Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 17:04:57 -0400
From: chris james <drmeta4@gmail.com>
Subject: Adam Conquers Earth, Chapter 14

Dear Reader: the following is a story of adult fiction, persons under the
age of 18 are not permitted to view this material.

	A school field trip, remember those? Los Angeles has a very nice
Natural History Museum, let's hope it's still there when my cast of
characters gets done with it. All comments welcomed. Chris James.

<drmeta4@gmail.com> 



			 Adam Conquers Earth (M/B)

Chapter Fourteen

	What Brian always enjoyed the most was the heat. The heat of Mark's
passion, the heat of his body as they joined, all fueling the fire he saw
in those eyes...he was in awe of the display. Whether it be at fifteen or
fifty, Brian was sure Mark would maintain that inner fire his whole life.

	Tonight they christened the new bedroom on a familiar bed. Rosie
was spending the evening with Todd, and Mark was sure he would pop the
question. Brian had much the same feeling, but then he'd already seen the
answer in Rosie's eyes before she left.

	The romance with Todd would become a shared life, something Brian
felt she deserved. Rosie had given up so much of herself to the boy, and
now he'd felt her attentions as well. She wasn't old, merely forty-two, but
her life had given her unneeded age, and now she was about to claim it
back.

	Brian snapped back from those thoughts as Mark made demands on his
body. The boy was teasing, sitting on his favorite spot, enjoying the
hardness deep in his bowels. But he would move a bit and then stop, his
eyes closed, savoring the feelings. Brian's cock would begin to lose its
fullness and the boy would again move to stimulate the instrument of his
pleasure. They had been at it for almost an hour.

	It was good that Mark had lost that urge to rut early on; he was
into extending the sessions, even if it meant making extreme demands on
Brian's body. Viagra be damned, Brian had the only sure-fire sexual aid he
knew sitting on his cock. What was this, orgasm number three?
 
	The house had become a home rather quickly after that wonderful
surprise party. Rosie slid her things into place and filled the gaps with
several shopping sprees. Brian had more than enough to fill his apartment,
although Mark didn't care to see much past setting up the bedroom. And here
they were several weeks later, making plans for the rest of the summer,
enjoying the city views at night, and settling back down to the long and
tedious work schedule.

	Mark moved again, sliding his butt around in their shared sweat and
natural body lubrication. "Stay with me, I am gonna make you cum again,"
Mark said.

	Brian groaned. "You'll try, I'm sure...I don't think I have
anything left to give."

	Their bodies were covered in sweat despite the air
conditioning. Brian's neck, chest and stomach were soaked with the boy's
seed. Mark had brought them there twice; he was going for a third. His butt
hole was sore, chafed from the repeat performance, but he had to try...he
always tried. He groaned when he felt Brian harden yet again, OK...time for
the big finish.

	Brian grinned up at him when he sensed Mark's need. "Go Baby...you
have me now."

	And Mark groaned again as he bounced up and down. His cock wasn't
going to do anything of its own free will, and Brian reached down and began
to massage it back to life. Oh yes, the feeling was still there...just a
little more of that and...

	Mark squealed as he felt Brian's cock swell. His body trembled at
his own approaching orgasm and they came together one final time before
Mark collapsed on Brian's chest. The hardness left his rear rather quickly
and Mark hardly felt it leave, he was numb down there.

	"OK, three in a row, are you done?" Brian chuckled.

	"Done...we got it done," Mark gasped. "Damn, I'm sore now."

	"You? I may not be able to pee for a week," Brian laughed.

	Mark smiled. "I need a bath...you?"

	"Midnight bathing sounds fine to me."

	The plumber would be in next week, the Japanese tub would fit in
nicely down in the sun room. Mark had requested it and they chose the spot
together. For now they did it the western way. As the tub filled they stood
at the window looking out at the lights of the city below.

	"Hard to tell the difference between our view and Tim's," Mark
said.

	"We have a more southerly view; his is a little south and
east. There's less development around him, at least we don't have to look
in anyone else's back yard," Brian said. "But he's higher too, just the
next hill over."

	They showered off the goo and then slid into the tub. "Are you
going to teach Rosie how to bathe Japanese style?" Brian asked.

	"Not naked I'm not; they don't mix men and women, do they?"

	"Families bathe together I believe, we are so hung up here," Brian
replied.

	The water in the tub sloshed around and the lights flickered a bit.

	"What was that...earthquake?" Mark asked.

	"Felt like it..." And then it happened again.

	"Come on...out of the tub," Brian said.

	They dried in a hurry and threw on some shorts. Brian grabbed his
wallet and car keys on the way out the door. Another shake occurred as they
walked out the front door and Mark followed him over to the driveway.

	"Where are we going?" Mark asked.

	"Nowhere, I just want to sit in the car for a while. I don't know
this area, it didn't move around much, but I want to see what happened
elsewhere."

	They slid in the seats and Brian turned on the radio. The reports
said the quake had been centered in the San Bernardino area, nothing they
had to worry about. If the house sat on solid bedrock they would feel the
tremblers, but it was unlikely to cause any damage. It paid to be careful;
Mark was a valuable asset to a lot of people.

	The water in the tub was cold when they went back inside, so Brian
drained it and they changed the sheets before sliding in bed. They had both
grown up with earthquakes as a fact of life; Californians shrugged it off
most times. The Big One might come tomorrow; it fed the lifestyle with a
sense of urgency. The thought nagged in everyone's mind on a daily basis,
but it didn't keep them from falling asleep.

	Wayne Edwards and Leonard Avery took the studio shuttle downtown to
the museum; Tina loaded the extras on two comfortable buses. Tim and Brian
took the limo alone because Mark and Steve decided to ride with the other
kids in a show of solidarity.
   
	The street on one side of the Natural History Museum had been
cordoned off. Equipment trucks and two school buses occupied the space
behind the police lines. On-site shooting was a pain in the ass for
everyone, but you couldn't build a museum filled with dinosaur bones on any
studio lot. Episode Three was nicknamed 'Chaos at the Museum' by the
writers, it was all of that.

	The museum closed at five, and they were going to run the shooting
late, as late as needed. Keeping thirty-five kids under control would be a
challenge, especially when Adam began reacting to the dinosaurs like they
were Narts. The kid scenes would be over in three or four hours, then they
would shoot the aftermath and every detail they needed. Alan did not want
to return here, it cost too much.

	Studio B back on the Triton lot had been the site of some serious
construction the past three weeks, all in an attempt to reproduce the
actual gift shop at the museum and the imaginary storeroom where Puckett
and Adam would be trapped. But first came the museum, and the transport
buses pulled up at the side entrance.

	Once the camera equipment was set up out front, the kids would
board the two school buses and drive around the block, pulling up to the
entrance and unloading as the cameras ran. The effort would show that
Blake, the science teacher, was in complete control of twenty kids, Puckett
was at a loss with his. But then he had Adam and Steve to contend with,
along with Butch the Bully.

	The younger extras were not selected for the scenes, this was to be
a seventh and eighth grade outing. Butch was the catalyst for much of the
bad behavior in this episode, Steve was the fall guy. And even though the
story in this episode would carry into the next, there would be some
strange happenings to charm the audience's socks off.

	The caterer had set up in the middle of the blocked off street, and
here Alan was holding court with the two dozen adult extras required in the
scenes. People in 'off the street' clothing, guards in 'uniform', and
several other 'museum' employees all listened to his instructions. Only
three of them had lines, and they would be paid scale for their
participation.

	The cameras were finally in place and Tina moved the kids to the
school buses, Puckett and Blake took their seats and then so did Mark and
Steve. Beverly was not in these scenes, they were holding her back for the
next episode, giving Adam a chance to relive what was about to happen. The
buses drove around the block and Alan stood behind the cameras with Tim and
Brian as they hove into sight.

	"Rolling," Frank called out, and the buses were captured on their
approach to the curb. There were three camera positions, Alan didn't want
to chance losing a shot so all three were running. Blake and Puckett were
wired for sound, two sound techs held a parabolic mike for the background
sounds of kids and traffic. And the doors of each bus opened.

	Blake stepped down and addressed the kids in his bus. "Single file
now, let's move along." He said.

	The orderly fashion in which they disembarked was almost a laugh,
the kids looked like robots. The spacing between them was exact, the steps
slow and even, two hours of rehearsal had been needed to achieve the
result.

	Puckett stepped down on the sidewalk and was nearly run over by his
kids who seemed to boil out the doorway. "Slow down, stay in line." He
yelled, all to no avail. Butch stepped down and landed right on Puckett's
foot. "Oops, sorry," The boy said insincerely.

	Puckett was hustling around trying to maintain order when Adam and
Steve stepped off the bus and stood watching the chaos, then they waded
through it to the front steps of the museum. Steve turned and let out a
piercing whistle, a talent that Alan had only recently discovered. "Line up
people," Steve yelled, and the kids did just that. Mark smiled at Puckett,
and they all followed Blake's group up the steps and through the doors.

	"Cut," Alan yelled. "Jeez, what a mess."

	Frank hurried over. "We got all kinds of stuff to work with, are we
OK?"

	Alan laughed. "I have no idea, we wanted chaos and that's what we
got. The kids were great, thanks Tina."

	Tina smiled, she had rehearsed them well. Alan was always lavish
with his praise, but it was good to hear, and now they could move on. The
cameras were moved, the dollies and booms hoisted up the stairs by the
crews. The sound crew tagged along last.

	Each scene and every location they might shoot was evaluated
beforehand. Lighting and sound was planned out to maintain production
standards. Cameras were adjustable for lighting conditions, lenses could
achieve different effects. But digital equipment was sensitive, it picked
up damning details that a director often wished wasn't there. Editing could
only do so much, and then it became expensive if the special effects guys
had to be called in to add or remove something.

	Sound was like that too, it picked up all kinds of garbage. The
ambient noise in the museum was like recording in a cavern, and there were
maintenance guys waiting around in case they had to shut down some
equipment as the shoot took place. But the wireless system allowed them to
tag each actor with a personal mike, mixing the sound levels later in the
studio.

	The nice thing about a museum was that the kids couldn't get bored;
there was so much to look at. Right now they were staring up at the bones
of a tyrannosaurus which towered over their heads. Most of the extras had
been here before; it was a favorite field trip experience for the kids in
Los Angeles County.

	Tina hustled the kids in a semicircle around the dinosaur exhibit,
the skeletons looked fierce and that was what Alan wanted to capture. The
Steadicam moved around behind the kids and Frank nodded, they were rolling
without a voice command. The sounds of the kids whispering, the awe of what
they were looking at, the camera recorded it all. Blake stepped forward and
clapped his hands for attention.

	"We will go in our groups to one of the displays and I will stop
for any questions you might have, and then we will move on to the next
display. Please stay together and raise your hand before you speak. There
are other people in the museum so we don't need to make a lot of noise."

	The groups moved on towards the next room, the insect displays.

	"Ew, bugs," Steve said, and his voice echoed around the room.

	"Not just any bugs, here we see species that have been extinct for
millions of years. Like this fine creature," Blake said. "This is the
ancestor of the cockroach, see how big they are?"

	"I've seen roaches that big in the dumpster behind the school,"
Steve whispered.

	Adam nodded. "On Regalia they're considered quite a delicacy."

	"Oh no way," Steve said. "You eat those?"

	"I'm not one of the bug eaters; I'd rather have a hamburger."

	"Quiet," Puckett hissed from several feet away.

	"It comes as no surprise to us that as the food sources on Earth
became scarce after the cataclysm which brought the dinosaurs to
extinction, bugs became smaller. Nature allowed them to adapt to their
surroundings and thus provided their continued existence. Larger creatures
did not adapt, and they are no longer with us...now over here we have..."

	The camera eye followed the students down the room and into the
next, a display of ancient native people. "These are some of the early
tribal people that first populated North America...Yes, Adam?"

	"They came after the dinosaurs were gone...was there anything
here?"

	Blake smiled, a surprised look on his face. "A good question, what
was left? There were millions of years between the age of dinosaurs and the
first human inhabitants. By then the surviving creatures had adapted and
new species were evolved. The natives found a lot of game animals, for in
the beginning they were hunters and did not grow their own crops."

	Adam stood fascinated as the group moved on. The diorama around the
still figures depicted the grasslands of the valley. These were not like
the Indians Adam had seen on television, and there were no cowboys
either. The images he had seen on television for years must have been
wrong; surely the museum knew what was right. He looked up and the room was
empty.

	Adam was moving towards the entrance to the next exhibit when he
heard a mighty roar. Did they have live creatures here? He peeked around
the corner and saw the students all plastered against the wall as this
giant dinosaur moved its head around and looked down at them. This one was
alive! The room was darkened, it was hard to tell what was going on, but
Adam sensed danger.

	Some of the girls screamed as the dinosaur lifted a huge foot and
roared. Yes, his friends were in danger. And as luck would have it there
was a display of native weapons right by the door. Adam grabbed a bow and
two arrows from the case, notching one of the arrows as he had seen Indians
do on television.

	He popped back around the corner just as the dinosaur roared again
and its head came swooping down, the huge jaws opening to bite at
something. Adam stepped in the doorway and fired off an arrow at the beast,
and then he fitted the second arrow to the bow. The first arrow had bounced
off the beast's plastic hide so this time he took careful aim and the beast
seemed to leer at him as it opened its mouth to roar out a threat.

	Narts did that, and they had thick hides that could deflect a
weapon's projectile quite easily. Every boy on Regalia knew that the best
place to shoot a Nart was in the soft skin of the neck, that's where their
heart was. And so Adam aimed and fired, just as the dinosaur opened its
mouth. The arrow flew straight down the beast's throat in mid-roar and the
sound immediately stopped.

	Steve rushed around the corner and pushed Adam up against the
wall. "What the hell are you doing?" Steve demanded.

	"The dinosaur was attacking...."Adam began.

	"Adam, snap out of it...that thing is a mechanical display, it's
not alive."

	"Oh...but..." Adam dropped the bow and Steve bent to pick it up
just as Puckett rushed in the room.

	"Steven...what the hell are you doing?"

	Puckett stripped the bow from Steve's hand and tossed it back on
the display, he glared at Adam and yanked Steve by the arm back into the
other room, Adam meekly followed. OK, he had been wrong, dinosaurs really
were extinct, but Narts weren't.

	The lights came up and the students followed Blake out of the
exhibit, no one had seen the arrows fly. Except now the dinosaur was
speechless and Adam seemed to get some satisfaction out of that.

	"Cut," Alan said.

	The prop girl retrieved the bow and went looking for the
arrows. The cameras were once again moved as the museum people set up a
ladder to see if there had been any damage to their display. The arrows had
rubber tips, they had been assured that if there was any damage that the
studio would pay for it, Alan had to sign a waiver.

	Mark had spent an hour practicing with the bow back at the
studio. It wasn't very strong, but he was happy, he'd nailed that dino
right in the kisser. Frank wheeled his dolly on past and grinned. "Nice
shooting, paleface," He laughed. The museum guy retrieved the arrow from
the dino's mouth and dropped it back down to the prop girl. At least that
bit was over.

	Alan called a break and Mark followed Brian out to the chuck wagon
for some tea. Steve was there in the short line, joking with Butch
Peterson.

	"How late do you think this is gonna run?"  Butch asked when he saw
Mark.

	"Two more scenes with you guys, and then Wayne and I do our thing,"
Mark said. "Why, you got a hot date?"

	Butch laughed. "No, it's my little sister's birthday, she's three
today."

	"Aww, sweet,"" Steve said. "At least you have some girl in your
life."

	"Hey, I do alright with the ladies," Butch threw back with a
grin. "I got fan mail."

	Brian smiled. Everyone in the cast was getting mail. Mark and Steve
spent thirty minutes to an hour a day reading e-mail from the fans and
responding to some. The ACE website was flooded and Triton knew better then
to ignore the television audience. They had backed off placing a YouTube
clip; there were already bootleg copies of the first season out there on
the internet.

	Their break ended and they resumed the shoot in the hallway outside
a display room. Blake was droning on about the La Brea tar pits and the
discovery of dinosaur remains, a young lady raised her hand.

	"Mr. Blake, may we use the bathrooms?" She asked.

	Blake looked concerned, as if he had forgotten the needs of the
kids while rambling on. He nodded and a dozen kids of each sex split off
from the group and headed for the restrooms. Puckett had been standing
there with a hand on Steve's shoulder; he wasn't planning to lose sight of
his little alleged troublemaker.

	But Blake turned and followed the boys towards the bathroom and
Steve slid out of Puckett's grasp and went along. Puckett had to stay with
the group and didn't see Butch smile and follow Steve, but Adam did.

	All along Adam had been there when Butch had confronted the boy, he
had just missed the punch that bloodied Steve's lip, but Butch had paid for
that. The prop guys had pumped a small cafeteria style carton of chocolate
milk with forty pounds of air pressure. The minute Butch popped the seal in
a cafeteria scene the kid was sprayed with milk and the whole room laughed
at him while Adam sat across the room and smiled.

	Blake paused at the bathroom door as the boys went in. There was
now a water fountain attached to the wall by the entrance, a special
fountain rigged for the scene. Butch shoved Steve into the wall as he stood
at one of the urinals, and then laughed until Adam stepped between
them. For some reason Butch could not do anything while Adam was there,
Steve grinned and walked out of the bathroom.

	"You're being bad again, Butch...haven't you learned anything?"
Adam asked.

	Butch was frozen in place as Adam looked around the room. He
spotted the water fountain and smiled. Like a robot Butch took short
deliberate steps to the water fountain and bent over for a drink. "You need
to cool off, Butch," Adam said, and then Butch grasped the sides of the
fountain as Adam walked out the door.

	The fountain began to spray water, splattering Butch's face and
shirt. He struggled but his hands seemed to be glued to the fountain, he
couldn't get away. "Help," Butch yelled. And from beyond the door Adam
could be heard laughing.

	The tour resumed with a very wet Butch standing at the back of the
group. Blake led them back to the lobby and they were allowed to visit the
gift shop. Not all the kids went inside but Adam did, and Puckett tagged
along to keep an eye on the boy.

	The gift displays were mostly under glass and locked up, but there
were several counters of shirts, baubles and beads out in the open. Puckett
stood by the door and looked at his watch. A girl approached.

	"Mr. Puckett, do I have time to look at the books?" She asked.

	He looked at his watch again. "Five minutes and then we have to
leave," He replied.

	She rushed over to the book shelves and Puckett looked around, Adam
had disappeared. The camera cut back to a low shot of Adam on the floor
behind the counter, he was on his hands and knees picking up beads from a
broken necklace. The camera angle caught Puckett from the knees down as he
stepped around the counter, scattering beads even further across the floor.

	"What did you do?" Puckett whispered loudly.

	Adam looked up. "I don't know, it just broke."

	Butch stepped up at that point and smiled. "You broke it...that
will cost you."
	
	"Mind your own business, Butch," Puckett said, and turned to look
back at Adam who had once again disappeared.

	The door to the rear storeroom loomed open before him and Puckett
stuck his head inside. "Adam?" He said. And from the rear of the room
filled with shelves and boxes came Adam's reply. "Oh, Wow...would you look
at this."

	Puckett stepped through the doorway and disappeared. Butch stood
there a moment and looked down at the key sitting in the lock. He looked
around and smiled, pulling the door shut and locking it. Then he removed
the key and tossed it in the bin with a large display of souvenirs,
chuckling to himself.

	The camera followed Butch back towards the entrance where the girls
and two boys stood. "Puckett says it's time to go, we better move out," He
said, and the kids all left the gift shop.

	They were the last customers, and the young lady behind the counter
looked around and then down at her watch. She smiled and flipped a few
switches on the wall. The display lights went out and the room became
dark. She stepped out and pulled down the security grating and there was a
click as it locked in place.

	The final shot from the camera showed the face of the metal
storeroom door. The knob moved a bit, it was locked, and from behind the
door the microphones picked up a lone voice.

	"Hello?" Puckett could be heard saying. "Is anyone out there?"

	"Cut," Alan said. "Good job."

	Tina strode over and opened the door, and Wayne stood there
grinning. "Did it work?" He asked.

	Tina smiled. "Like a charm."

	"I need some time filler," Alan called out as he watched the
playback.

	The grate slid open and the lights came back on. Mitch moved the
Steadicam towards the back and Alan had Mark get back on the floor while
Wayne resumed his stance by the counter. Props scattered some more beads on
the floor.

	"I need you to give the beads another little kick around,
Wayne. Try to make some roll back through the door. I want Adam to crawl
back through the door after the beads as you do your line with Butch, then
a little expression as you see the boy has vanished. Then do your slow walk
through the doorway and we'll follow. "

	"Got it," Wayne said.

	"Mitch, keep low as Adam follows the beads into the back and then
pull back as Puckett follows. I want a half shot of the door, Puckett from
the waist down, that way I'll get the key's dangling in the lock before
Butch even sees them. OK? Let's do it."

	They shot it twice until Alan saw what he wanted. The sequence was
Adam crawling after beads, Puckett's lines with Butch and then a shot of
the man from the knees down. A turn this way and that, then a slow steady
approach to the doorway. The view of the keys dangling before a full shot
of Puckett leaning in the doorway and saying, "Adam?"

	The cuts would be spliced into one smooth flowing chain of events,
leaving the audience with no doubt that Puckett and Adam were trapped in
the storeroom. Then it was time to shoot the last scene in the gift shop,
something simple at least. Adam and Puckett stood behind the grating, the
lights out behind them.

	The sound of an alarm bell could be heard ringing in the background
as Puckett grasped the grate and shook it to no avail.  Adam had the final
line. "Uh Oh," He said, and Alan yelled "Cut."

	They shot the final scene on the front steps outside the
museum. Blake was there with Steve and two security guards. Two angle
shots, one facing the building and the other out towards the street and the
two yellow buses.

	"But you heard the young man, our Principal and a student are
missing," Blake said to one of the guards.

	"Sir, we'll take one last look around inside, but I assure you we
saw no one. The alarm sets automatically and if the sensors detected
movement it would go off, but there is no alarm. I'm sure they left without
informing you," The guard said.

	The guards unlocked the door and stepped inside. Blake stood there,
distress clearly etched on his face. "This is terrible, where could they
have gone?" He was talking to himself, and Steve just smiled. "What will I
say to Adam's parents?" Blake groaned.

	Steve cleared his throat and Blake looked down. "Yes?"

	There was a knock on the glass door and Blake looked up at the
security guard standing inside, the man shook his head and shrugged.

	"Oh my," Blake said. "How terrible for Adam."

	"Mr. Blake, I think you ought to feel sorry for Mr. Puckett, Adam
can take care of himself," Steve said.

	"Cut," Alan said. "Wrap it up."

	The final shot would once again be the storeroom door and Puckett's
voice. "Hello, can anyone hear me?"

	Tomorrow morning they would move into Studio B for the opening of
Episode Four. Alan sighed, that would be a lot easier to manage. The
storeroom and the police station sets were done, and in the afternoon
Brandon Edgerton would grace the set with his presence.

	The star of a dozen cop style television shows, numerous drama
films and even a few comedies, the man was a legend. He had the part of a
cranky police detective down to a science, and Alan was counting on
it. Their first featured star, Adam Conquers Earth was about to go into new
territory.

	Rosie and Todd were sitting in the kitchen when they got home, two
glasses of wine on the table. Mark took one look at the smile on Rosie's
face and knew Todd had finally popped the question. Brian smiled as Rosie
held up her hand to display the ring.

	"How wonderful," Brian said, giving her a kiss and shaking Todd's
hand. Mark was quiet; things were going to change again. Todd at least was
savvy enough to sense the moment and he smiled at Mark.

	"I'm marrying your aunt, Mark...nothing changes for you. No young
man wants life to change, I understand that. We'll take our time, and I
hope we can work this out."

	"Will you move out?" Mark asked, and Rosie shook her head.

	"I'd like Todd to come live with us, it's too soon for me to
leave," She said.

	Mark seemed to accept that and sat down to eat his dinner. Brian
knew this would change things, but he wasn't expecting it to be challenged
right away. He and Mark cleared away the dinner dishes and Brian said good
night, figuring Mark needed a good night's sleep and some time to think.

	Todd and Rosie went in the living room and settled down as Mark
went to his room. But fifteen minutes later he was back and smiled as he
crossed the room towards the door.

	"Mark...where are you going?" Todd asked.

	"To see Brian," Mark said.

	"It's kinda late there, isn't it? I think you should go back to
your room."

	Mark paused at the door and turned back. "I visit Brian any time I
want, we like to talk."

	"Go back to bed, Mark," Todd said.

	Mark shrugged and turned towards the door once again.

	"Mark," Todd said a bit too loudly. He had crossed the line.

	Mark turned around and walked over to the couch. Rosie was sitting
quietly, wondering at Todd's attitude and knowing how Mark would respond.

	"I'm going to see, Brian. Just because you're engaged to my aunt
doesn't give you the right to control my life, this is my house after all
and not yours. If you plan to stay here you'll learn that I set my own
schedule and meet my own commitments, and that will not change no matter
what you say."

	Mark did an about face and left the room, shutting Brian's door
quietly behind him.

	"What the hell was that?" Todd asked.

	"You won't control him no matter what you try," Rosie said. "He's
very much in charge of his own life, and he does it quite well. And believe
me, if Mark says you have to leave you will. He has a very large bodyguard
that would throw you out the door in a minute if Mark asked him too."

	Rosie reached over and patted Todd's hand. "Brian is his source of
strength; they talk all hours of the day and night so get used to it. He's
the only man that can get through to the boy, and I thank the Lord every
day that's he's in Mark's life right now. So let it go, you won't change
things."

	"I'm sorry," Todd said. "In my family Dad used to do all our
thinking when we were kids, I didn't realize that Mark is such an
independent boy. But if it works for you I'm just keeping my mouth shut."

	"He needs time to adjust, Todd...just give him some room."

	Mark found Brian looking at his mail. "So Todd tried the power play
with me and lost, I think he got the point."

	Brian smiled. "Trying to control you already, huh? Rosie will
straighten him out. You ought to be in bed...my bed."

	"That's why I'm here."

	The day had gone well and Mark was deflating slowly. A little love,
a gentle back rub, and he was out for the count. Todd would soon learn that
he wasn't wanted as a father figure; Brian supposed the man felt like he
had to try. Rosie would have her hands full.

	They were fifteen minutes into the shoot on the storeroom set when
the ground shook, only down here in the valley it felt larger. Brian had
been sitting behind Alan watching the monitor. Puckett and Adam were moving
boxes to see if there was another way out.

	"Hello, can anyone hear me?" Puckett repeated as his opening line,
slowly banging his head against the door.

	"What time is it?" Adam asked.

	Puckett looked at his watch, "Five-ten."

	"The museum is closed, no one is out there," Adam said.

	Puckett groaned. "Thanks for the good news. I'm starving, I didn't
get lunch."

	"We have food, I saw some dinosaur cookies, and there's bottled
water on the shelf behind you." Puckett grabbed a water and drank half the
bottle. "Better be careful, we don't have a bathroom," Mark advised.

	Puckett sat on a carton and opened a box of the cookies. He tasted
one and made a face.  "They're dry, tasteless."

	"Maybe they're sixty-five million years old," Adam joked.

	"How did we manage to get locked in here?" Puckett asked.

	"I didn't shut the door...who did?"

	"Butch...he was the only one out there, I bet he locked us in,"
Puckett said.

	"Sounds like him," Adam said. "We could be here all night."

	"Oh, now there's a pleasant thought...we have to get out of
here. Your parents will be worried."
	"Maybe...I never know," Adam said.

	The silence grew around them and Adam scoped out the room. There
was a tiny window high up on the wall, but there were bars running across
it. Puckett's box slowly collapsed under his weight and the man was left
sprawled on the floor. Adam smiled; he seemed to be enjoying the man's
misery.

	Mitch was crammed in a corner with the Steadicam, and there were
two other cameras pointing through holes in the wall. The angles were
tight, the room felt confining...and then the building shook with the
tremor of an earthquake. They froze in place, awaiting a sign from Alan.
The ground heaved again.

	"What was that?" Mark said. It wasn't the line he was supposed to
deliver.

	"Earthquake," Wayne responded. Mark smiled and slipped back into
Adam mode.

	"The ground shakes? That doesn't happen on Regalia."

	"Regalia, I never heard of that town," Puckett said. Mark was
ad-libbing and damned if Wayne was going to be left behind.

	"Small red planet, about four thousand light years away," Adam
said.

	"So, it's further than Encino," Puckett said, eliciting a smile
from Mark.

	"A little, I'm an alien....don't you think that's weird?"

	"Weird? I'll give you weird, have you seen the seventh graders this
year?" Puckett was grinning now.

	"Yeah, strange creatures, the bunch of them," Adam laughed.

	They heard laughter from the other side of the wall. "Stop it you
two, the earthquake is over...get back into it," Alan yelled. "We're
rolling."

	Puckett laughed...a short barking sound followed by silence

	"I ought to be sitting at home in front of my television watching
the news and eating my dinner," Puckett said, rubbing his face with his
hands to hide the grin. "Instead I find myself trapped here with you...you
of all people." He looked over at Adam, the concerned look back on his
face. "What did I do to deserve you?"

	"You don't like me," Adam said.

	Puckett frowned. "It's not you, it's the way you act...you have no
sense of discipline. My school is just a playground for you."

	"I have to go to school or else..." Adam's voice trailed off.

	"Or else what? Go on, tell me," Puckett insisted.

	Adam smiled. "You wouldn't understand...we're not from the same
planet."

	"I can agree with you there." Puckett looked at his watch
again. "Fourteen hours until the museum opens again...it seems like an
eternity."

	"You could sleep," Adam suggested.

	"And what about you?" Puckett asked.

	"I might try to open the door."

	"Oh that would be nice," Puckett said, "Why didn't I think of that?
It's locked solid."

	Adam got up and walked to the door. "How does the lock work?" From
this side all he could see was a knob and a key slot for the deadbolt.

	"We don't have a key...it takes..."Puckett began.

	But Adam had placed a hand over the key slot and Puckett heard a
loud snap. Adam turned the knob and the door opened. "It's open," Adam said
with a smile.

	Puckett gasped and scrambled to his feet. "How did you do that?"

	Adam shrugged. "I don't know...it needed to open that's all."

	They both stood looking out the doorway at the darkened room
beyond, and then they stepped through. "Cut," Alan said.

	They shot some filler time. Puckett pacing back and forth in the
tiny room, Adam looking through boxes. More moments of silence, all to show
the progress of time spent entrapped in that tiny room.  The whole six
minute scene would be made with Alan's edits, splicing the material
together in a logical progression. Seventy-two minutes of recorded images
all condensed into six, it would probably take Alan three or four hours of
work.

	Every bit of information recorded was digitally encoded, timed to a
hundredth of a second so everything was calibrated. The master for each
scene would be built from those digital parts into a smooth flowing
whole. It would all be viewed by a dozen eyes, but only Alan had the final
say, he got to paint the final picture.

	Brian watched them setting up the police station set for the
afternoon shoot. Steve and Tim walked in the studio and looked around.

	"Is she here yet?" Steve asked.

	"No, but she ought to be," Brian said.

	Steve was referring to Marsha Grant, the reporter for a national
entertainment channel's Star Power program. One of the little details of
the work day was the interviews that took place, sometimes weekly. Grant
had been after Triton for a slot with the boys for weeks, this was her
chance.

	Steve went off to find Mark and get himself powdered by the makeup
girl for the interview under hot lights. Both boys had done dozens of these
interviews by now, the format was pretty standard. Fifteen to twenty
minutes would boil down to a three minute spot on Marsha's show.

	They would break for lunch in about an hour so Brian had been
relieved to see the van from the channel unloading the setup. Three chairs,
six lights and two cameras, that standard KISS of television, keep it
simple and move on. The only thing that made money was air time, and time
was the enemy if it was wasted.

	Marsha Grant breezed in and within ten minutes they got down to it.

	Marsha smiled at the camera. "We have with us this morning Mark
Harrison and Steven Biddle, stars of the new sit-com sensation Adam
Conquers Earth. Good Morning, and Mark I suppose the first question goes to
you because I hear you're not only the star of the show, you have a
creative role as well. What can you tell me about that?"

	"Good Morning to you, Marsha. I work with the writers in script
development; I think that's the fun part of the process. They're a great
bunch of guys with a lot of experience so I get to laugh a lot."

	"Your previous experience was a minor role on Beacon's World and a
good deal of stage work; did any of that prepare you for what you're doing
now?"

	"A little, acting is something I always wanted to do. I can't say I
was prepared for the intensity of bringing a show of this magnitude to the
audience, but I'm learning fast. At least I have a great bunch of people
around me, the cast is full of experienced people, I still feel like the
rookie."

	"Steve, you also came from stage work, a singer if I'm not
mistaken?"

	"Yes, I sang in musicals before I auditioned for this show, that's
where Alan Dawkins the director saw me."

	"So what's it like for you? The role you play as the friend of an
alien is unique, and I see they keep giving you more on screen time as the
series progresses."

	"Yes, that's Mark's doing. I'll do whatever they ask of me, the fun
never stops."

	"So the both of you, tell me about the fan response."

	"Wow, we have the greatest fans in the world," Mark said. "Steve
and I spend hours online talking back to them."

	"You personally respond to your mail?"

	"Absolutely," Steve said. "We both agree, if they take the time to
reach out to us we have to respond. I just want all of them to know we care
about the things they tell us."

	"That's a personal touch I don't think many young stars have,"
Marsha said. "Mark, you donated a lot of gifts to several children's
hospitals."

	"Yes, and I know the fans who send both Steve and I all those
stuffed animals would agree. If we can bring a little joy into the minds of
those sick kids out there it's all worthwhile. I feel we have a partnership
with our fans. We support those kids together, neither of us could do it
alone."

	"I agree," Steve said, "But it was Mark's idea. We had this huge
room full of toys and he said we ought to give them to kids who don't have
all the things we do."

	Marsha nodded. "I'm sure the fans are very pleased with your
decision. So what comes next, any thoughts on where the show is going?"

	Mark laughed. "We get asked that all the time, and the studio tells
us not to give things away. But Triton has invested quite a bit in our
success, so there will be some new faces showing up in the series. Right
now we're shooting scenes with Brandon Edgerton, I'm sure everyone knows
his face."

	"Yes we do, how exciting. So there will be other guest stars in the
future?"

	"Yes, lots of them," Mark said.

	"Any thoughts about the future of your careers?" Marsha asked.

	Steve grinned. "I'd like to do films at some point, I think Mark
would like to direct."

	Mark smiled. "I'd take on a film role if something good came up. As
for directing, maybe on down the road. Both of us still have a lot of
educational goals ahead, but after that, who knows?"

	Marsha nodded. "I see such energy in both of you; I think you'll be
able to accomplish whatever you set your sights on. Adam Conquers Earth has
a big following, so I know you'll be busy with that for some time to
come. So one final question, and I'm sure the fans all want to know. What's
going to happen between Beverly and Adam?"
 
	Steve laughed and Mark smiled. "Adam doesn't quite know what to
make of all the fuss with Beverly; I don't think most fourteen year old
human boys do either. I can't tell you exactly what will happen, but let's
just say it will be a very alien response."

	Marsha laughed. "OK, well at least you're working on it. Thank you
for sharing this time with me, I know you have a busy schedule."

	"You're welcome," Mark said, and he looked over at Steve.

	"Same goes for me, stay tuned for the season," Steve
said. "Thursday nights, be there."

	Mark laughed at Steve's promo and slapped his shoulder, Steve
slapped back and they traded slaps after that. Marsha laughed at their
antics and used it to end her piece.

	"Alien verses human, here in Hollywood at Triton Studios, I'm
Marsha Grant."

	She smiled and looked up at her camera man. "That's a wrap."

	"Thanks," Mark said. "That was fun."

	"So I see you guys are friends, I'm sure that must make life
easier," Marsha said.

	"Yeah, we spend so much time together, it's nice to have someone I
can really talk to," Steve said.

	"Long days, hard work, at least you seem to have a handle on it,"
Marsha said.

	Mark smiled and looked up at Brian waiting patiently. "I do,
probably because I have people to tell me what to do like Brian over
there."

	Marsha looked up and nodded. "I know you need to go, thank you for
your time."

	Both boys shook her hand and Brian led them away. "That went well,"
He said.

	Steve looked over at Mark. "I thought you were about to tell her
what's going to happen with Beverly."

	"Hell no...I don't even know yet."

	"What? But you said...OK, never mind."

	"We haven't gone there yet, Steve...it's still in the thinking
stage," Mark said.

	Brandon Edgerton was a gaunt gray haired man, the face television
audiences knew so well. His usual stern countenance was lit up with a smile
as he shook Mark's hand.

	"I've been dying to meet you ever since my agent said they wanted
me on the show. I don't watch much television, but I have seen this one
because my granddaughters are such big fans," Brandon said.

	"Thank you, we're glad to have you working with us," Mark said.

	Brandon sat across a table drinking coffee as Mark talked them
through the scene they were about to do. One by one the production staff
slid into the room, even Alan made a showing, but no one disturbed the
focus of that little meeting of the minds.

	Alan had hoped something like this would happen. He could talk
himself blue in the face but only Mark could lay out what the scene
needed. Brandon was a veteran of thirty years in front of the camera; Mark
had been there only a short time. But each seemed to sense the abilities of
the other, and Brian could see that the man understood Mark's role in all
of this. The shoot was to begin at two, so Brandon was led to wardrobe for
his costume.

	The character of Detective Morris was a stereotype, a serious no
nonsense cop who found himself in an odd situation. The scene opened as
Puckett and Adam were led into the station handcuffed together. Puckett was
distraught; Adam treated it like some grand adventure. They were seated on
a bench by several uniformed policemen to await Detective Morris' entrance.

	"Oh, we're in so much trouble," Puckett moaned. "I'm going to
strangle Butch when I get the chance."

	"We didn't do anything wrong, you can always pay for those cookies
you ate," Adam said.

	"It's not the cookies," Puckett hissed. "We were inside the museum,
they think we broke in or something equally absurd."

	Adam shrugged. "We were just trying to get out."
 
	"Well I don't like people pointing guns at me, and this," Puckett
said, holding up his hand where the cuffs held him to Adam. "This is
humiliating, I'm not a criminal."

	Adam placed a hand over the cuff on Puckett's wrist and it snapped
open. "There you go."

	"No...don't do that," Puckett gasped, grabbing the cuff and
snapping it back on his wrist. "They might think I'm trying to escape...how
did you do that?"

	"It's just a thing," Adam said.

	Puckett suddenly got serious. "And that door, how did you open it?
I know it was locked, I tried it a dozen times."

	"I just did," Adam said.

	"Well I need to know, they're going to ask me, I was in charge of
that field trip."

	A door opened and Detective Morris stepped out of an office.  The
rumpled brown suit and horribly loud tie, yes, he was that old familiar
character once again. "Mr. Puckett?" He said, looking at a sheet of
paper. "Will you come with me?"

	Puckett held up his wrist. "We're attached."

	Morris nodded. "Then I guess you'll both have to come."

	He led them through another door and into an interrogation room. A
uniformed officer followed and Morris gestured to the cuffs, the cop
removed them and placed them on the table before he stepped outside. The
room was bare, dingy and painted a gull gray. Puckett looked around while
Adam never lost focus on the detective.

	"It's late, why don't you just tell me what you were doing in the
museum?" Morris asked.

	"As I told the officers, one of my students locked us in the gift
shop storeroom as a prank and we couldn't get out," Puckett said. "We
didn't go in there intentionally, we just couldn't get out."

	Morris nodded, reading the report in his hand. "And yet somehow you
did."

	"Adam opened the door," Puckett said.

	Morris looked at the boy and then back down at the report. "Adam
Vernon. We called your parents, they'll be here shortly." He lay the report
down and looked across the table at the boy. "So the door was locked and
you opened it?"

	Adam nodded. "Yes, it just went snap and opened when I turned the
knob. I didn't know there was a screen outside, and then the alarms went
off."

	"Yes, you tripped the motion sensors." Morris stared at the
boy. "Did anything happen while you were in that storeroom?"

	Adam nodded. "Mr. Puckett ate some cookies and we talked."

	"Cookies...he didn't touch you?" Morris asked.

	"Oh My God...you don't think..." Puckett stammered.

	Morris held up his hand. "Let the boy talk. Adam, did Mr. Puckett
touch you?"

	Adam looked puzzled. "No, we just sat there until I opened the
door."

	"How did you do that?"

	Adam picked up the handcuffs and locked one side on his wrist. He
closed his eyes a second and the cuff popped open. "Like that," Adam
said. Morris raised his eyebrows.

	"You do magic tricks?" Morris asked.

	"No, it just happens," Adam said.

	Morris picked up the cuffs and snapped one of them on his own
wrist. "Can you make it open now?"

	Adam reached over and touched the cuffs, they sprang open.

	"Telekinesis...do you know what that means?" Morris asked.

	Adam shook his head and Morris frowned. "So you just unlocked the
door the same way?"

	Adam nodded and Morris sighed. "Who locked you in?" He asked.

	"Butch Peterson, he does bad things," Adam said.

	Puckett was sitting there, silent, his mouth open...stunned. Morris
nodded and fiddled with the handcuffs and then looked up at
Puckett. "You're the principal at Brighton....does this Butch character
cause you a lot of problems?"

	Puckett nodded, but Adam answered. "He's a bully."

	Morris nodded. "He picks on you?"

	"No, but he'd like to...I won't let him," Adam said.

	"And how do you stop him?" Morris asked.

	Adam smiled and reached across the table. He looked up at Morris'
face, and then gently grasped the detective's hand as he closed his
eyes. Morris went through that now familiar transformation; he blinked
twice and stared at Adam.

	Morris' hard visage softened. "I don't even know why you're here,
this was all a mistake," He said. Morris reached for the report and
crumpled up the sheets of paper. "Go home, you both have school tomorrow."

	Adam smiled and rose from his chair as Morris stood. They walked to
the door and Morris put a hand on Adam's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll take
good care of Butch...he doesn't know about you, does he?" Adam smiled and
shook his head, and now Morris smiled. "If he bothers you again just call
me, we'll scare him together."

	Morris looked back at Puckett. "Are you going to stay here all
night?" He asked, and Puckett jumped to his feet to follow.

	The Vernon's were waiting outside in the hall and Morris walked
over as Adam hugged his mother. "He's a good boy, this was all a mistake,"
He said. "Thank you, Adam." And with that Morris made his exit.

	"Cut," Alan yelled.

	The next scene would be shot in the parking lot behind the studio
after dark some evening, Puckett and Adam in the back seat as the Vernon's
gave him a lift back to the school to retrieve his car. Tomorrow they would
shoot the aftermath of the museum incident. Puckett's phone call from the
office of the school board, he was in hot water. The audience would hear
the phone call from both sides as Puckett got chewed out. What they
wouldn't know was that the voice they would hear belonged to Alan
Dawkins. Mark thought it would be fun if Alan got a shot in the show, and
it would all be a bit of fun.

	Brandon was all smiles when the shooting was over. He'd recited
less than two dozen lines, but like most character actors his image had
said a whole lot more in the scenes. Mark sat with him in the break room
and autographed a couple of photos for his granddaughters. Triton's
photographer had already taken a few shots of them together as characters
in the scenes. Brandon would be added to the galley in the lobby.

	"We left it open ended with that character, I'm sure you
noticed. I'm not sure when, but I'd love to bring you back on the show,"
Mark said.

	Brandon smiled. "I'd love to come back. You guys have a smooth
operation, no wonder this show works so well. I wouldn't mind being a part
of this again."

	"I'll be sure we write you in again," Mark said.

	Brandon chuckled. "Alan said you were the creative genius for most
of this, I thought he was kidding. You have a great future in this
business, Mark...just grow into it gently."

	Brandon got up to leave and Mark hugged him. "Thanks for all your
help, stay in touch," Mark said. And then Brandon left. Mark sat back down
and Brian joined him.

	"That was great chemistry," Brian said.

	"Yeah, I felt it too," Mark said. "He's got that gruff cop thing
down to a science, but I'd love to see him play other roles. I suppose he's
type cast now, I wonder if that will happen to me?"

	Brian shook his head. "No...you won't be an alien in everything you
do. There will be bigger and better roles for you as you grow up."

	Mark grinned and looked down at the ring on his finger. "I already
have a lifetime role, and it suits me just fine."

	Brian smiled. "Yeah, you already make a great romantic leading
man."

	Mark giggled. "Then lead me home and I'll practice my part."