As Preston finishes his morning run, Cade approaches him and asks about the package.

Preston claims he opens his mail personally and hasn't seen it, but Cade says the senator's aide, Franklin Garver, signed for the package.

Although Preston's willing to call Cade if the package does show up, the cagy ex-thief won't give his name. To make things worse, a journalist named Samantha -- "Sam" -- Ray snaps Cade's picture as he Cade leaves.

Cade thinks the senator may be holding out, so Eddie suggests bugging Preston to find out what he knows. Since congress isn't in session, Eddie promises to meet Cade at Preston's home office in Maryland.

Oblivious to all these machinations, Sam returns to the offices of the Washington Examiner, where she gives an assistant the photo of Cade and asks for an identification.

She then talks to Vernon -- an overly enthusiastic and conspiracy-minded columnist -- before going into her office to fax a drawing of a skeleton to somebody.

Meanwhile, Senator Preston confesses his fears to a dominatrix named Dominique, who begins whipping him as punishment. His injuries heal immediately, revealing him as an agent of the alien Gua.

Dominique composes herself, then continues her routine.

Later, a muffled figure crosses a bridge, enters a phone booth, and calls Sam using a voice distorter.

The mystery caller is apparently not happy to receive the skeleton fax from Sam, but Sam needs more information about Senator Preston.

The anonymous source tells Sam that Preston seems to be covering up a national security threat of some kind and suggests starting with the astronomy program at the local Institute for Advanced Technology.

Cade has been spending his evening breaking into Preston's office, where he installs a new "smoke detector."

Sam calls the home of a scientist working for the IAT. He's not available, but his wife says Preston gave the dean of the college $2 million to shut down her husband's telescope program.

Vernon drops by and thoughtfully mentions that a NASA scientist recently attacked Preston for cutting his program. As an assistant drops off a clipping, Sam asks Vernon if he wants to join her on the story.

Vernon agrees, asking Sam what the angle is. "Oh boy," she tells Vernon, looking at the clipping. "This angle is getting us a Pulitzer Prize."

The clipping is about Cade Foster murdering his wife and escaping a mental asylum.

The next morning, Cade and Eddie listen to Preston conducting routine business.

Cade is increasingly impatient, and has prepared a fake ID so he can go talk to the senator again.

Sam and Vernon also want to see the senator, so they go into the senator's office moments before Cade enters and asks to see Preston, introducing himself to aide Franklin Garver as "the man Preston met in the park."

Sam and Vernon quiz the senator on his shutdown of several space programs, but Preston insists that his only motivation is the wish to save taxpayer dollars.

For his part, Cade interrogates Garver about the package, but gets no information and only prompts the recalcitrant aide to alert Preston to his presence.

Sam pushes Preston on the $2 million and asks about Cade. Overhearing this, Eddie nearly chokes on his soda, especially after Sam tells Preston that Cade is a murderous fugitive.

Preston tells Sam she can talk to Cade if she likes, since he's in the reception area. Then he calls security.

Eddie immediately calls Cade on the cell phone, but his voice can't get through -- as Garver tells Cade, cell reception is terrible in the office.

To get around this, Eddie calls the Senator's office and asks to speak to Cade, warning him to get out as a security man comes through the door. Cade reacts quickly, grabbing the security officer's gun, holding off another officer, and making good his escape.

Vernon and Sam leave the senator's office. Sam is frustrated because they didn't learn anything, but Vernon theorizes that the senator staged the scene with Cade.

They're surprised to find Sam's car doors unlocked, and even more surprised to find Cade hiding in the back seat with a gun.

"Drive," he orders.

Preston and Garver confer in the senator's office. The earnest aide can't find the package, and the senator -- who really doesn't know where it is either -- is not a happy man.

Cade drives Sam's car back to Eddie's trailer and lets Sam and Vernon out of the trunk. They're outraged, but Vernon and "Crazy" Eddie savor a moment of conspiratorial bonding when Eddie mentions the bug in Preston's office.

Eddie thinks Cade should let the Sam and Vernon in on the whole story, but Cade traps the reporters into the back seat of the car, playing his cards uncharacteristically close to his chest.

In fact, Cade believes the only way to win the reporters' trust is to help them find the truth on their own. After convincing Eddie, he tells them they're on the right story but asking the wrong questions.

Dominatrix Dominique remains mystified by Preston's Gua healing powers.

In his case, the Gua's decadent fascination with human sensuality has taken the form of a love of domination -- a remarkable trait in a species so bent on controlling others.

Preston has dreaded explaining to her, but manages to say there are others like him and that both their lives are in danger if she reveals his secret.

In Eddie's trailer, Sam talks to one of Preston's old schoolmates. He remembers the senator, who was an excellent baseball player before a heart defect made him quit the team.

It's the latest in a line of frustrating calls. Preston's background seems to check out perfectly until Cade remembers that he saw the senator finish a five-mile jog in 31 minutes in the park, an amazing feat for a human with a heart defect.

Sam still needs information, so Cade takes her to her office, giving Eddie both a gun and orders to shoot Vernon if they don't return in an hour. They're going to find her mysterious source.

As they sit in her car, Sam tells Cade she thinks he's bluffing about shooting Vernon. Cade tells her she has ten minutes to contact the source before he calls Eddie with orders to shoot.

She goes into the office to fax the skeleton while Cade waits in the car. A patrolling cop passes, then returns and asks Cade to get out of the car.

Patting him down, he finds Cade's lockpicks, confirming his suspicions. The cop tells Cade he knows the person who owns this car, "and you're not nearly as pretty."

Sam rushes out of the office, telling the cop that Cade is helping her with a story. After he lets them go, they go back to Eddie's to wait for the return call on Sam's cell phone.

When the call comes, Sam shares what she already knows, surprising her source. When she describes the missing package, the source proposes a meeting in an warehouse.

Sam's willing to go with Cade, but only under her rules: Cade must stay in the car and do nothing that might harm or reveal the source. Eddie objects, but Cade -- remembering that Sam could have turned him in to the cop earlier -- is ready to trust her. Vernon stays with Eddie.

At the warehouse, Cade admits he was bluffing about shooting Vernon, and gives Sam the gun so she can protect herself.

A few minutes later, Sam and the source find each other in the warehouse. The source tosses her the pictures, explaining their origin and probable meaning.

Then Vernon interrupts the happy gathering, ripping off the source's mask to reveal Dominique. He grabs her and demands to know how she got the photos.

Recognizing what Vernon really is, Dominique taunts him, telling him, "I know something about you that you don't know about yourself. You're weak." Rage distorts his face -- proving he's a Gua -- and he snaps her neck.

Luckily, Cade has left the car to investigate, and takes this moment to intervene. However, his fighting talents are no match for Vernon, who advances on Sam, demanding the photos.

Cade tells Sam to shoot Vernon, but Sam can't quite believe what she's seeing. "He's not Vernon," Cade shouts, "Trust me!"

She makes her decision and shoots. Vernon collapses and Sam looks on with horror as his body dissolves.

Dusting himself off, Cade tells Sam that Earth is being secretly invaded by aliens. Then he remembers that he left Eddie with Vernon and rushes back to the trailer.

He finds Eddie unconscious but alive, and when Eddie comes around, he begins frantically warning Foster that Vernon is an alien.

"Thanks, Eddie," Cade says. "Thanks for the tip."

"We came to this planet to conquer a weaker species," Joshua muses. "I find myself asking who indeed is the weaker."

The next day, Cade and Eddie read the newspaper. Dominique is reported dead, while Senator Preston is missing.

There's no mention of aliens, and when she arrives, Sam tells them the editor cut them out of the story. A gelatinous mass on the warehouse floor wasn't hard enough evidence.

When Eddie asks Cade what's next, Cade replies, "I don't know."

As he and Eddie walk away, Cade finds himself lost and confused, able to take hope only in the fact that he has gained a new ally in Sam. Maybe others will follow.