The words barely registered. She was trying to regain her concentration on Michael's headset. If she could only move it, there still might be a chance. Nicholas was pulling her, releasing her arms, then gripping them firmly from behind. Maria was crying loudly now, and Isabel was saying something. So were Kyle and Michael. She ignored
all the words and concentrated on the headset.
The headset. Suddenly she could feel it in her mind. Its metal warmed by Michael's skin. She felt its weight.
Nicholas was talking. To her? No, to Max. Then she was falling, thrown to the floor next to Max. Looking up, she saw Nicholas looming over her. He was taunting Max and trying to frighten her, but she could think only of the headset.
Lifting his own foot, Nicholas kicked Max squarely in the stomach, and she watched her boyfriend shudder at the blow. She felt a rush of adrenaline and feeling for Max.
That did it.
Suddenly, she was holding the headset with her mind, as firmly as if she were holding it with her hand. In the end, it seemed painfully simple. All she had to do was… yank. And then it was flying across the room.
"Michael, now!" she called out. Then she reached out again with her mind, felt the straps holding Michael to the chamber. She broke them with her mind. Then, as quickly as they had come, her powers began to recede… like a dream that races out of sight when you wake.
It was all right. Michael could take it from here, and right now, Max needed her.
As Michael stumbled out of his chamber, a change came over Nicholas's face. His sneering grin disappeared, only to be replaced by a look of dull surprise. "What…," he said feebly.
"Now you're going to pay," Michael said, raising his hand. Liz realized it would soon be over. Nicholas was too confused to mount a defense. And Michael was angry. His face had a kind of determined fury that she had never seen
on him before. She knew how he felt about Max and how he must have felt about what had happened here for the last few minutes.
Liz decided she wouldn't want to be Nicholas right now.
His brow furrowed in concentration, Michael summoned his powers. Then he pushed with his outstretched hand and…
Nothing.
Surprise registered on Michael's face. He tried again. This time, Nicholas stumbled back slightly, as if he had been pushed gently. Looking at Nicholas's face, Liz saw that his dumb look of shock was gone, and the sneering grin was back.
"Oh Michael, you know there might be some residual effects from the electrode," he said, then he laughed. The sound was less unnatural than it had been when he was a walking, rotting corpse, but it was no less creepy.
Liz raced to Max and instinctively put her body over his, holding him. It was an empty gesture, she knew. Once again, she was helpless.
"Watch this, Max. This will give you some idea of what to expect for yourself." Nicholas raised his hand, pointing it at Michael. The hand began to glow, and Maria screamed. Something happened. Liz could hear a thump and realized that Nicholas must have hit Michael with his energy.
She didn't even turn around. Instead, she found herself getting up. Nicholas was just in front of and to the side of her. She didn't really have a plan, just her own rage. For the moment, it felt like enough.
She threw herself into him, driving him toward one of the empty chambers. Though he might have been a powerful and evil alien on the inside, on the outside he was just a little over her own height. What happened next was physics.
Nicholas went flying into the closed glass chamber, which shattered on impact. Liz fell to the floor as Nicholas fell into the glass. She was on her feet nearly instantly and grabbed Nicholas as he started to get up himself. Just as she had grabbed Maria on the stairs, she grabbed Nicholas by the back of his jeans and swung him around with all of her might.
Already off balance, Nicholas went flying toward the chamber on the other side of the narrow room. He went into it face first, and that one shattered as well. Besides the glass, Liz saw blood splattering. For a moment, she hoped he had cut something vital, but he got up too quick for that to be true.
When he turned to look up at her, Liz could see a deep cut across his face that went from the right side of his forehead, down through the bridge of his nose, and deeply into his left cheek. She had hurt him, but not fatally.
When he spoke, it was to her. "You're just like Zan here… you don't know when you're beaten." He shook his head, and the remote control caught his eye. His arm flung out as he dove for it.
Liz realized there was no time to reach it before he did, so she did the only thing she could. Lifting her foot, she raised it quickly and brought it down hard on the remote… just as Nicholas's hand was reaching the device. She felt the remote crack under her heel as his fingers reached under the front of her shoe.
He gave a yelp and pulled his hand back. Liz brought her foot down again on the remote, then lifted it to see that it was in a number of very small pieces. So much for high-tech alien weapons, she thought.
Nicholas got up slowly and raised his hand in her direction. Turning her eyes from Nicholas, Liz looked at Max lying on the floor. She felt a swell of feeling for him and took a snapshot of him in her mind, ready to take it with her into her end.
Looking at Max, Liz could only see what happened next with her peripheral vision. Suddenly, Nicholas was flying backward through the air. Turning her head, she saw him land heavily on the floor and continue sliding back toward the doorway. Then he was outside, and the door shut behind him.
When Liz turned again, she saw Michael standing with his hand out. Isabel and Maria were climbing out of their chambers, and Liz realized that Michael must have freed them. Isabel rubbed her head as Maria ran to Michael and wrapped her arms around him.
He kept his hand up and said, evenly, "Everyone get behind me, and grab Max."
Then there was pounding on the heavy metal door. Liz didn't turn to look; she grabbed Max by one shoulder and pulled. Maria and Isabel reached down to help her. Together, they pulled him several feet behind Michael, who was straining with the effort of holding Nicholas back. The door was bowing inward. Isabel stood next to him and raised her own hand. "Sorry, Michael. Nothing," she said.
"Just give it a minute," he said, the strain clear in his voice.
Then there was the wrenching sound of tearing metal, and the door broke from its hinges and flew toward them. With a final push, Michael forced it to the ground. The door still came toward them, but it slowed gradually until it stopped nearly at Michael's feet.
"So it comes down to you and me, Kevar's second in command and Zan's. The problem is that I'm guessing you're still a little underpowered from my electrodes," Nicholas said, blood running freely down his face.
Liz could see muscle underneath the deep cut in his cheek. Once again, he looked like the monster he was.
"I've got more than enough juice to put you down, you pathetic little twerp," Michael said. His voice was firm, but Liz knew he was pushing his limits. She tried to summon her own meager powers, but couldn't.
Nicholas lifted his hand, and his energy flew across the room. Michael seemed to recoil for a moment, then he held firm. Both of them were hurling their energy at each other… a bright flash in the center of the room indicated where their energy met. It was dead center between the two of them. For now, the forces seemed to be canceling each other out.
The effort was taking a toll on both of them, Liz could see from Nicholas's face and the tense strain in Michael's body. Liz leaned down to hold Max, not looking away. She could see that Michael was fighting for them all now, and fighting with everything he had. But he was losing.
The air in the room changed and the collision between Michael and Nicholas's force was moved closer to Michael.