On Sunday, they all gathered at the bungalow, and instead of having another Turkey dinner, they planned on a barbeque.....T-bones and all the fixings, and a couple of Amy's pumpkin pies.

They all gave their own abbreviated thanks for all their blessings, and Alex was the last to speak.

"Well, I for one am glad that I don't have to eat any more turkey!" he shouted, and they all laughed, nodding their heads in agreement.

They sat down to eat in the dining room, which had been transformed, with Isabel's expert assistance, into a Thanksgiving extravaganza. They ate amongst a babble of happy holiday chatter, forgetting for the moment, their more pressing concerns.

Later, after the table had been cleared, and the kitchen and dishes dealt with, they all moved to the living room for dessert and coffee.They made amiable conversation, remembering the last time they'd had pie, and the funny but disastrous consequences of that evening.

"I hate to bring up unfinished business," Alex said, "but have you guys given any thought to your number 8 issue?" he asked, taking in all four alien teens with a glance.

"Alex, you can be such a partypooper," Isabel said, punching his arm playfully.

"Actually, I have," Liz spoke up, as Max gave her a questioning glance. "I had some free time, the other night," she said, as she squeezed his hand affectionately," and I started just daydreaming about the number, and what it had to do with us, and you'd be surprised what I came up with."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Michael demanded.

"Okay, just a sec," she said, as she went into the bedroom to pick up her list. "Okay, here it is.....now, don't laugh," she warned. "Okay..well, here's number 1: Max was 8 years old when he first fell in love with me," she giggled.

This met with a chorus of ahh's, and Max blushed beet red. She hugged him and whispered her apology.

"Alright, you guys. Settle down, now. Here's number 2: Max and I first made love when we were both seventeen." It was Liz's turn to blush, now.

"What's seventeen got to do with the number 8?" Kyle questioned sarcastically.

"Well, if you'd let me finish, I'd tell you!" she responded just as sarcastically. "See, in numerology, you add the two numbers together, so they represent a number between 1 and 9........ so when you add 1+7, you get 8," she said triumphantly.

"Okay, I'll buy that, I guess," he replied sceptically. "So, what else have you got, smart ass?" he needled her affectionately.

"Number 3: We made love for the first time in August, the 8th month.

As she continued, her friends became less sceptical, showing a little more interest.

"Okay, now here's where we get into the nitty gritty. Number 4: There were 8 pods, which you discovered Michael, when you interviewed that war Vet.

Michael acknowledged this point by nodding his head.

"This one belongs to Michael, too. Number 5: When Michael first made contact with Nasedo......you know, when he and Isabel outlined that symbol on the Library lawn. You see, that was on April 4th.....4th month + 4th day.....4 + 4 = 8!

They all sat forward slightly, as they became more intrigued with Liz's list.

"Number 6 was a little tricky....I actually don't even know how I came up with it, but here goes. We know the crash was in 1947, right? So, you add up all the numbers.....1 + 9+ 4+ 7 + =21, and 2+ 1 = 3. Okay that's the first part. Now, you also discovered that their are 5 worlds in your system, so when you add your 5 worlds and the year you crashed, you get 5+ 3 = 8 !"

They took this in, as the astonishment registered on their faces.

"And last, but by no means least, we have 4 Aliens falling in love with 4 humans and.........."

"4+ 4 = 8," they all shouted in unison, as they laughed and hugged their respective mates.

"Well that's all I could come up with," she shrugged.

"That's fantastic, Liz!" Tess enthused.

Michael stared at Max and said, "What else are you waiting for, Maxwell? Someone to come and stamp it on your forehead. We've gotta get down to Mexico, man. We need answers!"

As usual, there was the never ending conflict between the man of action and the planner, but this time, the planner decided it was time to move.

"You're right, Michael, we have to go, and the sooner, the better. Winter Break is coming up, so I think its an ideal time to plan a trip. The question is, who should go?"

They all started talking at once, neither one wanting to be left behind. Max held up his hand, trying to bring some order to the conversation.

"Okay," he smiled, "we all go!"

There were whoops and shouts of laughter, as everyone got caught up in the idea. Their biggest obstacle, would be getting permission from their parents....all that is, except Michael. Then, they had do deal with the money issue. And finally, how long they would be there.

Their first priority was to get permission. They decided, that tonight was as good a night as any, to start working on that. They all left early, coming up with a similar plan of action.......be direct. They wanted a holiday, and maybe it could be their Christmas gift, which would also solve their second problem.

The only difficulty was that they didn't think any of their parents would want them to go to Mexico without a chaperone. It was one thing to take a weekend trip, just two hours drive from home. It was quite another, to expect their parents to agree to letting them galavant thousands of miles in a foreign country.

They were aware that this would be an issue, but having a chaperone would seriously cramp their style.............and who could they trust?

Max thought about this carefully, and came up with a possible solution.

"We can ask Brody," he offered. "He already thinks I'm an abductee, so I could tell him that we're working on some kind of project to help me find answers to my abduction. I think he'd buy it, and he could hunt around down there, too, so he'd probably be busy looking for his own clues."

They mulled this over, and concluded it was a good idea. If anyone was to chaperone them, he'd be the ideal person.

Their parents were predictably stubborn. They had many questions, and many misgivings. Their first objection, was that it was so close to Christmas, and they wanted them home. The teens overcame this obstacle by promising to leave as soon as school was out, so they'd be back in plenty of time for Christmas. They finished on the 15th, so if they left on the 16th, they'd have more than enough time for a holiday.

They brought up the chaperone issue, and the kids mentioned Brody, whom they all insisted on meeting. Max hadn't called him yet to confirm his involvement, but he didn't see it as a problem. When he finally approached him, Brody was full of enthusiasm. He met with all the parents, and assured them that the teens would be well taken care of.........he even insisted on paying for their air fare and accomodations, so that they were only responsible for spending money. The parents all thought this a little odd, and were reluctant to agree with this, but he convinced them that it wasn't a hardship for him. They eventually acquiesced, and the teens were able to make final arrangements.

It wasn't long before the 15th rolled around. They were all packed and ready to leave at 7:45 the next morning. Their return flight was on the 23rd, and they hoped it was enough time to accomplish all they had planned. They were well organized, taking with them all the necessary files and a lap top. Their back up files were securely stored in the bungalow safe. Alex had devised a code that would allow only them to read the files. If this code wasn't punched in within 30 seconds, the file would automatically be destroyed. They were very careful, not to store anything on the hard drive.