Mahee escapes a border ambush while Jack gets banged around by border guards, interrogated by a Guatemalan tough named Quemado, and seemingly saved by an Embassy official named Nate Wingster.

Surviving a near-death watery plunge, Mahee and Jack explore intense love and looming conflict as he learns more details about the jade phallus and Mahee’s commitment to her higher cause of male-female integration.

Recovering her spirit, Mahalena reveals the violent tragedy of her revolutionary lover Daniel’s death as they drive deep into the Chiapas mountains.

Driving on his own down through western Mexico, Jack encounters a remarkable young man, and then helps Mahalena who is in terrible condition after her Mexico City fiasco.

Jack is challenged by Mahee’s grandfather – then tries to be utterly honest as they open up to risky realms of intimacy new to both of them.

Taking off south on their fast-moving odyssey, Mahalena and Jack struggle to merge Jack’s quantum worldview with Mahee’s deeper revolutionary intent.

Jack and Mahalena, feeling mysteriously entangled, barely escape her brother Bernardo’s attack to gain the jade phallus for nefarious shaman/scientist employment.

Jack catches Mahalena cleverly stealing an ancient Mayan ceremonial carving – and gets swept off into her dangerous but enticing struggle to block her brother’s psych-tech mind-manipulation plot.

In this deep dénouement ending, Jack forgives the transformed Bernardo, and realizes that Mahee’s high-heart ‘a la nueva’ approach has worked. Then Abierta appears in the hot springs with wisdom for the group.

Barely avoiding being drowned by Wingster, Jack and Mahalena try to stop Bernardo’s resonance broadcast. Bernardo is ready to kill Jack – but Ursula suddenly switches sides and performs the ultimate coup de grace.