The loft has been quiet all afternoon with the exception of Teresa's dog Mirror vying for attention. The dog soon gives up and waits by the door for Teresa's return.

Liz and Michael have their heads together perusing the journal for any clues that they may have missed.

Max and Sondra have given up on their continued efforts to interpret the language of the alien book and are checking the supplies that they are taking with them to the lake tomorrow.

The Crashdown will be closed for the whole day and The Parker's have invited everyone to the family's lake house for an old-fashioned 4th of July celebration.

The commotion brings Liz and Michael into the room where Alex, Isabel, Kyle and Teresa are scantily dressed in wrinkled smelly clothes.

"What happened to you guys?" Liz pinches her nose in jest to the smell coming from the quartet.

They all start talking at once again.

"Okay, enough is enough. Kyle why don't you tell me what this is all about?" Max directs his attention to Kyle who is sporting the shorts from his basketball uniform with a tennis sweater.

Teresa crosses her arms across her chest and glares at Max. "I should have known you would opt to hear the male version."

"Be my guest," Kyle extends his arm for her to move closer to Max. "I would love to hear how you twist the events to suit your warped feminine mind." He elongates the last word to make a point.

"What did I miss and why are you guys dressed that way?" Maria looks down her nose at her friends' wacky attire and obviously disagreeable smell. She has just returned from picking up Chinese take-out.

"Teresa is just about to tell us what happened." Michael says as he takes the box of carry out from Maria and places it on the counter. "Come here," he pulls Maria across the room to within a couple of feet of his angry sister.

He leans against the wall drawing Maria into his arms. "Just wanted to make sure we had a ring side seat," as he kisses her pert nose.

"This should be interesting," Maria whispers to Michael right before switching her attention to Teresa.

Everyone else follows suit and takes a seat anticipating the yet to unfold story.

Teresa looks around the room and when her eyes land on Kyle she sticks her tongue out at him before turning to face Max.

"It all started this afternoon when we arrived at the designated location to arrange the stones as outlined by the diagram." A muscle twitched in her cheek.

"Isabel and I offered to help but Kyle insisted that he and Alex had it under control so Isabel and I sat under this tree and waited for them to finish."

Kyle is about to interrupt when Teresa turns around and glares at him with a look that would stop an elephant charging. "Upon inspection, Isabel and I thought that it was tacky so we fixed it." She shrugs and lets her voice trail off.

A slight smile starts to form at the corners of Max's mouth and he has to bit his lip to keep from laughing. "What do you mean you fixed it?"

Kyle can no longer contain himself and he blurts out, "They waved their clean, pretty little, un-callused hands across two hours of hard sweat producing labor and perfected in two seconds what we were unable to do in two frigging hours."

"Kyle, they did offer to help. Even though I will agree, I thought we were sparing them manual labor." Alex feels obligated to contribute in defense of the male ego.

Isabel comes up behind Alex and starts to message his shoulders. "It was worth your possible wrath as long as I was able to see these strong arms at work." She coos and leans in to nibble on his ear.

Alex swings her around and pulls her into his lap where the couple engages in a face sucking session right in front of everyone.

"Get a room for heavens sake," Kyle swears under his breath, washes his hands and moves to prepare him a plate of Chinese food.

"Teri, what do you want, Sweet and Sour Chicken or the Double Cooked Pork?" He uses his pet name for her as though they haven't been fighting at all.

"Ah, isn't that sweet. They've made up." Maria teases them as they sit down to eat.

Sondra looks to Isabel who is dressed in boxer shorts and a long sleeved flannel shirt, "So Izzy, what happened to your clothes?"

Isabel burst into a hearty laugh and has to start the story over several times before anyone can understand a word of what she trying to say.

"Kyle and Alex are sweating like pigs after their manly work and Teresa suggests we go skinny-dipping in a stream we had passed earlier."

"Whoa Isabel; you went skinny-dipping." Maria exclaims with surprise and shock.

"Well actually Alex, Kyle and I kept on our underwear." She looks in Teresa's direction and nods her head. "Um huh, little Ms. Cosmopolitan over there was swimming in the buff."

"Teresa, you didn't." Scowls Sondra.

Michael on the other hand almost knocks Maria to the floor as he rushes angrily over to his sister to demand and explanation.

"What?" She looks from Michael to Sondra. "I've been to nude beaches before.

"In San Tropez, not in New Mexico." Sondra balls her fist at her side in outrage at her sister's antics.

"Calm down every body. No harm done." Liz's glance around the room finds all participates of the Buff Brigade avoiding eye contact.

"Well there is one small item we have yet to mention." Teresa pulls her fingers together to indicate a small amount as she squints her eye and shrug her shoulders.

Isabel has another giggle attach before continuing the story, "We had been swimming and enjoying the refreshing water for about thirty minutes when suddenly this man appears high above us and says..."

She tries very hard to control her laughter but fails miserably.

"Okay here goes." She takes another steadying breath.

"This is private property. You should get your clothes and head home - it will be dark soon." Her mimic of the man's voice and tone is dead on.

Everyone in the room begins to laugh except for Max and Liz who give each other a curious look.

"I though I was going to pee my pants except that I wasn't wearing any." Alex is able to confess through his spurts of laughter.

"That still doesn't explain what happened to your clothes," Maria directs her question to Alex who is wearing a Jimmy Buffet Tee shirt and dirty baseball pants.

Taking slow even breaths he is finally able to continue the story with a straight face.

"We climb out of the stream only to find that a skunk is nesting in our discarded clothes." He waves his hands down over his body. "These were in Kyle's trunk and I'm pretty sure they have been there for what, three months - give or take a few weeks."

"Very funny," Kyle says with his mouth full as Teresa reaches over and tries to mooch an egg roll from his plate but he foils her attempt by moving it out of her reach.

"You're just being mean." She glares at him and unconsciously licks her lips.

Kyle looks her straight in her eyes and proclaims very loudly, "By the way Max, Teresa was going to zap me."

"I was not going to zap you I was going to slap you - there is a difference." She counters in her defense.

With a shake of his head Max rises from his chair and stops directly in front of his sister.

"Isabel, What did this man look like?" His face is suddenly very serious.

Isabel looks from him to Liz who has joined him and has her arm around his waist anxious for her answer.

"I didn't see him very well. His back was to the sun and there was a glare. Why Max? Is there something wrong?" Isabel's earlier hysteria is sobered with fear.

Max places a kiss on the tip of Liz's nose and draws her close to him. "The morning after Liz and I found the Orb, there was a man standing a short distance away from us when we woke up. He said almost the exact same thing that the stranger said to the four of you."

Teresa and Kyle abandon their plates and join the others.

"He wore cowboy boots and a Stetson. I remember him adjusting his hat right before he left." Teresa's breathe halting in her throat.

Michael is more than curious at this point, "Max, who do you think this man is?"

"Michael, it's an idea that's been in the back of my mind for a long time. I think there's another alien besides Nasado."