Jack drove the caravan out towards the mountains, taking a lonely highway while the rest of us made ourselves comfortable.
Junkyard lay on a blanket on the floor, Sara took the only couch, after I insisted she take it which was after Seth insisting one of us take it while Seth fell asleep on one side of the table and I leaned back on the other, just watching them and listening to Jack and Alex's conversation.

"I didn't even imagine they'd actually look human, much less like kids." Alex was saying.
"They're lucky you joined us, Doctor." Jack said to her.
Yeah, who else? I thought.
"We're lucky...you joined us." He finished and I smiled.
"Luck has nothing to do with it." Alex said, "It's pure science. Chaos theory, the underlying order in apparently random data."
"So, more like fate." Jack said.
"Hmmm," Alex thought for a moment, "Science. Think about it. What are the odds that they would crash near Vegas during a UFO convention? I got in your cab. Then they got in your cab." Alex explained, "And now we're all in Harlan's mobile home loaded with his intel on where their ship is. That is not luck. That is a predetermined order of how things work in the universe."
Wow, I thought, that sure is some good insight.
She was right, however, everything fit so well together, you'd think Seth and Sara did this on purpose.
"Have you always been this positive?" Jack asked Alex.
"I have always been a searcher for answers. Though, my folks would say I was merely a daydreamer." Alex replied, "How about you?"
This I tuned in for.
"Me? I'm a, uh, much easier book to read." Jack began.
"All my life my answers have been 'yes' or 'no'. Zero grey areas."
My eyebrows furrowed. Man, that's sad.
"Where does the mustang fall? A yes or no?" Alex asked him.
I knew she must have been talking about Jack's keychain.
"That's not just any mustang. That's a 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback." Jack replied, "Steve McQueen's car in Bullitt?"
There was silence and I turned around to see Alex shrug and shake her head.
"You've never seen Bullitt?" Jack asked.
"Uh, no." Alex replied.
"Er..." Jack said, teasing her and she chuckled, "Well, it's currently a no. But one day I'm gonna earn that car, the honest way. And then it will be my yes." He finished and I smiled.
You'll get your yes Uncle. I know it.

Slowly, Seth sat up and smiled tiredly at me and I smiled back.
"Hey." I said softly so I didn't wake up Sara.
"Hey." Seth replied.
"How'd you sleep?"
"I slept well, thank you Emily. And you?"
I shook my head, "I wasn't tired."
"But you should receive your strength. We will need it." Seth said, looking concerned.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. I'm in perfect health." I said, using his phrase from when he hadn't slept and I did.
He smiled and chuckled at me and I smiled back before he looked up front.
"Jack?"
"What's up pal?"
"Are we there yet?"
I looked at him in surprise then turned to the front and shared Jack and Alex's look of amazement.
Seth seriously just said 'Are we there yet?'
"Good in any universe apparently." Jack said, and I laughed, "Well, Alex?"
"Yes," Alex said, digging around in her purse to find where we were going.

Ten minutes later, Jack parked the caravan in some trees and I helped him cover it with other little saplings and bushes.
"Well," Alex said as she walked out of the caravan, "The maps are thirty years old but they're the best intel we've got."
Jack went over and stood beside her while I finished putting one more small tree over the side of the caravan.
"Looks to be about five miles from here to the entrance." Alex continued.
"Okay." Jack said and turned to the three of us, "Let's rock and roll."

After about twenty minutes of walking, a rushing stream lay ahead of us so Jack went first, helping Sara to cross, I was next and Seth was behind me, behind him was Alex.
Halfway across, like the clumsy person I am, my foot slipped and I yelled out in surprise, bracing myself for ice-cold, watery impact.

But it never came.

Instead, I felt two hands securely around my waist, preventing me from falling.
I looked up and was glad to see Seth.
"Are you alright Emily?" He asked as he righted me again on the rocks.
"Yes. Yeah, I'm fine." I replied with a grateful smile, "Thank you."
"You are welcome. Try to be more careful. I do not wish for you to hurt yourself." Seth said.
"I'll try." I replied and Seth allowed himself to smile at me.

Once past the stream, we tracked through bush underneath the mountain, Sara in the lead, with Jack, Alex, me then Seth bringing up the rear.
We came to a big rock that overlooked the entrance to the mountain, but there was military surrounding it!
Jack and Alex went up and laid on their stomachs on the rock and Jack looked through binoculars. I stayed behind with the siblings.

"There's gotta be another way in." Jack said up on the rock.
He handed the binoculars to Alex and she had a look through them as well.

They came back down and again and Alex said, "If the maps' right, there are several service tunnels spreading outward."
"Worth looking for right?" I asked and she nodded.
"Let's go." Jack said and lead the way.

I walked beside Seth but heard, "Jack." From Sara and turned to see her fall into Jack's arms.
"Sara." Jack said, panic rising in his voice.
"Sara?" I asked and Seth turned around as well but quickly brought his hand to his neck and became limp.
"Sara!" Jack said as Seth fell.
"Seth!" I shrieked and only just caught him but fell to my knees with him in my arms.
"Seth!" Jack cried, still holding Sara.

Suddenly, men dressed in black came jumping down the rock face above us from ropes!
Jack gave Sara to Alex who held her in her arms protectively while Jack stood in front of Seth and I.
I held Seth's head and shoulders close to my chest as I sat on my knees on the ground, panicking as men in black surrounded us from all sides.
"Seth." I whispered to him, stroking his face, "Wake up."
"Mr and Miss Bruno and, I believe, Dr Friedman." A voice said and I looked up to see a man in a black suit walking up to us.
"What did you do to them?!" I asked frantically, clutching Seth closer to my chest.
"Consider yourself lucky Miss Bruno." The man said, "I could have had all three of you shot on sight for trespassing and violation of US government property."
Two men came up to me and pried Seth from my arms. I didn't give up easily, gripping his shirt as they pulled him away from me but I let go in fear of having my fingers being pulled off.
I turned to see Sara being taken away as well.
"No!" I cried, and looked at Jack desperately.
"Sara!" He yelled and punched the closest guy in the face.
I ran and pushed another guy over and Jack punched him in the face as well.
I kicked another soldier in between the legs where the sun don't shine and he fell to his knees.
"Seth!" I shrieked again and ran forward towards him.
Jack fought one guy for his gun but another came up behind him and slammed the butt of his gun into Jack's shoulders.
"Ah!" Jack grunted and fell to his knees.
"Jack!" I cried but was grabbed by another guy and screamed in protest.
Jack was hit in the face with the butt of a gun and he fell to the ground.
I struggled to break free as the guy stood ready to fire at Jack should he make any move.

The man let me go and I ran to Jack. Alex ran over as well and together we both helped him up.
"There you go. Alright." Alex said as Jack stood up.
The leader of the agents walked up but Alex stopped him.

"Sir. With all due respect, you have to listen to me." She said, "They came in peace. We cannot respond with violence. The future of Earth depends on it."
I looked back at the siblings being loaded onto a military truck, covered with aluminum foil and was urged to run for them again but didn't want to risk being killed.
"It is absolutely vital that they get home." Alex finished.
"They are home, Dr Friedman. They are now in my custody." The leader said, taking off his sunglasses.
"'Custody'?" I blurted out before I could stop myself, "You can't expect to keep them prisoner and get away with it!"
Jack put a hand on my shoulder to calm me down.
"They have rights!"
"They're illegal aliens on US soil," The leader interrupted, "without so much as a passport. The patriot act enables me to detain them for a long as necessary."
"You can't keep this quiet." Alex said to him, "The world has the right to know that they exist."
"And you're going to be the one to blow the whistle, Doctor?" The leader asked mockingly and I glared at him.
"A failed astrophysicist fired by three universities for obsessing over UFOs, teams up with an ex-con and his orphan niece in declaring that the government has captured two normal-looking kids and is holding them hostage inside a mountain that doesn't exist?"
My eyes widened and I looked at the ground. I could feel Jack's gaze on me through the back of my head.
This wasn't how I wanted to tell him...
"It would be so much easier to let you speak than to deal with all the paperwork involved with killing you." The leader finished.
"Someone will believe us." Jack said behind me.
"From behind bars?" The leader shot back, "Let me remind you, Mr Bruno, as a convicted felon, you're looking at twenty years just for standing on this mountain and talking to me. Shall I go on?"
I glared at him again.
"No." Jack said, "I get the message."
Alex and I turned to look at him in surprise.
"Smart man." The leader said, "Give them a lift back down."
"What?" Alex asked Jack, which I would've done had I not been scared to look him in the eyes, "That's it? It's over?"
"I'm sorry." Jack told her, "I will not go back to prison."
I turned around to face him and bravely looked him in the eyes, tears glossing my own.
He looked at me with many emotions: sadness, apology, betrayal.
The emotions I felt as well.

"Let's go." One man said and roughly pulled Jack, Alex and I away and I looked one more time at the truck where they put  Seth and Sara, tears running down my cheeks as they took us away.