"Not a bad job, Your Highness," Michael said.

"Michael…," Max started.

"Just a joke, Maxwell," Michael said, smiling. "It's good to see what you can do when you really let loose with your powers.”

Max found himself smiling back. "I also do light house- keeping.”

His smile faded when he saw Liz's face.

"Don't worry, we have a long time to figure something out," he said. "And you can tell us how we're doing. You will probably have a number of flashes between now and…”

Liz gave him a thin smile, and Max saw that she was still afraid. And not just about what will happen in fifteen years, he thought. Her vision had cost Liz something, he knew. The prospect of more like it was not comforting to her.

Another price Liz is paying for being with me, Max thought.

Back in the van, Max drove through the morning, head- ing north. For a moment, he was tempted to get on Inter- state 25… it was the quickest route. And though there was no rush on this trip to nowhere special, he wanted to put as many miles as he could between the group and Roswell as quickly as possible. Then he would relax a bit.

But Max's instincts told him to stay away from major roads, at least for now. They might be watched. They had found that out when Kyle's father had tried to get them out of the state, west to Arizona. Sheriff Valenti hadn't liked what he had heard on the police band, and the group had had to change direction and go north.

Since then, Max had been basically traveling in almost a straight line up from Roswell, which was in the southern part of New Mexico. This route allowed him to steer clear of Santa Fe, which was too large a city, and Los Alamos, where the first atomic bomb was built. It was still a center for nuclear research, with just too much government and mili- tary activity for him. He would feel better when they reached Colorado, which would be sometime that afternoon if they continued at the same speed. He made a mental note to start traveling northwest when they hit Colorado. If he traveled diagonally across Colorado, he would pass well below Pueblo and the Air Force Academy.