Maelstrom sat sipping his ovaltine quietly, while watching Mister Mantor. The gem was close - Thanos has seemed to think as much himself. In fact he had said that they possessed it already. Bottomless swirling blue eyes narrowed and he looked at each of the others in turn ... could they be hiding it? More likely it was Mantor himself. He couldn't imagine Blackbird or Cap doing such a thing. SNAP! Unless they were part of a covert government op to keep the thing hidden!
He sipped deeply and considered. If that were so, it would explain the arrival of Agent X, wouldn't it? He tried to chew a thumb-nail thoughtfully but just stubbed his teeth on the glassy covering. So was this whole mission a bad idea then? Had better people already determined the thing was to be hidden and remain so?
He voiced his concern, "Maybe we should be asking if finding the gem is actually what we need to be doing. What if we find it only to have it taken from us? I wonder if there isn't some other way to fight or trick this Thanos into defeat?"