Lacy spent the duration of the hour and half drive north shifting between a dull ache and silent weeping.

She was exhausted, starving and mentally whipped.

Macallan had engaged her more than once but she completely ignored his attempts to console her.

Now, he dozed on and off, having given up reaching the place she was currently in. He also was exhausted and his mind had shut down to only one thought, more of a question. What the hell had happened?

He needed more. More information. Understanding. Answers to explain why his good friend had just lost his life. Lacy's dad. Jonna. And how long did any of them have?

Was it even possible to fight this enemy? This, warped cosmic intrusion made up of in-human hardware? Equipment and materials from a source not known to men. And just who were these invaders? Were they alien life forms? Or were they taking the bodies of humans for themselves?

The questions were endless and he had a feeling not even Reese nor his men had those answers. How could they? Unless they had known. His jaw clenched with all the conflicting thoughts. Maybe the whole country had been blindsided by it. It was the only possible way any of this could have occurred, without warning.

Suddenly Reese was talking, directing James to a new route. They had traveled nearly a hundred miles. Having left the interstate hours earlier and deep into the interior of Alabama's forested parkland.

They had left behind the burning, fire stricken terrain of rolling hills and farmlands to steep, rocky elevations, remote and far from towns and villages.

A mountainous region where pine and spruce reached for the sky but fraught with sheer cliffs hidden by trees and underbrush. Woven throughout, cave systems that reached for miles. Places where men had disappeared on purpose and some purely by accident becoming lost within the Earth's treacherous inner world of caverns and underground streams.

This was there they ended up. The small group from Brew Town. The place Reese described as a Black Site.

Above them, planted against a steep rocky escarpment rested a simple window. It was the door placed below it that took their breath. All of them that is, except for Sargeant Reese.

Reese walked up to an OD green solid metal door, completely camouflaged with an attached screen of leafy limbs, fumbled with something hidden in those leaves that released a latch. He motioned for Macallan to come and help him and together, each on a side, pulled apart the ten foot heavy metal doors. Behind it was another door but this one was fitted with a fingerprint lock.

Reese placed his thumb and fingertips on the sensor and this massive door slowly and soundlessly slid open. It was three feet thick and Macallan heard the whoosh of a controlled air atmosphere as it glided to the side, deep into a pocket that looked at least five feet wide to Macallan.

James whistled low with appreciation as he walked through behind Macallan and the girls as Reese brought the van inside, pulled the brush door closed and hit a big red pressure release valve which brought the inside door slowly closed until it sealed with a resounding air tight thud.

Lacy, Macallan Krisslyn and James stood in an enormous room, a garage of sorts, and looked around in awe. If nothing else they were starting to feel a sense of safety.

Lacy looked up at Macallan with a totally lost expression and he hugged her.

She felt very small in this setting and a little nervous. Krisslyn was unsure as well, watching Carolyn for any idea of exactly what they were to do next.

Reese, in his fire brand way, broke the uncomfortable atmosphere with a smile and a rowdy comment. "Well soldiers what ya think of your new diggs?"

He actually received a smile from Krisslyn, which seemed to make him extremely happy and he headed toward a stairwell as he waved them on to follow him. Carolyn headed over bringing Krisslyn. James followed and Macallan brought Lacy along under his arm. He had no earthly idea what was to come but at least they were well hidden. And for that he was thankful. Maybe here Lacy could find time and solitude to heal her anguish and find answers to questions he knew she had. Which were pretty damn close to the ones he was hoping to have answered too.

Together the group trudged up the stairs which wound around the side of the wall to create a cat walk of sorts that overlooked the room below and which ended at another cavernous black door. When Reese pushed it open and they all went through they stopped in shocked silence.

It was a hallway lit dimly by small square florescent lights every ten feet and went on for some way to yet another door. Lacy held onto Macallans hand and he revelled in feeling of it. He knew she was scared and tired and hungry but secretly his skin tingled with just the simple act.

James walked with a whole different outlook. He noticed along side those so called lights, were also cameras. This was so insanely smart because this hallway, could serve many purposes. It was smarter than any d.u.m.b. he had ever been in and he couldn't wait to see the rest of the facility. James knew they were encased in solid rock and while it might be eventually breached, it would damn sure take a minute for that to happen.

They reached the door at the end of the hall and were greeted by a voice.

"Sargeant. We see you survived, and brought a whole litter of puppies home. You know we didn't bring any dog food with us."

Reese laughed out loud.

There was a clicking noise and the door popped open a crack. Reese grabbed the elongated handle and pulled it to reveal something none of the others except maybe James were expecting.

They stepped inside and were greeted by an echoing round of applause. Several men, to Macallan's surprise, who looked to be somewhat very elderly approached shaking Reese's hand and landing a few punches to James's arm but hugged him as if they knew him well. "Your a hard shitass find goddammit James," one of them said.

"That's good, Murfee, it means I still got skills, and that's saying a lot if it's coming from you."

Murfee threw his head back and laughed. "Damn straight."

These old men sure liked to laugh, Macallan thought as he watched the exchanges between them all before giving his attention to the room.

The space was magnificent. It was stunning in it's simplicity but technology wise, it was a masterpiece. Every wall was lined with every kind of intelligence one could dream up from massive analog panels of switches, knobs and faders. Sound systems to dynamic range radio comms with multiple mics hooked to large scale monitors with three long control desks.

Computer systems with blinking lights, printers, maps, desks full of paperwork, and an enormous surveillance system with at least twenty monitors off set from the rest the of the room in a semi dark alcove.

A huge mahogany table was centered in the middle of it all with a world map as it's facia and below, becoming Lacy's first object of reference, a puppy. He wiggled and yelped. She knelt down and it came straight to her, with happy eyes and a bouncing demeanor, its stubbed tail trying to wag but only resulting in hilarious full body gyrations. She pulled the little doberman right into her arms and he licked her face furiously, nosing her hair and pulling her shirt until she just sat down on the floor like a child.

It was the first smile Macallan had seen on her face in days.

Krisslyn joined her cousin there on the floor with the puppy as Macallan continued to take in the full measure of what he was seeing all around him. His gaze came to rest on the darkened area of the surveillance room and froze.

In the shadowed double entrance stood a young man watching him intently.

Macallan felt the blood leave his face and race straight down to his feet which turned to stone as did his heart. There stood a person he hoped, no, desired fervently, to never see again. Yet there he stood smiling sarcastically.

"Well. Hello brother."