The first person he talks to is a shopkeeper named Melissa, who's nervous enough that she pulls a rifle on him when he reaches for ID.

She tells them the Apostles have taken the town hostage, the sheriff is outnumbered and the bikers are trashing the town.

She also helps Cade find the bikers by pointing out that two nearby towns are dry. The bikers won't stray far from their booze, so they must be near the third town, and Melissa points out a likely campsite.

Cade tries to sneak up on the bikers' camp and is caught. He's surprised when the bikers accuse him of being an alien -- and even more surprised when they recognize him from his wanted poster and declare themselves his followers.

After a welcoming beer, Rafe explains the Apostles and their mission. They were just another biker gang until they got into a fight, killed a seemingly normal human, and saw his body dissolve.

One of the bikers -- "Big Mike" -- is into computers, and found Cade's journals on the internet. The Gua they killed also had a pocket computer and when Big Mike broke the system's encryption, they found information that led them to Randolph and an alien operation here in Crestline.

The bikers are thrilled to have met their prophet. Rafe presents Cade with the motorcycle of a fallen gang member. "From now on," he says, "we're Foster's army."

The party breaks up when a biker returns with news of somebody at the house Randolph was living in. The bikers ride out to kill some more aliens, and Rafe asks Cade to take the lead.

The gang breaks into Randolph's place without delay and promptly begins trashing the place. A man flees up the stairs, dropping a crystal, which Cade spots and picks up.

The man hides in a closet, but Rafe deduces his location and gives him the count of three to come out. Then he fires a gun into the closet.

When Rafe opens the door, the alien has already dissolved.

In Crestline, an outraged mob meets with the sheriff. Randy tells them to be patient -- he's doing his best to get some backup.

The loudmouths in the mob aren't happy with this, so the crowd disperses in order to sit at home and shoot anyone who bothers them. Melissa volunteers to be a deputy, but she's the sheriff's girlfriend, and he's not about to put her at risk.

At the camp, the gang plans their next move.

Since two people fled the house as they broke in, Rafe wants to go house-to-house looking for them. Cade thinks that's a bit excessive, especially since there seems to be a connection between the Gua and the quartz mining operation to investigate.

He and Rafe argue over how much force is excessive.

Cade contacts Eddie, asking him to find out what he can about the mining operation. Eddie's getting to like the idea of the Apostles, but Cade is getting worried about them.

Eddie is also surprised to hear that the quartz crystal Cade found has eight sides -- six-sided crystals are much more common. The question is what makes the eight-sided crystals so special to the aliens.

Cade goes back into town to talk to Melissa, who's outraged at what the bikers did to Randolph's house.

He tries to tell her the bikers are working to break up a criminal conspiracy, but she tells him, "You don't break the law to preserve the law."

As Cade leaves, Rafe pulls up to tell him the Apostles have found two more suspects. Before Cade can get on his bike and head back to the camp, he's stopped by the sheriff, who thinks he looks familiar.

After Cade leaves, Melissa tells the sheriff what she overheard about "two more suspects". He tells her to lock up and go home, but she grabs her gun and heads for the camp instead.

Eddie has found the man who sold the mining operation to the Gua. The man now regrets the sale -- he sold out cheap, having been unaware that the mine contained the rare eight-sided crystals.

At the camp, the bikers tie up their suspects and ask them, "Are you Gua?" over and over again. They don't listen too carefully to the answers.

Outraged by the interrogation, Cade tries to tell them about his method of testing to see if someone is a Gua: cut them and see if their enhanced healing ability activates. Hearing this, one of the suspects attacks Cade, is killed by Rafe, and dissolves.

Rafe enjoys the moment -- he's just saved the great Cade Foster's life. Then he tries out the cut-and-heal test by plunging a his knife into the other suspect's heart.

The suspect collapses, dies and doesn't dissolve. He was human.

Having seen everything from a hiding place in the bushes, Melissa goes to tell the sheriff.

Cade is outraged by what just happened. "This isn't the way," he tells Rafe.

Rafe is unrepentant, telling Cade that if innocents have to die to save Earth, "it's just the law of survival." Then he and the gang ride out in search of the last suspected alien.

Melissa tells the sheriff about the dissolving Gua and the death of Harry, the human Rafe killed. Randy tries to reassure her, but needs reinforcements before he can act.

Eddie and Cade bring each other up to date. The mining company has shut down, and Eddie has discovered the eight-sided crystals have applications in communications technology. He wants a dozen to study.

Cade runs into Melissa, who tells him what she saw at the camp. He tells her about the alien invasion and asks her for help getting the crystals Eddie wants.

Then Cade stops in on Randy, who is still trying to get reinforcements. Cade tells him about Harry's murder, but the sheriff more interested in trying to find out who Cade really is. As Cade leaves, a fax spits out his wanted poster.

When Cade steps back out on the street, he sees the bandits grabbing Melissa. In their limited worldview, she sells crystals and Cade's interested in crystals, so she's got to be the last alien. When Cade tries to stop them, they beat him.

Cade pursues the bikers back to their camp, where they're interrogating Melissa. Rafe has a deal for her, "Admit that you're a Gua and your death will be painless."

Cade ambushes them, threatening them at gunpoint. Rafe tells Cade he's making a mistake, but reluctantly agrees to give Melissa up to him.

Randy arrives in the middle of the standoff and opens fire the moment Melissa is away from the bikers. While Cade and Melissa flee on Cade's motorcycle, the sheriff is wounded covering their retreat.

Once the sheriff withdraws, Rafe and the gang set out -- after Cade.

Back in town, Melissa and Cade look for Randy, but his office is deserted. Then the gang shows up.

"You're protecting an alien, Cade," Rafe says. "That makes you a collaborator."

He tries to run Cade down on his motorcycle, the traditional punishment for violating biker law. Cade ducks, rolls and comes up with a board in his hand.

When Rafe makes a second pass, Cade hits him and knocks him off the bike. As they fight, Cade once again proves who's the star of the show by giving Rafe a sound thrashing.

Seeing their leader down, the gang turns and rides away. The sheriff arrives -- and as Melissa goes to him, Cade notices the man's wounded arm has healed.

Cade pulls his gun and tells Melissa to get away from Randy.

"I think we've found our alien," he says.

Melissa can't believe Randy is an alien, even when Cade points out his miraculously healed arm. She refuses to step away, telling Cade, "You'll have to shoot me."

Fortunately, Rafe takes the decision out of his one-time leader's hands by deciding to shoot her first. Melissa drops to the ground, and the alien sheriff shoots Rafe before escaping in his truck.

Cade checks the bodies. Melissa's dead and Rafe is dying.

Before he dies, Rafe tells Cade, "She would have died either way and the Gua went free. If this is your way, you're going to lose the war."

Cade rides away from Crestville, shaken and wondering if innocent life is an inevitable casualty of war. He's charted his own course, though -- he will not harm the innocent, even if that refusal prolongs the grim battle ahead.

On the way out of town, he passes the stop sign, now knowing what he won't do.