Inside the B&B, Myka explained to Pete and Leena more about the disastrous events that she, Claudia, and Artie were trying to prevent. When Artie called on the Farnsworth to check in with Leena, Myka excused herself to get ready for their trip to Hong Kong.

Upstairs, she peeked into Claudia's room and saw some of her cardboard boxes were unstacked and opened. Claudia left in a hurry, she thought. Maybe she wanted to check on the Warehouse. Hope she doesn't vent all her anger on poor Artie.

As Myka showered, she realized her hair was too long. I'll ask Claudia to cut my hair again, before we leave for the airport. She combed out her wet hair, but didn't dry it. She heard the B&B's front door slam shut, broadcasting Claudia's return, and the sound of footsteps running up the stairs.

Myka heard Claudia's bedroom door slam shut. Better ask Leena to cut my hair instead. She left the bathroom and went into her bedroom to change clothes.

Standing in front of her closet, Myka considered whether she should wear the same clothes to Hong Kong as in the previous timeline. This time, we have to be even more careful. On the other hand, if I get overly cautious, second-guessing our every step, I could paralyze myself with fear.

She heard Claudia slam the bathroom door.

Myka sighed tiredly. For now, she put on a T-shirt and jeans. She opened her bedroom door and saw Leena at the top of the stairs.

"I wanted to check on Claudia, to see if she's OK," Leena said. "But obviously, she's not OK. I have no idea what to say to her."

"Neither do I," Myka said sadly. "We were so sure we would get here early."

Myka frowned at the closed doors in the hallway. "Right now, though, we don't have time to mourn Steve's death. Because our time-travel trip was cut short, we barely have time to save Mrs. Frederic and the Warehouse."

She thought about her discussions with Claudia in the temporary office, working on their case. The note she posted on Claudia's door had read, "Solving puzzles, saving the day."

"Claudia has to concentrate, we all have to concentrate, on the fight to save Warehouse 13." Myka rubbed her forehead. "We just have to make it through the next few days."

"Artie wants Claudia and me back at the Warehouse," Leena said. "Trailer is going to stay with the Becketts for a while. I'm going to drop him off at their B&B. But before that, I'll make sure you and Pete are ready for your trip."

Myka asked Leena to cut her hair and found scissors in her dresser. As Myka sat in her desk chair, Leena held her long wet hair in one hand as a ponytail. With a few quick cuts, Leena shortened the hair length to just past Myka's shoulders. Without the weight of the longer hair, Myka's natural curls began to spring back quickly. Leena put the handful of cut hair into the trashcan.

Pete entered Myka's bedroom carrying an armload of large plastic water guns. "I bought these Super Soakers, before," he said to Leena. "Claudia and Steve and I were going to have big water-gun fights. But I don't want Claudia to see them. She's sad enough already. Will you please get rid of these?"

He glanced at Myka. "Hey, the curly hair is back. Classic Myka."

Myka heard the bathroom door open and footsteps marching up the hallway.

Claudia walked into the room, wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans. Over her shoulders, she wore a towel around her neck. Once again, Claudia had dyed her hair jet-black.

"And a change of hairstyle for Claudia, too." Pete nodded. "Cool."

Claudia frowned at Pete's armload of water guns. "Super Soakers," she said. "Hydro Cannons and Point Breaks. We were gonna have water fights with Steve."

"Sorry, Claude, I didn't know you were coming back to the B&B so soon," he said. "I'll put these away, out in the garage."

"Hold on. I might find a use for the Super Soakers. Or repurpose the plastic." Claudia studied them for a moment.

Myka watched Claudia frown in thought and fidget with the towel around her shoulders. What's she working on in that genius brain of hers?

"I'll take them with me and stash them in the Pete Cave." Claudia pointed over her shoulder. "I'm gonna borrow one of your duffel bags to carry them. Where's a mostly clean duffel bag?"

"What?" he asked.

"Marine!" Claudia said sternly. "Location of duffel bag?"

"Closet, top shelf," Pete said. He raised his eyebrows and looked questioningly at Myka. She shrugged.

Claudia darted from the room, and returned with a military-green duffel bag. She held open the bag and Pete put the plastic guns in it.

"Now about the mission," Claudia said. "You guys are booked on a private plane flying out from Vancouver. We're already ahead on the timeline to follow Sykes, so you'll get to Hong Kong early."

"Private plane?" Pete asked. "That's expensive. Artie's stretching the budget for this."

"Nope," Claudia said. "We're operating on Myka's plan this time." She moved the towel from around her neck, slung the duffel bag over her shoulder, and ran to her bedroom.

"Of course, you have a plan," he said to Myka. "What, pray tell, is your plan?"

"Basically, we win and Sykes loses," Myka said.

Claudia returned carrying her well-crafted copy of Helena's Grappler Gun. "Next, let's talk about my stash of weapons. Want to take this with you?"

Myka took the Grappler and tested its weight in her hands. "I wish I could. But, no."

"What about extra Teslas?" Claudia asked. "This time you can be more heavily armed."

Myka thought about how Sykes had used an artifact to manipulate Helena and then Pete. "We won't need more guns if we get stuck down in the Regent Sanctum with Sykes. We might be safer, at that point, if we carried less."

Myka looked at Pete. "Sykes has DeMille's Crop, an artifact which lets him control the physical movements of another person. In the Sanctum, Sykes manipulated Helena to point a pistol at us. If this trip is like last time, Helena, or actually Sykes, may try to hold me at gunpoint."

Like last time, she thought. What if this time goes badly, too? She decided to leave out the part where Helena shot her arm, and the part where a large ax hung over her head.

Pete grimaced. "I hate scenarios where you are held at gunpoint. But we can see the future. So can't we avoid those dangers?"

Myka frowned in thought. "Since we're headed for a confrontation with Sykes, I'm not sure we can avoid an actual fight. That's our next big question, I think. How many steps of the previous timeline do we repeat? And which steps do we change?"

My plan is to kill Sykes before he kills any of us. But I don't know if I'll get the opportunity. A wave of doubt swept over her. We don't know what will happen this time, not with certainty. We're guessing.

She paused when she realized they were all watching her, waiting for her to reveal the details of her plan.

"OK." She took a deep breath. "In the big picture, we know what happens. Pete and I intercept Helena and Sykes in Hong Kong. Claudia and Artie work with Mrs. Frederic and Leena at Warehouse 13. Set up defensive measures and be prepared, in case Sykes still has the bomb and manages to bring it through the Portal again. Until then, we have time to work out more of the details."

Pete shook his head. "I still can't believe we have a Stargate in Warehouse 13. That's just so cool."

The three women stared at him.

"What?" Pete asked. "The way that you described the Portal, and how it works for long-distance transportation, and it's all shimmery and everything. If it works like a Stargate, and it looks like a Stargate, I'm gonna call it a Stargate."

"Back to the emergency preparations," Claudia said. "Do you really think Sykes will invade the Warehouse again? Won't you guys stop him from coming through the Portal?"

"We'll try, of course," Myka said. "But we know his plan. He's determined to bring the Artifact-Bomb into Warehouse 13. I think we have to be prepared for all the possibilities."

"Then let's redraw our diagram of the Artifact-Bomb," Claudia said. "I need the picture as a reference."

Myka sent Pete to his room for an old sketchpad. From her room, Claudia brought her measuring tape. Myka and Claudia repeated their discussion of the bomb components as Pete listened. They recreated their diagram and Myka rewrote some of her case notes.

"Warehouse 13 is huge," Pete said. "I still can't picture it being completely gone."

"Dead and gone," Claudia said. "That was his plan. Sykes wanted to kill all of us." She fidgeted with her ring. "Our plan was to undo everything Sykes did. To save everyone he killed."

Myka looked up from the diagram. Claudia glared down at the picture with hatred in her eyes. Fearfully, Leena studied Claudia's face. Myka glanced back at Claudia. This new timeline isn't going the way we planned. I hoped Claudia's direct involvement would be a strategic advantage this time. Maybe I was wrong to bring her on the time-travel trip, if it only made her emotional pain worse. She sighed. We just have to make it through the next few days.

Copying their diagram, Pete sketched a picture to take with them on the plane. "OK," he said as he folded up his piece of paper. "I'm gonna pack for our trip to Hong Kong."

"Hey, Pete," Myka said, "on the flight, last time, the airplane food was really bad. You were unhappy about that."

"I'll pack my own snacks," he said. "I can't chase Bad Guys on an empty stomach." He left Myka's room.

Claudia sat glaring at the diagram of the Artifact-Bomb and fidgeting with her ring.

"I'll get some food ready in the kitchen," Leena said to Myka. "You'll want something healthy to take with you in the car." She left to go downstairs.

Myka closed her bedroom door and turned to look intently at Claudia. "OK, now tell me. What happened at the Warehouse?"