The printer had finished.

Once he got close to the ship Mettan got out his pad and pushed a few buttons. The bottom half of the back of the ship fell down to form a ramp. The Dark-skinned Elf pushed a few more buttons and one of the bigger crates let out a hiss, the end split open and it peeled away to reveal the front of a van. The van’s engine started with a quiet purr and it rolled out of the crate and parked itself in front of him.

“Is that an American van?” Alex was out of breath from running back.

“No.” Mettan opened the driver’s door and stepped inside. “It only looks like one of your vans.”

The van looked like a fifteen-passenger van from the outside. It was white with the rear windows tinted so dark that you couldn’t see inside the van. Inside there were two rows of seats. Both rows had consoles in front of them. In the front, there were two captain’s chairs. Mettan got in the driver’s seat and placed his pad in a slot beside the wheel. He motioned for Alex to get into the passenger’s seat.

The red-haired human shut the side door as he got in and started examining the console in front of him, “What does this do?”

Mettan smiled, “Each console is wired into a weapons system.” He pushed a button on his pad and panels opened up on the sides of the van and guns popped out. He pushed another button and the guns went back into their hidden compartments. “The consoles can also access the scanners which have a range of about a half mile. The consoles will give you a detailed readout of anything that it can scan.”

Mettan studied the look of awe on his student’s face. “But we shouldn’t need to use the weapons, because I don’t think that we are going to run into any trouble.” He turned his chair back around, “This vehicle has the latest propulsion technology installed in it. It can run for years without the power cell having to be recharged, and it can easily outpace any of your other vehicles.”

“You mean any of the other vans that we have.” Alex said

“No,” Mettan said

The van lurched forward and quickly accelerated on the grass. The field was bumpy, but the ride was not. The van navigated the bumps and holes with smooth precision. The terrain flew by as they pulled onto the road.

“I meant any vehicle that your people have made.”

Mettan pulled up a navigational screen with a few taps on his pad and the computer began mapping out the route that they were going to take.

“Right now the girl is at her parent’s home in an upper-class subdivision.” Mettan pressed a few more buttons and the car slowed down and began driving itself. He turned to look at Alex, “Her parents are there so we will have to appeal to her with them there.”

Alex gripped the handrest so hard that his knuckles turned white as the van pulled up to a stop sign. The van came to a complete stop and waited for a truck coming from the left to pass before it went through the intersection.

Mettan raised his eyebrows, “Don’t worry, the computer has access to the sensors and it is better than even a human brain.” He gestured at the dashboard, “This computer drives better than the best human driver.”

Alex nodded but he didn’t let go of the hand rest. “If you say so.”

The van swerved around a pine tree that was lying across the road. It reoriented itself and continued down the road.

“What kind of license plate do you have on this?” Alex asked, “Won’t they be able to tell that you have a fake plate?”

Mettan looked up, “I put yours on it.”

“What!?”

Mettan shrugged, “I swiped it from your car this morning.”

“But won’t they be able to see that this isn’t a station wagon if we get pulled over?”

“You really think we’re going to get pulled over?” Mettan shook his head, “Martial law has been instituted. The police and the army are more worried about rounding up people that are abusing their powers.”

“Like me?” Alex’s voice was full of regret.

“You are on the wanted list.”

“How do you know that?” Alex exclaimed,

“This computer can link to the internet.” Mettan pointed at the console in front of him. “I’m looking at it right now. The good news is that they’re looking for you in central Arkansas.” Mettan pointed at the screen in the center console, “Not here.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Alex nodded slowly, “What do we do?”

“Read.” Mettan pointed at the screen. “Learn what you can about our history.”

Fifteen minutes later they reached the edge of the subdivision where the girl lived. The van drove through the rows of houses, past a golf course. It stopped beside a cedar tree next to a big iron gate.

Mettan grabbed the pad from the console and clipped it to his belt. He opened his door and stepped out of the van. Rays of sunlight from the west signaled that the day was drawing close to an end. He stepped up to the gate and pushed it open.

Alex got out of the van and fell in behind Mettan. He turned around and checked to make sure that they had closed the doors. Two taps on his pad and he triggered the cloak on the van. It twitched twice then vanished.

“Cool.” Alex marveled

Mettan pulled a bandana out of his belt and tied it up on his head, hiding his pointed ears. He pointed up the drive, “Follow.”

Alex fell into step behind Mettan as he walked up the tree-lined drive.

The yellow house itself was huge. A three-car garage on the right side was closed. A white front door was flanked by rose bushes. Green plants filled white pots in front of every window.

Mettan stopped halfway across the lawn. He turned around and frowned at the two humans. They had stopped at the edge of the lawn and were staring at the house.

Mettan waved with his arm, “Come.”

Alex shook his head and fell in behind Mettan. They stopped at the front door.

“How are we going to do this?” Alex asked

“We are the military unit that has been dispatched to collect Paige.” Mettan straightened his uniform.

“We’re what?” Alex’s eyes got wide

“Sh.” Mettan scowled as the door opened.

An older man was at the door. Salt and pepper hair with thin, wire glasses perched on his nose. He was wearing a blue and grey striped shirt and khakis. The shirt had lite stains under the arm and on the collar. He matched the picture that was attached to the file of Paige’s stepfather

“Where is she?” Mettan’s thick southern accent dripped with contempt as he shouldered his way past the man.

“B-B-T!” The old man sputtered, “What do you think you’re doing!”

“You wanted us to get your girl.” Mettan glared at the man, “We’re here.”

“It took you long enough! I called you people over an hour ago!” The old man looked out the door behind them, “Is that all you brought? You’ll need more men if you plan on taking in that freak.”

Mettan's lips broke into a toothy smile, “Don’t worry sir; my team is specially equipped to deal with the freaks.” He leaned closer to the man and put his hand on a gun on his belt.

When the man saw it his angry face softened a little. “Are you going to kill her?”

Mettan shook his head, “We like them alive if we can take them that way.” He took the gun out of his holster and spun it on his finger before replacing it. Then he winked at the man, “Just a little something to make the freaks easier to transport.”

The older man nodded and his scowl returned in full force. “Well, she’s locked herself in her room,”

Fresh sobs came from the living room. Mettan turned to face the old man so he could look into the living room with his peripheral vision. There was a woman in her mid-forties sitting on a couch in there and he could tell that she had been crying. She looked like Paige’s mother.

The old man looked at both of them, “What kind of uniform is that?”

“The problem-solving kind.” Alex lied quickly.

The stepfather tilted his head to the side and turned back to Mettan, “I’ll take you to her room so you can deal with her.” He shook his head, “I had the gardener board up her window.” He stopped on the stairs and looked at all of them, “Would you believe that she flew up onto the roof yesterday?” He scoffed, “I’ve never seen such a thing. Well anyway, I couldn’t have her flying off before you got here so I had to make sure that she would still be locked up in there.”

Alex grabbed Mettan’s arm and whispered into his ear, “I thought she was supposed to be a Water Elementalist?”

Mettan whispered back, “That’s what Kark told me.”

The Water Elementalist pulled away and followed after the stepfather.

At the top of the stairs, the stepfather motioned at the door at the end of the hallway. It was boarded over.

Mettan walked over to the door and began prying the boards off with his bare hands.

“Here.” Alex tossed a hammer that was lying on an end table in the hall at Mettan.

Mettan caught the hammer and continued to rip the boards off.

Once all of the boards were off of the door Mettan motioned for everyone to stand back. He looked at the stepfather, “You might want to get back, she could attack when we open the door and the captain will throw me in the brig if I let a civilian get hurt while I’m taking a freak in.”

The stepfather slowly stepped back. He paused at the top of the stairs before turning around and sulking down the stairs.

Mettan then motioned for his student to enter first, “I want you to go in there and talk to her.” His accent was gone as he spoke.

Alex’s face turned ash white, “Why me?”

“One of us needs to keep an eye on things out here.” Mettan paused and tried to listen for what he thought was a low humming, “Just convince her to come with us quietly before the real army gets here.”

“I don’t get that,” Alex said “I thought we had until Saturday to turn ourselves in.” he checked his watch. “It’s Thursday evening.”

Mettan looked at Alex, “The deadline got canceled. The military is now rounding up all of the people with abilities that it can find.”

Alex got even whiter.

“When did this happen?” Fear filled the human’s voice.

“This morning.” Mettan motioned to the door, “Which is why we must hurry.”

The doorbell rang, sending a wave of dread through the soldier. Mettan had thought he heard engines and people outside, but there weren’t any windows in the hall and all the doors were shut, so he hadn’t been able to check.

“Are you the backup?” The stepfather’s loud voice announced the real army was at the front door.

“Hurry.” Mettan headed to the stairs, “I’ll handle this.”