<span">       The panicked crowd pushed and shoved against Triste as she tried to not let her brothers and father out of sight.

            The four managed to get back to their car and gratefully got in.

            “What about Kerry? Where is she?” Elijah piped up.

            Triste suddenly remembered her friend. “Yeah, where is she?”

            “She’ll probably come along soon,” Mr. Brewster assured the twins. “As soon as she finds the car.”

            When several minutes had passed, and Kerry did not return, they all got worried.

            Luke and Mr. Brewster went back to the Capitol building lawn, but could not look for Kerry because the area was being investigated as a crime scene. They questioned the few people who had been brave enough to stay behind, but to no avail.

            Kerry was gone.

            They went back to their car and drove to the police station.

            The policewoman at the front desk listened intently to Mr. Brewster’s story, and wrote down every detail he gave her.

            “Please give me your phone number, and I’ll call you if we find out anything,” she requested.

            Mr. Brewster did so and departed. He went home with his kids, and from there Luke walked to the Nicholas home to break the news to them.

            Mrs. Nicholas was even more worried that everyone else. She was glad that the police had been alerted, but she still had concern for the wellbeing of her daughter.

            Everyone hoped she would return soon.

 

            Jack sighted on the red and white target and pointed his index fingers at it.

            ZING-SNAP!  

            White-hot electricity crackled from his fingers and shot at the target, enveloping it.

            Jack rubbed the tips of his fingers. “This is gonna take some practice,” he muttered to himself.”

            He glanced at the book lying on the table in his quarters. It detailed the genealogies of all the major Alwynian families. His was one of them. The book was open to one page in particular. Jack grinned and went over to reread it.

 

            ‘The one seeming abnormality of the Ware family line is that the firstborn son of the main family line, every one thousand years, is born with unusual powers.’

 

             That was him.

 

            The first one, Jaye Ware, was born during a time of tyrannical turmoil. When he was in his early twenties, he was told that he was the one to save his planet. That was after he discovered his ability to fight with any weapon without practice and the power to sense whether anyone was nearby, and if that person was friend or foe.’

            ‘The second, Addai Ware was born into a dying world. There was almost no food and water, and Aelwyn was a virtual wasteland. Addai could look at a plant and will it to live or die. He could live without sustenance for days on end.’

            ‘The third has yet to make his appearance, but when he does, we will be ready. On Aelwyn, three is a highly unlucky number, and the sages suspect that that he will not be kind and helpful, as Jaye and Addai were. The abilities of the third we cannot anticipate, but we couldn’t anticipate any of the others’ powers. But hopefully we will not underestimate the abilities of the third.’

 

            “Please do,” Jack murmured to himself. “‘Cause when I’m done here I’m going there, and there’ll be no uniquely powered man to stop me.”

            He summoned all the power he could and aimed at the target. Full-powered electricity enveloped the target and fried it to a crisp.

            Jack quickly took it down and put it away in his collection of fried targets, then replaced it with a fresh one.

            There were three knocks at the door, two short with a long knock in the middle. It was Jackie.

            “Come in,” Jack called, swiftly closing the book and slipping it under his bed pillow.

            Jackie opened the door to see Jack reclining in his chair. “What have you been doing?”

            “Reclining.” Jack put his hands behind his head.

            “Really?” Jackie folded her arms. “I don’t believe you, Jack.”

            “Why not?” Jack spread out his arms innocently. “Seriously, that’s what I’ve been doing.”

            “Well, Clyde needs to talk to you.”

            Jack sat up. “About what?”

            “He won’t tell me. You’d better go.”

            Jack walled hurriedly out of the room. “Where is he?”

            “He’s in his quarters.”

            Jack hurried to Clyde Weston’s quarters. Clyde was sitting on his bed, waiting.

            “I have news,” he said.

            Jack settled on the nearby couch. “Yes?”

            “The girl I knocked out is not dead,” Clyde told him. “She is probably only suffering from temporary side effects.”

            “Disappointing, isn’t it?” Jack said in a voice that was anything but sympathetic. “Now she’s going to be on her guard! I told you not to do that unless it was absolutely necessary!”

            “Sorry, Jack. I was too eager to get rid of her. I realize now that I was wrong.” Clyde looked regretfully at the floor.

            “Look, you gotta listen if you want to succeed,” Jack explained. “If you obey and do well, you will be rewarded.”

            “Yes, Jack,” Clyde said obediently. “It’s just...well...hard to appear as I should in public. People I’m technically helping one day I could be killing the next day. It’s hard.”

            “I understand,” Jack said, but you need the practice. We all have to somehow be two-faced. Some people are just more experienced than others. Jackie and I have been carrying on a two-faced charade for years.”

            “Yeah.” Clyde looked at the wall.

            Jack had to admit to himself that he was actually three-faced; he had a ‘bad’ identity and a ‘good’ identity, and then no one but the Aoran and himself knew about his alien identity. “Some people just find it very hard to hide.”

            “Uh-huh. Jack,” Clyde said, looking very thoughtful, “would it be possible for me to work just as a spy and not...do...anything else.”

            “No,” Jack stated flatly. “That won’t work. It’s more risky than what you’re doing now.”

            “Alright, I’ll try to forget it,” Clyde replied. “I’ll keep on doing what I’ve been doing.”

            “Good. If you don’t, you’ll die,” Jack said.

 

            “This is not good,” Jess said. “Have they been found out already?”

            “Let’s hope not,” Kerry said. “I’ve been mixed up in enough trouble already.”

            “I’ll say,” DJ agreed.

            They waited a while longer.

            Then Jess said, “He knows where we’re going. Let’s go there now, and he’ll probably come.”

            She turned in the direction of the woods and strode off. Kerry, DJ, and Ryan followed.

            They entered and walked for several minutes into the heart of the woods.

            Jess soon stopped in front of a large oak tree. She knelt, and started to dig around.

            A hole soon appeared, and Jess disappeared into it, beckoning for the others to follow as she did so.

            They entered a medium-sized cave.

            “Wow,” Kerry said in amazement. “Will we be staying here?”

            “Yep,” Jess replied in a more or less cheerful voice. “That is, if Jesse and CJ come along soon and no one stumbles on this hiding spot, which is highly unlikely, but still slightly possible.”

            Kerry set her backpack down with a sigh of relief. “Wow, does it feel good to have that off my back.” She turned to Jess. “What time is it?”

            “12:30,” Jess answered. “We should just settle down for now and have something to eat. Worrying ourselves sick about Jesse and CJ is not going to do anything....at least not anything good.” She glanced at Ryan. “You’re lunch today.”

            Ryan sighed, but nodded in acknowledgment. “Okeday, sis.”

            Jess sat and gestured to DJ’s backpack and Kerry’s backpack. “All the food’s in there. Make something cold and quick, not complicated, as you so like to do.”

            “I do not,” Ryan protested hotly, but he obeyed.

            As they ate a quick lunch of ham and chesse sandwiches with apples, Jess looked out the secret entrance several times, but saw no one.

            When they cleaned up from their meal, DJ stood guard at the entrance. He stiffened after he had been standing there for just a few minutes.

            “Kerry, do you know how to use a gun?” Jess whispered hurriedly.

            Kerry stared at her. “Are you crazy? Of course I don’t!”

            “Here, then hold this for me.” Jess tossed her a gun and took another one of her pocket. “I only need one.”

            “You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna shoot this,” Kerry whispered back.

            “I told you to hold it,” Jess said in a slightly annoyed voice. “Just do as you’re told and you’ll be fine.”

            “Yep,” Ryan said from his position beside DJ. “But when this is over-if we’re still alive-I’m going to give you some lessons.”

            “Dad wouldn’t’ like this,” Kerry muttered to herself.

            “He never said no, so why would it matter?” Jess said as she joined DJ and Ryan at the entrance.

            “How do you know all this stuff?” Kerry was astonished.

            “Because I’m smart, a lot smarter than you,” Jess replied.

            Jess ignored her and peered out the entrance. “Looks like a police patrol. Who knows what they’re doing out here?”

            “Not me,” Ryan said.

            “We’re hitchhikers. Maybe hitchhiking is against the law and they saw those people picking us up,” Kerry offered.

            “And maybe they caught CJ and Jesse in the act,” DJ put in.

            “That makes sense,” Jess agreed.

            “Plenty of it,” Ryan said. “They probably were informed that we were dropped off here and came to pick us up.”

            “They would have done it earlier,” Jess disagreed.

            “Maybe they put it off to throw us off guard if they thought we might have known,” Kerry suggested.

            “Think they saw us coming in?” Ryan asked.

            “They might have, they might not have,” Jess said. “So let’s take it one step at a time.”

            The group of police officers passed by across the clearing that the oak was at the border of. Kerry saw one officer’s face and groaned.

            “It’s my dad.”

            Jess glanced quickly at her. “And the problem is?”

            “If hitchhiking is illegal, and you do it, and your dad’s a police officer, not only is your dad gonna be mad, he might lose some of his good reputation if he has  one, or if he has a relatively tainted reputation, that’s going to be made even more tainted,” Kerry explained.

            “That was complicated,” DJ said, grimacing.

            “It’s true.” Kerry folded her arms.

            “So...what do you want to do? Surrender us to the officers and get put on double secret probation for the rest of your life, or stay here hiding?” Jess inquired coolly.

            “Stay here hiding,” Kerry stated.

            “Good.” Jess turned back to the entrance, watching the officers search the clearing. “We should probably close the entrance now,” she whispered to Ryan, who nodded and did so as quietly as possible.

            “Jess,” came a slight whisper from the back of the chamber. “Jess....”

            Jess turned. “Come out, Jesse,” she said calmly.

            Jesse sighed and stepped out of the shadows, CJ right behind him. “I can never surprise you.”

            Jess smirked. “Nope.”

            “What happened?” DJ asked.

            “We kinda ran into trouble with the law,” Jesse said matter-of-factly.

            “Hitchhiking is illegal?” Jess raised an eyebrow.

            “No, but obviously camping out in this forest is,” Jesse said. “We came here, and the police came right after.  We kinda had to run for our lives.”

            “There’s a back entrance we discovered that you never told us about, Jess,” CJ said. “So we found it for ourselves.”

            “Good for you,” Jess said in an uncongratulatory voice. “Now would you shut up so that they have less of a chance of finding us?”

            Jesse shut his mouth obediently.

            “Hey, I found something, Chief,” came an outside voice.

            Right outside the door.

            “Grab the packs, guys, and get ready to run out the back entrance,” Jess hissed.

            The kids obeyed, and they stood quiet and tense at the back of the cave.

            A shaft of light broke through the front entrance.

            “Run!” Jess yelled.