“What…What happened?” Kyle asks.

“We were ambushed by one of them.” Michael tells him.

“Michael!!! What were you thinking?” Max asks angrily.

“I was doing what we should have been doing all along!!!” Michael snaps back.

“I’m the leader here! Not You!”

“Well, since you weren’t acting like one, I thought that one of us should.”

“Enough you two. Valenti are you all right?” Liz breaks the argument up, noticing that Valenti’s arm doesn’t look too good. “Max…”

Max noticing for once that Valenti was injured walks over to him and removes Michael’s belt before throwing it at him, and Michael catches it. “Ok, hold still for a second.” Max tells him as he takes Valenti’s arm in his hands, noticing Valenti wince in pain as he does so.

Valenti watches as Max does this and notices his hands start to glow a little, and then he slowly feels the pain ease in his arm. After about a minute or two his arm feels as if it were brand new. He slowly flexes it to make sure he has full movement of it, and is pleased to see that he does.

Max then turns angrily back towards Michael as Michael walks over to the computers. “What do you think you were doing?” Max asks him.

“This…” Michael says, as he hits some keys on the keyboard and the monitors show the picture from the first camera they replaced. “They are up to something Max, and maybe for once we will be able to find out what.

Max looks over at the screens, and notices the camera is working again, and Michael hits a couple of more keys and the other two camera’s pictures appear on a couple of the other monitors. “How many did you get back?” Max says just staring at the monitors, allowing his anger to slip as he takes in the pictures in front of him.

“We were only able to get three back online. That was all the replacements I could find, not that any more would have survived the drop at the attack.” Michael tells him.

“Where were you attacked?” Max asks.

“On the side of this building.” Michael tells him pointing at one of the camera pictures.

“How many?”

“Just one, and he was carrying this.” Michael tells him as he pulls the weapon out of his bag and places it on the table, where Alex picks it up and begins looking at it.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Alex comments.

“I have.” Max says remembering the day that Isabell was shot. “That was the type of weapon they used on Isabell.”

Liz walks over and stands behind him placing her hands on his shoulders. “Are you sure?”

“I will never forget that day. I’m sure.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can figure out about it. Maybe it will offer us some clue as to how to defend ourselves against it.” Alex says as he walks towards one of the workbenches and turns on the overhead light next to it before starting to work.

“Well, did you two see anything else out there?” Kyle jumps in, trying to get to the point of tonight’s whole mission.

“We saw that they are definitely in the old warehouse.” Valenti says as he points at the warehouse on the map on the table. “They are in there and they have power. I think a generator, but I’m not sure.” Valenti walks over to the monitors and points to one of the lit windows of the warehouse and continues. “There is definitely something going on, but there is no activity outside the building itself. They are up to something, and I just wish I knew what it was, but at least these will help out some.” He says, as he pans his hands across the three newly working camera shots.

The group of them watch the screens and try to figure out what their next move should be.

*********************************************************************

As dawn broke the next morning, the group was already very active, none of them being able to get any sleep in the remainder of the night. Alex continued to work on the weapon over at the workbench, while Max, Michael, Valenti and Kyle poured over the maps and the pictures that the new cameras were bringing back. Sarena and Liz were over at another table going through some of Sarena’s notes that were spread out in front of the two of them.

“So this is where you placed the first camera, and this is where you were attacked while finishing the third camera?” Max was still trying to get a grasp on everything.

“Yeah. We had finished putting it in and were on our way out when we were attacked.” Michael tells him.

“So, from the camera angle, I would assume that you replaced the second camera in this building?”

“Actually, the one right next to it.” Valenti tells him. “We thought that we should have at least one that they hadn’t found, so we moved that camera right next door.”

“That was my idea.” Michael says proudly and Max just gives him a dirty look. “What? Well it was.”

Valenti just shakes his head and turns back to look down at the map, and them points to the warehouse. “It was here that I saw the lights and some sort of activity going on behind them, but I couldn’t make out, just what it was.”

“Okay, here’s what we are going to do. We will take turns around the clock and watch the warehouse as closely as possible. I want to know the moment anything moves. They are up to something and we are going to find out just what we are up against.” Max starts to plan. “Kyle, you watch first and let me know the second anything happens.”

“Ok, but what am I looking for?” Kyle responds.

“Any sign of movement. Any sign of a Skin coming or going. I think it is about time that we took things into our hands for once.”

“Well, it’s about time. So, what’s the plan?” Michael says, with his excitement showing in his voice. The waiting around had been starting to get to him, and he was beginning to believe that Max had lost his will to fight when Isabell was killed.

“Right now, we need to sit back and watch for their next move, and then we will strike.”

“And exactly how are we going to do that?” Valenti asks him.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure something will come to me.” Max tells him honestly.

“Uh, ok. Sure.” Valenti looks at Michael, who simply shrugs his shoulders in response.

On the other side of the room, Sarena and Liz are going over some of the notes in front of them, and Sarena holds up one of them to show to Liz. “If I read these right, the Granolith is capable of great power. More than anything that we currently know about.”

“What do you mean? Like a weapon?” Liz asks her.

“No, actually more powerful than any weapon known to man, and possibly, and I use the term loosely, Alien. These figures are off the scale.” Sarena continues.

“Can we use it to help us defeat the Skins.” Liz asks her, somewhat hoping.

“It’s possible… but do you realize, now stick with me here for a second, if my theory is right, you could actually fold space with this…” Sarena begins to explain?

“Fold space?” Liz asks with a puzzled look on her face.

“Um, let’s just say, be able to travel from one place in space to another almost instantaneously, and possibly….even through time.”

“Time travel?”

“It’s just a theory, but time and space are very closely related. If you break one barrier, then it is quite conceivable that you could break the other barrier as well.” Sarena explains, as the excitement of the thought runs through her head.

“Do, you realize how crazy that sounds?”

“Yeah, it does sound crazy, but if you were to ask me 3 years ago, if I believed that there were aliens walking among us, I would have told you that you were crazy.”

“Ok, point taken.” Liz surrenders to her point, as she looks over her shoulder to see max and the others still at the table. “So, saying that this were possible. How?”

“Well, if I am right, the controls on the bottom, could be set to control a time or place that you would want to travel to, and then it would do the rest. However, that is just a theory, and I would need some more time to determine if I am right or not.” Sarena tells her.

“I’m sure you do, but remember time is not one of the luxuries that we have.”

“I know. Let me run some figures over here and see what I come up with.” Sarena tells Liz without taking her eyes off the page she is quickly writing some numbers on.

“Sure.” Liz says, more to herself than to Sarena, as she looks around to see that Alex is still at the bench working on the weapon, and it looks like he has taken it apart and has it spread out over the bench top.

Alex continues to inspect the weapon before him. It is now in several pieces strewn about the bench. He picks up piece after piece of it, inspecting it as closely as possible, before lying it back down on the bench. He slowly realizes that he has been sitting here for over 4 hours straight now, and it is starting to take it’s toll on his back. He reaches back and uses his arm to stretch out his lower back. He lets out a small groan of relief as he does so, before turning back to the parts in front of him.

**********************************************************************

Alex suddenly shakes himself away almost falling out of his chair. It takes him a second to see that he had fallen asleep at the work bench while working on the weapon. He looks down at his hand and he has the part of it he was last looking at, still in grasp. He puts it down on the bench and rubs his eyes to get them to finally clear up. He looks around the room to see that everyone is asleep, besides Max, who is sitting in front of the computer screens, watching them intensely. He begins to roll one of the part in his fingers and picks it up, and heads over to Max.

Max almost jumps out of his skin, when Alex puts his hand on his shoulder. Max is relieved to see that it is only Alex. “Geez, you scared the life out of me.”

“Sorry. Just woke up myself.” Alex tells him.

“We were going to tell you to go to bed, but Liz thought it would be best to leave you alone.”

“Always thinking of me.” Alex says sarcastically as he rubs his back.

Max just turns and smiles at him.

“So, what time is it?” Alex asks him.

“It’s about 6 am. The sun should be coming up soon. So, what were you able to figure out?” Max asks him.

“What…Oh, um, It is a projectile weapon of some kind. Not sure exactly how it works or what exactly it is shooting out. There are several of these small units inside it which are what I assume are the projectiles, but what they are, I am not sure. Needless to say, they do more that just hit you, they seem to be able to release something upon contact. I just can not figure out what or how it does it.” Alex begins to tell him.

“That’s ok. You just let me know what you figure out. You’ve given us more than we had to work with than we had before.” Max tries to console him.

Alex lust looks from computer screen to computer screen over Max’s shoulder, noticing the sun beginning to rise over Roswell. Suddenly something catches his eye as one of the screens changes from one angle to another, and he reaches over Max’s shoulder to hit some keys on the keyboard.

“What? What is it?” Max is surprised by his move and quickly looks from screen to screen to try and see what it was that Alex saw.

“Right there.” Alex says as soon as the picture returns and he points to something moving in the distance away from the warehouse.

“Ok, I see it now. What is it?” Max asks more rhetorically, than actually expecting an answer as he stands up to get a better look at it. “Is that a truck?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” Alex confirms.

“Go wake up the others. I think we have just found the opportunity that we have been looking for.” Max tells him.

“Uh, sure…” Alex says, not really knowing what Max had in mind, but he has learned not to ask.

Max just continues to look at the screen and flipping one of the other screens to another camera in hopes that it might be able to pick the truck up too. “Now where could you be headed off to?” Max asks silently to himself.

***********************************************************************

The others wake up and come over to join Max, who is keeping an eye on the monitors, while lying a map of Roswell down on the table. They all come and surround the table looking down at the map as Max points from place to place on it more to himself, than showing the other’s what he is thinking.

“Ok, Max. What is it?” Michael ask, as he rub the sleep out of his eyes and then takes a seat at the table.

“Well, as we know, they have spent a lot of time in this warehouse planning out their next move. Up until now, we have been able to do nothing but sit back and try to figure out what they have been planning?” Max begins.

“Yeah, unless you know something we don’t know.” Kyle chimes in.

“Well, this morning we may have been given our opportunity to figure out what exactly it is. Just before dawn, the Skins sent a truck out of town for something. And from the best I can tell, he headed out this way.” He traces a path along some roads towards the outskirts of the city, stopping just at the edge of town. “It was about here that I lost him, but the only thing down that way is one of the cities wells. It appears that the heat is starting to get to them.”

“Yeah, remember they have a greater need for moisture for their husks.” Liz remembers the previous contacts with the skins and their increased shedding in the desert heat.

“So, they are going out to get water. So, what is the plan?” Valenti inquires.

“From what I’ve seen there are only two of them in the truck. So we shouldn ’t have much in the way of resistance. We should set up here…” Max points to a spot on the map past the edge of town. “…and ambush them.”

“For once, you are starting to make sense.” Michael looks over to him, with a smile.

“Now, for the hard part.” Max continues.

“Attacking them in the open isn’t the hard part?” Kyle points out.

“No, I want to take one of them hostage.”

“Ok, now wait a minute.” Liz chimes in. “Take one hostage?”

“Yeah, that way we can find out exactly what they are up to.”

“But, but…” Liz begins to argue, but can’t find anything to use to finish her argument and just looks over at him with the Are you out of Mind look, he just looks reassuringly back at her.

“Ok, Michael, you Kyle and Valenti, go get some weapons ready to leave as soon as possible. Liz, you and Sarena will stay here and be our eyes. You let us know if there is any activity that could jeopardize the mission.” Max begins to tell the others.

“A’OK. Sir!” Michael sarcastically snaps to attention and salutes him, then turns to walk with Kyle and Valenti towards the back of the UFO center to get ready.

Max turns and stops Liz before she can say anything. “Liz, you know we have to do this. It’s the only way.”

“Yeah I know, but… just make sure you make it back here in one piece.” Liz says as a tear begins to flow from her eye.

“You know nothing would ever keep me away from you.” He tells her reassuringly and bends down and gives her a long kiss, before stepping back and walking over to Alex.

Liz watches him closely as he goes, before turning towards the computer screens where Sarena places her arm over her shoulder and they take a seat in front of the screens.

“Alex, I’ll leave it up to you. You can stay here with Liz and Sarena, or you can come with us.” Max tells him.

“You know I’m going with you. I’m actually getting tired of being cooped up in here.” Alex tries to say this with confidence on his face, but Max knows it is a show for him.

“I’m glad you said that. We are going to need as mush help as we can get out there.” Max tells him. “Ok, get what you need and we will be leaving in 5 minutes. Meet us by the back door.”