte's, and the redhead could sense the unspoken question running through his friend's mind almost as clearly as if Adam had used telepathy to ask it.

[Teleport, Adam. Grab Max and teleport. Worry about me later.] Megabyte decided it was time to take action, at least as much action as they could under the circumstances.

Masters snorted in disgust, and gestured to Beckett and Hawkins, who grabbed Adam, restraining him on the vacant bed between his two friends. He then marched over to Megabyte and slapped him over the face, hard.

Megabyte felt his face grow hot, and opened his mouth to retort. As Masters started speaking he closed it again quickly, his feelings of panic quickly being replaced by those of anger. Shut up before you say something you or Adam will regret later.

"I can see you have a problem with following orders, Marmaduke. Maybe we need to invite Millicent to join our little party. Maybe her presence would be enough to encourage you to do as you are told."

Masters kept a close eye on Adam as he continued. "Adam, don't even think of teleporting. You only have time to grab one of your friends and I will have no hesitation in killing or severely injuring the other one. I know neither one of them is capable of teleporting themselves at the moment. There is enough of the drug still in their bloodstream to prevent their escape."

Megabyte was finding it harder to control the growing anger within him. Get a grip. If you lose it now Masters has won. "You leave Millie out of this. This is nothing to do with her. I'll cooperate, just leave her alone." He sent a look of apology to Adam. It was bad enough that his father was mixed up in the Tomorrow People's affairs. There was no way he was going to let his sister put her life at risk as well.

Megabyte still remembered the day Millie had found out about his special powers. He'd been out late with Kevin and had teleported into his bedroom, hoping that he could avoid his father and the usual lectures that accompanied his coming home at all hours of the night. To the redhead's surprise, Millie had been passing by his open bedroom door and had seen him teleporting.

Trying to convince his sister that she had been seeing things had so not been the way to go.

Once she had got over her initial shock he'd told her about the Tomorrow People, and made her promise not to tell anyone about them. She'd agreed but still tended to use the information to talk him into doing favours for her. Of course Megabyte would have done those favours for her anyway, but there was no way he would ever tell her that. Millie had formed a close friendship with Jade, after the two girls had met, as well. They seemed to have a lot in common, teasing Millie's older brother being one of them.

"Whether I leave her alone totally depends on you doesn't it? Of course she's in safe hands at the moment, being in the hospital. Really close shave with that car you know. If it hadn't been for her boyfriend, things could have been a lot worse."

Megabyte swallowed hard as Masters continued. What did the man mean by hospital? What had happened to Millie and Geoff? The young man tried hard not to let his feelings show. There was no way he was going to give that madman the satisfaction of seeing his concern.

"Of course, I wouldn't have needed to use Millicent to send a message to your father, if I'd known you were going to appear in Roswell. I'd love to see the expression on General Damon's face when he realises you are missing…" As the man stopped and laughed, a cold chill crept through both the Tomorrow People.

***********

Max listened to the conversation between Megabyte and Masters in growing horror. Whoever this man was, there was no love lost between himself, Megabyte and Adam.

He felt his head clear, and realised that the drug given earlier was no longer affecting him. Maybe it was because of his different physiology. According to Masters' timetable, it shouldn't have worn off yet, for otherwise the man would have fitted these devices he had mentioned earlier.

Coming to a decision, Max concentrated on the straps keeping him on the trolley bed, feeling them loosen as he did so. Someone had to stop this Masters before he hurt anyone else, and once Brooke-Smythe analysed the blood taken earlier, the fact that he wasn't exactly human was going to be out in the open, anyway. Max had nothing to lose and everything to hide. Adam and Megabyte seemed to have some sort of powers, maybe with any luck, Masters might presume that whatever Max did were a different manifestation of those same powers.

As Max threw himself off the bed, Beckett spun around and fired his taser weapon towards the young alien. Acting on an instinct he didn't know he possessed Max raised his hand as he had seen Michael do, to protect himself. Immediately a form of force wall came into being in front of him. The wall seemed to be made up of pure energy, and Max stared at it in amazement. Didn't know I could do that. I wonder what other things we're capable of that we don't know yet?

"Cool!" exclaimed Megabyte. He watched Max for a moment and then spoke to his friend. Max could hear the urgency in his voice. "Teleport, Adam. Go now while you can."

As he spoke Megabyte closed his eyes in concentration for a moment. The air around the redhead crackled, he faded out and then solidified again. Megabyte looked around, noticing the teleport hadn't worked and glanced again at Max. The unspoken question was clear. Megabyte couldn't work out why his powers still weren't working properly. After all if Max could project a force wall, why couldn't he teleport?

Max glanced behind him wondering what to do next, and noticed the glass vials with the blood samples sitting on a table. Max edged back, keeping the force wall in front of him, and waved his other hand over the test tubes. That should keep them guessing for a bit longer. The young alien looked up to see what he could do to help his companions, and noticed that the force wall seemed to be losing its integrity. Obviously splitting his concentration to change the molecular structure of the contents of the test tubes had been enough to weaken it. Maybe when he had had a chance to experiment with this new power, he'd be able to solve that problem, but now wasn't exactly the time to think about it.

Max dived behind the big wooden table and yelled out to Adam. "Go, get your friend and get out of here. I can look after myself."

Adam shook himself out of the shock of seeing Max's powers in action and teleported out of his restraints. He appeared close to Megabyte, readying himself to teleport his friend out. He'd noticed Megabyte teleport minutes before, only to reappear again. His friend's powers were nearly back to full strength, but he was clearly too weakened by the effects of the drugs to initiate a teleport properly.

Masters, on seeing Megabyte's teleportation attempt, held the redhead down on the trolley and cocked the gun, pushing the barrel against the boy's head. "Do you really think you can teleport faster than a bullet?" he asked Adam.

Adam shook his head, moving away from his friend as his eyes glazing over momentarily. [Did you hear that Megabyte? I could have sworn I heard Kevin. Maybe he and the others are trying to contact us?] The Australian turned his head away from Masters as he 'spoke.' He's making sure the man can't see him using telepathy, Max surmised.

The Australian closed his eyes, ready to obviously send a reply to whomever he had heard, as Hawkins and Beckett grabbed him from behind. Adam struggled but he didn't dare teleport, not with Masters holding a gun on Megabyte.

Brooke-Smythe fitted some sort of metallic band around Adam's head. He swooned,

then collapsed on the floor screaming, clutching his head in pain.

"You psycho! What have to done to him?" Megabyte looked at Adam and seemed to concentrate just as a similar device slide onto his own head. Must be trying to reach his friend, Max reasoned. As Max watched the redhead let out a gasp of pain. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back on the trolley, unconscious.

Max automatically stepped forward to help, when he felt the barrel of a gun in the small of his back. He'd been so busy watching Adam and Megabyte that he'd forgotten about the failing force field and the danger he himself was in. It looked as though his options had suddenly become non-existent again. As he struggled against the two men bringing him over to Masters, Max really hoped his now unconscious companions had been able to tell whoever they had been talking to what was going on.

Masters surveyed the two unconscious young people before him and directed his next statement at Max. The man's eyes were cold and he spoke with an air of calmness. "As you can see the device can be quite hazardous to your health if you attempt to use any psychic abilities while you are wearing it."

Max felt a chill climbing up his spine. This man was dangerous, very dangerous. He prayed that Adam and Megabyte were okay. What had that headband done to them? He felt a pressure on his head as realised that Brooke-Smythe was fitting one to him also. Max gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to run. He felt himself struggle against the guards, but knew he was wasting his time. Whatever this Masters had in mind, it seemed he was now as much a part of it as Megabyte and Adam. He could see the man watching him, waiting for a reaction. Well he's not going to get one. Of that Max was determined. At least he doesn't know who I am, at least he doesn't know who I am. The phrase repeated itself over and over in his mind, almost like a mantra. He looked Masters in the eye, and then turned away. That man was so full of hate, most of it directed towards the two still forms in front of him. What on earth had happened between them?

Masters was silent for a moment and then added, almost as an afterthought. "Oh, and I wouldn't bother trying to remove the one on your own head either. You'll only cause yourself a considerable amount of pain."

Masters gestured to his men to take the three young people away, and turned to Brooke-Smythe. "Well, it looks as though you got that field test you wanted after all, Doctor. I think it's about time we contacted Mr Trent to let him know of our success with phase two." He straightened his tie, and slicked back his dark hair with his hand.

Max glanced back as he was led out of the room. Phase two? What was phase two? Who was Trent? He had this nasty feeling that what had just happened was only the beginning of whatever plans Masters had up his sleeve.

Part Eight

Ami leant against Millie's bed to steady herself, her mind bombarded by powerful psychic images. She pulled herself back to reality, as she became aware of someone talking to her.

"Ami, are you okay?" Caroline Damon sounded very concerned.

Ami didn't answer her for a moment, she was still feeling quite shaken by what she had seen and felt. She'd never received such feelings of anger and fear from Adam before and it scared her. The mental picture of Megabyte being restrained with a gun pushed up against his head hadn't helped her state of mind either. The images had disappeared as fast as they had come, almost as though someone had flicked an off switch on the telepathic transmission. As she prepared to answer Mrs Damon, Ami received another flash, much weaker this time, from Megabyte. Adam, what had they done to Adam? Then suddenly Megabyte's presence was gone as well, totally. One minute she had been aware of him in her mind, the next nothing, absolutely nothing. Ami sent out a telepathic probe, hoping to pick something up from either of her two friends.

[Ami?]

[Kevin, what's happening?] Ami felt relieved to hear the familiar mental voice. [I just received a couple of flashes, a powerful one from Adam followed by a much weaker one from Megabyte.]

[Yeah, so did we. I think you need to get over here straight away. There are some people you need to meet.] Kevin paused before continuing. [Did you see the face of the man holding the gun on Megabyte? It was Colonel Masters!]

Ami could feel the anger coming from the younger boy. Even though she had never met Masters herself she knew from what Adam, Megabyte and Kevin had told her, how dangerous and ruthless the man was. If he had their friends… Well it didn't bear thinking about.

[I'll be there as soon as I can, Kevin. Don't do anything silly, like trying to go after Adam and Megabyte on your own.]

No answer.

[Kevin?]

[Don't worry, Ami. I'll make sure he doesn't.] Jade sounded as though she was trying hard not to cry. The younger girl was obviously very upset by the whole thing.

[I'll be there soon, Jade. Don't worry, we'll get them out of this. I promise.] Ami tried to sound positive as she reassured her fellow Tomorrow Person, something she wasn't exactly feeling herself.

"Ami?" Mrs Damon repeated her earlier question. "Are you sure you're okay? Geoff, go and get Millie's father, will you? He's in reception talking to the police."

"Is it Megabyte?" asked Millie. "Has something happened to Megabyte?" As the girl spoke, she pushed her shoulder length red hair back off her face.

Not for the first time, Ami marvelled how alike Millie and her brother were. Same hair, pale complexion and the way those blue eyes could change in intensity when they knew you were trying to hide something. Megabyte was quite a bit taller than his younger sister but basically that was the main difference between the two. Of course Ami had more than enough sense not to point this out to her fellow Tomorrow Person. Sibling rivalry was alive and well in the Damon household, that was for sure.

Ami realised that Mrs Damon was also waiting for answers, her expression reminding her of Megabyte. Genetics had seemed to favour their mother's side of the family as opposed to the General's. Ami knew that both Millie and her mother knew about Megabyte's powers and a little of some of the dangers he had got himself mixed up in before, but wasn't sure how much she should tell them about the current situation. At the moment they had enough to worry about.

She sat down on the end of Millie's bed and tried to put some words together, tried to work out what exactly she should tell them. They needed to know what was going on, but at the same time it might be easier for them if they didn't. Ami looked up as General Damon pulled back the checked curtain that separated the cubicle from the rest of the A&E department.

"Geoff tells me you almost fainted or something. What's going on, Ami? Has something else happened?" Ami could tell from the man's expression that he had a fair idea what had probably just happened. She'd realised during their previous conversation that he suspected well enough how much trouble Adam and Megabyte were in.

Ami nodded, coming to a decision. " Mrs Damon, Millie, I'm sure Megabyte's okay." He and Adam have to be, she thought furiously before continuing. "I just received a message from him, that's all. He and Adam have got involved in something…"

Steve, the nurse, bustled into the cubicle before Ami could go any further. "Right, young lady," he said. "You're very lucky, that arm's not broken, just very badly sprained. I just need to strap it, and you'll be as good as new in no time."

The young blond man ushered General Damon and Ami out as he continued. "Sorry, I need a bit of space to do this. Her mum can stay if she wants but the rest of you can come back shortly."

"Is that okay with you, Millie?" he asked.

Millie lay back on the pillow as she replied. Her lack of colour was due to more than just her injury, Ami surmised. She'd be worried about her brother. Millie shot her father a look as he was leaving. Make things right. Damon gave his daughter a quick smile of reassurance as he left the cubicle, though Ami could tell he wasn't feeling as sure of things as he was trying to make out. He's trying to put on a brave face to stop his family worrying. Poor General Damon, his life has never been the same since he found out about the Tomorrow People.

"Yeah, I'd like Mom to stay. Ami, come back and tell me what's going on, please." Millie sat back on the bed and leaned against the hospital issue pillow.

Mrs Damon put a hand on Ami's shoulder. "Talk to Bill," she said. "I'll stay here with Millie. Go."

**********

As Ami and General Damon walked outside into the fresh air, looking for somewhere to talk in private, they didn't notice Geoff following them at a distance. The boy had gone to get a drink after tracking down Millie's dad and had just caught the tail end of the conversation between Ami and the Damons. Something was definitely going down here, something serious that affected the safety of Millie and probably her brother as well. Geoff had been puzzled as to why Megabyte hadn't come to the hospital to see his sister, put two and two together and worked out something must have happened to him. What he had overheard just confirmed his suspicions. Maybe it was something to do with General Damon's job he supposed, after all the man must have made some enemies over the years. The teenager was going to find out what exactly, and do something about it. No one tried to run over his girl and got away with it. Nobody.

He pulled his jacket around him, it was certainly much colder outside, and watched Ami and General Damon sit down on one of the hospital benches. Geoff edged behind one of the trees near where they were, and strained his ears to try and make out what they were saying.

********

"What did you see? Is Max okay? Someone talk to me." Liz couldn't stand the silence any longer. Liz had watched the Tomorrow People and the two aliens link hands to initiate this mind-merge thing Kevin had explained to them. How had he put it again? Pooling their powers, something like that.

The blue glow that had surrounded the quartet had fascinated the scientist in her, but then when it had suddenly cut out and she had seen the expressions on the faces of her friends, Liz had become quite concerned. Kevin and Jade had also seemed quite unsteady on their feet for an instant, she noticed. Whatever they had picked up on, it had affected them quite strongly, more so than Michael and Isabel.

Jade in particular seemed very upset. In fact the younger girl seemed close to tears. As Liz put her arms around her, she noticed the British Tomorrow Person seemed suddenly preoccupied.

Jade turned to Liz, seeming to suddenly realise she was there. "Sorry," she apologised "I was talking to Ami in London. She's worried that Kevin might try and go after Masters by himself."

"Who's Masters?" butted in Maria. "Did you manage to contact Megabyte and Adam?" She looked around the room and it suddenly dawned on Liz who she was looking for.

Where was Alex? Oh yeah, he'd popped home to pick up his laptop. Liz felt her face grow warm as she realised why. Surely Michael hadn't asked him to do some research on their new friends? One of these days he was going to have to trust someone. It wasn't something Max would have done but then that definitely wasn't the time and place to mention that fact to Michael. Or was it? Kevin had trusted them by telling the Tomorrow People's secrets. Wasn't it time that information went both ways? Liz wished Max were here. He'd know what to do.

"How much exactly did you guys see and hear?" Kevin directed his question at Isobel and Michael.

"Enough to know that we need to get Max and your friends out of there, fast," Michael surmised grimly. "Was Masters the one holding the gun on Megabyte?" Maybe Michael was finally realising that the time for secrets was over. If they didn't work together, they'd never get Max and the others back. That fact was growing clearer by the moment.

Kevin nodded. "Megabyte, Adam and I have met him once before, when Megabyte and I first became Tomorrow People. Masters' a real creep, wouldn't surprise me if he's on some sort of revenge kick or something." Another thought occurred to him. "Wonder what that band thing was on Adam's head? That's the thing that really worries me. The second flash, the one from Megabyte, stopped very abruptly. They must have fitted one on him as well. Maybe it stops us using our powers or something?"

"What second flash?" asked Michael. " I only saw one, I'm sure of it. I didn't see that headband thing you just mentioned either."

"Megabyte sent a flash as well, but it was very faint. It must have been too weak for you guys to see. Obviously your telepathy isn't as strong as ours." Jade reached for her handkerchief as she continued. "Adam was on the floor screaming, with some sort of band on his head. Megabyte was yelling at Masters, he was really angry and I could feel how scared he was." She wiped her nose with her hanky. "I don't remember ever picking up fear like that from either of them."

"What about Max?" Liz realised none of them had mentioned Max. Was he okay? What was this Masters going to do with him?

"Max looked okay, don't worry. If this head band is designed to affect Tomorrow People, he's probably in no immediate danger."

Michael shook his head. "Don't be so sure of that. We don't know exactly where our powers come from. You said yourself we seem to have some telepathic abilities. Maybe we're not as different from you as what we think. Besides what if this Masters realises he has a real live alien in his clutches? What do you think he'll do to Max then?"

Part Nine

"So let me get this straight," Bill sighed to himself as he continued. Sometimes it would be really nice for that feeling that things couldn't get any worse to be true. One thing you could certainly count on with Adam and Megabyte was that those two seemed to really have the tendency of getting themselves in trouble down to an art form. Mind you, the other Tomorrow People seemed to be not much better at times.

"According this these flashes you received, Masters has Megabyte, Adam and this Max Evans. To top things off, he also seems to laid his hands on some sort of technology which nullifies their special powers. That's in a nutshell, right?"

Ami nodded, but said nothing.

"Ami, why am I getting the impression you're leaving a few facts out here? Look I know what Masters is capable of. Whatever you're going to tell me, I've probably already suspected as much. Come on, spill."

"Okay." As Ami began to speak, Bill felt his heart sink. He'd suspected the worst but to actually hear it described… "Masters was holding a gun on Megabyte. Adam was sending a flash to show us what was happening when he was fitted with some kind of headband. I could see him screaming in pain, General. Megabyte showed me. They were scared, both of them. I've never felt fear like that from either of them before."

"Do you know what the headband was, Ami?"

"No, but it must be the thing stopping them using their powers. Where I should be getting some sort of sense of them, there's nothing. I'm also wondering if they've been drugged because I felt a needle prick in my arm just before I got the first flash from Adam. Megabyte's flash was a lot weaker too. Whatever's happened, his powers weren't working properly even before the headband thing took effect."

Bill sat in silence for a while, trying to dispel the guilt he was feeling. If Masters hurt either one of them, he'd never forgive himself. He remembered all too well the report that had landed on his desk at WorldEx a couple of days ago. The report had stated that Masters had been spotted in the vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico and that he seemed to be setting up for some sort of experiment. At least that was the way the report seemed to read, according to Bill's own reasoning. Why else would a scientist such as Graeme Brooke-Smythe have been seen talking to the man? Shortly after the meeting, both Brooke-Smythe and Masters disappeared, and a lot of rather expensive cutting-edge technology seemed have gone with them.

Bill had been torn between letting Adam know then what his suspicions were, and trying to find some more information before worrying the young man unnecessarily. One thing he had been sure of, whatever this experiment was it would probably involve the Tomorrow People in some shape or form. He'd decided, obviously none too wisely if hindsight was anything to go on, to look into the matter further first. Bill laughed to himself bitterly as he all too well remembered the words he'd reassured himself with at the time. What possible harm could a couple of days make? After all what were the chances that Megabyte and Jade would head for Roswell? None at all, absolutely none.

"General Damon?" Ami sounded concerned. She must be wondering what the hell was going through his mind. Not that he blamed her of course.

Bill pulled himself together. No point in crying over spilt milk was there? What was done was done. What they needed to concentrate on now was finding Masters and rescuing the kids, before he did anything else to them.

"Right," he said. "I'll go back inside and talk to Caroline and Millie. I don't think I'll tell them all the details for now, I'm having enough problems getting that mental picture out of my head as it is. Ami, can you go reassure Penny Weston that Jade is okay, and then come back for me? I think it's time I paid a visit to Roswell, don't you?"

Ami nodded as she initiated the teleport. Hopefully she knew him well enough by now to know he was going to come to Roswell whether she agreed or not. Bill smiled in spite of himself as he watched her vanish. At least Masters wouldn't know about her and Jade. Maybe that would give them the edge they needed to save the others. Sometimes at times like these, he felt as though he had parental responsibilities towards all the Tomorrow People, not just Megabyte.

Bill pulled up the collar of his coat, suddenly feeling the cold. As he stood up from the seat he and Ami had been sharing, the American heard a noise behind him. That's all they needed at this point in time, someone seeing Ami teleport. After all, what else could possibly go wrong today?

"Who's there?" he called out sharply. "Show yourself". Bill reached into his pocket, making sure his gun was still there. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it. He'd had enough problems trying to explain things to the police already for one day.

Geoff Anderson, Millie's boyfriend, came out slowly from behind the tree overshadowing the bench where they had been sitting. He looked a bit shell shocked, and Bill wondered how much of the conversation he'd overheard.

"Geoff! I thought you were inside with Millie. Come on, let's go back inside, it's cold out here." Bill put his hand on the boy's shoulder, ready to lead him back inside the hospital.

To his surprise the boy pulled away, an angry look on his face. "When where you going to tell me what's exactly going on? If some nutter has Megabyte and Adam I think I have a right to know. After all they are my friends too, you know. I want to help. Or were you going to just treat me like a little kid and pretend everything was okay?"

"Look, Geoff." Bill tried his best to control his anger at the boy's outburst. After all, he had enough problems at the moment without having to deal with this on top of everything else. "You don't have a clue about what's going on here. You'd be getting in way over your head."

"No I don't have a clue what's going on. All I know is that I saw Ami disappear into thin air and heard things I'm still not sure I believe. But that doesn't mean I can't help. Does it?"

Geoff looked up at Bill with such an earnest expression in his eyes, that the older man couldn't help but believe every word the boy had said. After all, it did look as though Geoff had heard enough to realise that Megabyte and his friends had abilities that couldn't exactly be described as normal. Maybe he could help by keeping an eye on Millie. After all it was definitely beginning to seem as though her accident hadn't been an accident. In fact Bill was beginning to suspect very strongly that Masters had been behind the attempted hit and run. He'd known the day he'd debunked the teleporter project and portrayed Masters for who and what he really was in his reports, that the man wouldn't be content until he had achieve some form of revenge against his former boss. That after all, was the kind of person Masters was.

Bill had known that Megabyte and the rest of the Tomorrow People would be at risk as well as himself, but had never thought of harm coming to Millie. After all what had the child ever done to warrant any action being taken against her? But then, the Tomorrow People themselves had done nothing to Masters when they had first met, and look at what his plans had been towards them. Plans that had been thought of while the man had been under Bill's own command. He remembered only too well his words to Megabyte as though it was yesterday "I bet you never thought your father would end up being the chief bad guy." At least he'd realised what he was involved in was wrong, and had turned his efforts into helping the Tomorrow People to survive. Mind you, would it have been so easy to make that decision if his son hadn't turned out to be a teleporter? It was a fact he tried not to think about.

Bill realised that Geoff was still standing there waiting for some kind of response on his part. "Okay, Geoff, okay. I'll explain everything but first let's go see how Millie's doing, eh?"

As they made their way back to his wife and daughter, Bill wondered how much information would satisfy the boy's need to know. The less he knew the better and safer for everyone concerned, Geoff himself included.

*************

Colonel Masters looked up from his phone call with an expression of barely disguised annoyance. "Hold on a minute, Trent. Brooke-Smythe seems to have run into some sort of extremely important problem." He gestured to the scientist with his left hand. "At least I'm presuming it's an extremely important problem. I left explicit instructions not to be disturbed."

Brooke-Smythe stood in front of the desk, looking extremely nervous. In his hands, he had the vials of blood samples he had taken, and a long computer print out. "It's the blood samples," he began hesitantly, not sure how his employer was going to take the news. "I'm not sure how, but the molecular structure of the contents of the test tubes has been changed."

"Changed? What do you mean exactly by changed?"

"Well, let's just say if that's blood well I'm a …" Brooke-Smythe's voice tailed off. No it wasn't a good idea to finish that sentence. He held the test tube out to Masters and indicated that the man should taste the contents, ignoring the look his companion was giving him.

Masters snatched the tube from him and sniffed the contents. He poured a minute amount onto his finger and tasted. "Tabasco Sauce!" he exclaimed. His mind went back to the events in the laboratory as he remembered seeing Max Evans waving his hand over the test tubes, just before he had been subdued by security. Had the boy been able to somehow change the blood samples into what he had in front of him now?

"Well, it looks as though you'd better go and get some more samples, doesn't it? Oh, and Brooke-Smythe?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Try and keep a better eye on them this time, will you?"

"Yes, sir." Brooke-Smythe opened his mouth and closed it again. Sensible move. Why where all scientists such idiots? Masters had hoped he'd left that behind with Galt. Obviously not.

As he watched the scientist leave the room, Masters resumed his conversation with Trent. "Sorry about that, Simon. An interesting development has occurred. Apparently these so called Tomorrow People are even more dangerous than we first suspected. They are obviously capable of changing molecular structure as well as the new force field ability I told you about earlier. Taking into account those other abilities I discovered when I first met them, it certainly seems that we have made the right decision about eliminating the threat. Yes, this new species make an extremely dangerous adversary…"

Masters put down the receiver after his conversation and thought about the last few years. He still had a clear mental picture in his mind of the last time he had met with General Damon. His son had held a gun on him, ready to pull the trigger. It was lucky for him that the boy had been young, and obviously very scared. All that rubbish about being peace loving. The peace movement of the sixties came to mind. Masters snorted. A majority of the young people involved in that fiasco had preached peace as the only answer and look what had happened when they had realised that those ideals were not getting the results they desired. Anyone was capable of violence and killing given the right incentive. How long would it be before these Tomorrow People changed their mind and instilled their own brand of terror upon the human race? Teleporters. Imagine the potential use for them as assassins? He shook his head. No one would be safe.

It was lucky for the future of mankind that he, Masters, was still alive. Someone had to protect the gene pool of the human race, keep it pure, untainted. That mission had been his life's work, ever since the Tomorrow People had first slipped through his grasp.

Once that idiot Brook-Smythe had redone the blood tests, he would be able to see exactly how far these Tomorrow People had already violated their humanity because of their so-called powers. Yes, he would soon know if he could reverse the process and restore their lost humanity to them or whether they were so far from human that the only option left would be the total destruction of them and their kind.

He remembered his conversation with Simon Trent. He had deliberately not mentioned to the man his plan to see if he could eradicate whatever gene caused these Tomorrow People to exist in the first place. Simon's methods were rather more…violent and permanent than his own. Still if he managed to save the human race from the scourge that was the Tomorrow People, maybe the same technology could be used to save the earth from those cursed with immortality as well. Simon would appreciate that application of the results of his work, he was sure. After all weren't they working together to reap mutual benefits from each other's mission, to help solve each other's problems?

Charles Masters, saviour of the human race. Somehow Masters never envisioned that it would him whom mankind would turn to in their great hour of need. It was a shame that most of the human race would