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The more she thought about it, the better it sounded. A fun-filled weekend outing is just what the doctor ordered, she decided. For all of us.
She couldn't wait to get going.
2.
Believe it or not," the park ranger explained, "this entire region was once at the bottom of a huge inland sea. Two hundred and fifty million years ago, these caves began as a series of underwater reefs. Eventually, however, the sea dried up and the reef was buried beneath tons of sediment. Over the centuries, geological pressures gradually pushed the reef system back toward the surface where rainwater, seeping through cracks in the limestone, began carving out the caverns all around us."Liz tried to imagine the arid Chihuahuan Desert, now about seven hundred feet above them, covered in seawater, but it was hard to visualize, especially after driving all the way down from Roswell through almost a hundred miles of sun- baked, reddish-brown New Mexican landscape. Fortunately, they had gotten off to an early start this morning, before the June heat hit its peak.
"Isn't this amazing, Max?" she said, taking in the spectacular subterranean scenery all around them. Jagged stalactites hung like gigantic stone icicles high above their heads, while fanglike stalagmites reached toward the ceiling. Massive calcite columns, formed when the stalactites met their inverted counterparts, rose dramatically like the pillars of some ancient pagan temple. In places, the limestone walls of the spacious cavern resembled frozen waterfalls, or overlapping sheets of petrified drapery. Colored lights, positioned strategically throughout the caves, displayed its natural wonders to their best advantage, providing an eye-catching array of shadows, hues, and textures. Time had polished many of the formations, giving them a pearly, opalescent sheen. It's like an alien world, Liz thought, right here on Earth.
"It is impressive," Max agreed, his arm around her waist as they strolled along with a large herd of tourists, making an effort to stay within earshot of the friendly ranger giving the group a guided tour of the King's Palace section of the caverns. Max ducked his head to whisper into her ear, "This place makes the Pod Chamber"-where he and the other alien children had been buried after the Crash- "look like a gopher hole."And this is just a small fraction of what's down here," Liz commented, flipping through the guidebook she had bought on the surface. "It says here that there are over eighty-five caverns in the Park, of which only ten or so are open to the public."You hear that, folks?" Maria chimed in. She and Michael were right behind them, followed closely by Alex and Isabel. "Nobody get lost, 'cause I don't want to go poking around in spooky, bat-filled caves looking for you."Maria was traumatized by The Adventures oj Tom Sawyer at an early age," Liz teased, recalling the sequence where Becky Thatcher and Tom were stalked through an underground labyrinth by the murderous Injun Joe. "She used to hide behind the couch whenever we got to that part on the video."Fu
"Just the same, everybody stick to the lighted trails," Maria insisted, clearly getting in touch with her i
Flashbulbs flared as a mob of tourists elbowed and jostled their way forward, trying to get a better view of the petrified Lovers. The one problem with hitting the caverns on a su
"You know," Alex remarked, now that he and Isabel were right next to Liz, "this whole thing is cool and all, but I can't help thinking that the public parts of the caverns have been domesticated too much. You've got paved trails, electricity, lights, guardrails, even waste baskets every fifty yards or so." To prove his point, he slam-dunked a wadded-up candy bar wrapper into the nearest convenient trash receptacle. "Don't you think it would be spookier and more atmospheric if these caves actually looked more like caves and less like an underground mall?"I see your point, Alex," Max said amiably, sounding more at ease than he had for weeks, maybe months. "Although I think there are some more caverns nearby that have been left in something closer to their natural state, for more serious cavers, and other caves that have barely been explored at all." He leafed through the guidebook in Liz's hands. "Yeah, it says here there's Slaughter Canyon Cave, Spider Cave, and some that don't even have names yet."Now there's an idea!" Alex enthused. "What do you think, Isabel?" He gri
She sighed sympathetically, taking stock of the fracture lines dividing her friends. At the moment, it seemed as though only she and Max were making the most of today's excursion. That's too bad, she thought, squeezing Max's waist even tighter, but I'm not going to let Michael and Maria's problems, or Alex and Isabel's, spoil my own day with Max. After risking her own life and happiness to save the entire world from alien invaders, she figured she was entitled to be a little bit selfish, if only for just one weekend.