Larry is at a payphone. He hesitantly picks up the phone and dials a number. Before anyone can answer he hangs up.

Cut to:

Deputy Green looks sympathetically at him, shrugs, and heads for the file room.

Cut to:

Tess is standing alone, outside a classroom that is in session. Through the window in the door we can see Isabel sitting in the class, trying to listen to the teacher, but also appearing wary, as if sensing something outside in the hallway, occasionally looking in that direction. It is apparent that Tess is lying in wait for Isabel. A school administrator sees Tess standing in the hallway and approaches.

Cut to:

The teacher is writing on the blackboard. Under the heading "Immigration, Reasons for": he has already listed: "Economic opportunities, Scarce resources, Religious and political freedom". The students are taking copious notes as the teacher speaks. We see Max, Liz, and Maria sitting near each other on the side of the room closest to the door. We see Liz's very neat notes, Maria's more freewheeling style then Max's notebook which is similar to Liz's. When we look closer we see doodles in the margins. Next to the word "immigration" we see a sketch of the Earth with space ships headed toward it. There's a large question mark next to the words "reasons for."

Max glances at Liz and smiles. The door to the classroom opens and everyone looks to see who has interrupted the class. Max, Liz, and Maria all tense when they see Tess enter the room, escorted by the administrator. Max looks like he's ready to bolt through the open door. The teacher approaches the administrator. She whispers something to him and he points to an empty desk on the opposite side of the classroom from where Max, Liz, and Maria are sitting. Tess takes her seat, the administrator leaves, the teacher closes the door and continues his lecture. Max alternates from looking at the door to looking at Tess. Tess's posture indicates that she senses something and she starts to look around. Max immediately averts his eyes and pretends to be taking notes. He surreptitiously erases his spaceship doodles with his powers.

The front door opens again and Deputy Owen Blackwood steps in. He stares at the students. Liz, Maria, and Max exchange worried looks.

Max, Liz, and Maria look somewhat relieved.

Dissolve to the end of the class:

The words "Aggression", "Biological Warfare" and "Oppression" have been added to the board. The bell rings, signally the end of class. Max bolts out the door at the first opportunity. The teacher is shaking hands with Deputy Blackwood and the students are collecting their things. Tess seems to be making a beeline for the door as well. Liz "accidentally" drops her books in front of the doorway, blocking other students, including Tess, from exiting. She apologizes amid student groans, but takes her time recollecting her things. Some students veer over to the other exit. Tess does the same, but Maria gets there first where she too "accidentally" drops her books, blocking Tess's exit. There are more student groans, more apologies. In the meantime, Liz has checked to see that Max has left the hallway and gives Maria the "Sting" signal to indicate the all clear. Maria collects her things and meets Liz in the hallway. The other students and Tess exit behind her giving both Maria and Liz dirty looks. Maria pulls a vial from her backpack.

Cut to:

In a secluded part of the quad, Tess is on her cell phone. We join her in mid-conversation.

Cut to:

Liz, Maria, and Alex are walking down the hallway together, we join them in mid-conversation.

Cut to:

Liz and Maria are carrying a couple of trash bags away from the trash can on the street, towards a car parked a few houses down and across the street. Alex is by the front window, taking pictures. Once Liz and Maria get the trash bags in the trunk of the car they creep back to Alex. Liz, using a mini flashlight, starts searching the ground around the shrubs. Foliage blocks the view through the window for Maria and Liz, so they have to rely on Alex's commentary. Through the window we can see Tess and Ed Harding are having dinner. There is Tabasco sauce on the table. During the scene we occasionally see both Tess and Ed put the sauce on their food. Maria, Alex, and Liz all speak in stage whispers to keep from being heard by Tess and Ed.

In the background we see Liz has found something on the other side of the fence to their side yard, but she can't reach between the slats of the fence. She takes a pen out of her backpack to add to her reach. She manages to reach the item and pull it through the slats. It's a gum wrapper with a used wad of gum inside. Liz smiles triumphantly, then puts the gum and her pen back into her pack.

Alex takes several more pictures at different angles, the camera clicking away. Ed's body language indicates that he seems to be hearing something, but isn't sure. He says something to Tess that we do not hear. She stops eating and listens. They both turn towards the window. Alex takes one last picture then turns to Maria and Liz.

They all take off at a run towards Alex's car. Alex and Maria get in the front, Liz in the back.

Cut to:

From the safety of the car they look back at Tess's house and see Tess and Ed looking out the window Alex was just looking into. The angle is such that Alex, Liz, and Maria can see Tess and Ed, but Tess and Ed cannot see Alex's car or its occupants.

He's about to start the engine when Liz calls out from the back seat.

They look towards the window and see that Tess and Ed are no longer there. Liz gets out of the car and stealthily runs over to the fence near the front yard window where she had been standing.

Cut to:

Liz does a brief search, finds her pen and starts to head back towards the car. Just as she is stepping from the yard to the sidewalk the front door opens and Ed comes out.

Liz freezes in her tracks, then turns and faces Ed. Ed approaches Liz; he now has a good view of Alex's car. Alex quickly turns and embraces Maria. His face is right up to hers; their lips a hair's-breadth apart.

Cut to:

The camera angle is from Maria's POV so we see what she sees.

Maria puts her arms around Alex and pretends to be kissing him, but is watching Liz and Ed.

Liz stops talking to Ed and continues walking, still on the other side of the street, walking way past the car.

Ed looks suspiciously at Alex's car. Maria suddenly starts kissing Alex for real, taking him completely by surprise. The camera angle changes and we see that her eyes are closed; she does not let Alex up for air until she hears the Hardings' front door close. At the same time Liz doubles back to the car.

Liz stealthily approaches the car, opens the back door and climbs in.

Alex starts the car and takes off.

Cut to:

Establishing shot. We see many photos in the window. Next to some family photos is an ad which reads: "Lights, camera, blast-off to Whitman's Galaxy Studio for your next out-of-this-world family photo!"

There are sheets of photo paper immersed in shallow plastic tubs filled with developing solution. Alex is using tongs to move the sheets slightly, to make sure that they are completely covered. Isabel is beside him, watching.

Isabel smiles and kisses him with lots of enthusiasm. Then she pulls back suddenly.

Cut to:

Max and Liz are sharing her lounge chair. Liz is lounging in Max's arms. He's holding her very protectively. On the floor of the balcony newspapers have been spread out and the contents of one of the trash bags has been dumped on them. It's obvious the trash has been meticulously gone over, and that there was a lot of ashes. On a table nearby, there is a microscope, some slides, and the gum Liz found.

Cut to:

Michael and Maria are sitting on her living room floor, going through the trash and ashes that are strewn out on the spread-out newspapers. Maria is very animated retelling their adventure.

She holds up her hand to forestall Michael's reply, trying to steer the conversation away from the kiss.

Cut to:

The pictures are developing and we see some clear shots of both Tess and Ed Harding. One shows Ed putting Tabasco sauce on his potatoes. Isabel points to that picture while speaking.

Cut to:

Max and Liz are in their same positions.

Max looks at Liz hesitantly. Liz smiles gently and looks at him expectantly.

Cut to:

Michael and Maria have moved to the couch. She is looking intently at him as he continues to speak.

Michael looks directly at Maria. Then he puts his arm around her and pulls her close.

Cut to:

The pictures are hanging to dry. Alex is sitting on a high stool. Isabel is leaning against his chest, wrapped in his arms.

Cut to:

Max and Liz are now sitting upright on her lounge, facing each other.

He cups her face in his hands, then kisses her lovingly.

Cut to:

Michael and Maria are still in their same positions.

Maria sits up straight, at arms length, interrupting his litany.

He leans towards her and they kiss.

Cut to:

The pictures have dried and Alex and Isabel are examining them.

She takes the picture of Tess from him, closes her eyes, and concentrates.

Cut to:

Max and Liz are still sitting on her lounge, facing each other.

Max leans over and kisses Liz on the head.

Cut to:

Isabel is observing Tess, who is having a nightmare about people stalking her. She's walking down a street at night, nervously looking over her shoulder repeatedly. There are people in the shadows behind her, but they disappear every time she looks around to catch them. She picks up her pace, then starts running.

Cut to:

Tess is still running. She runs up to a rock wall, stops and puts her hand on the wall. It glows silver underneath her hand. Then the stone appears to ripple and shimmer as it transforms itself into a doorway-like opening. She steps into the hollowed-out area inside and crouches down next to an egg-shaped gossamer-like pod shell, as if for protection. She turns towards the opening, there is a look of terror on her face. She reaches out and touches the inside wall of the chamber. The ripple effect appears and the doorway-like opening of the pod chamber turns back into a solid stone wall, sealing Tess inside.

Cut to:

Isabel jolts out of her dreamwalk with a gasp.

Cut to commercial:

Return to Act II

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