"You okay?" Skip asked the computer in his pocket.

     "I'm a little shook up, you want to know the truth," Claudia replied. "That was one furious blast. Someone is very, very angry at the egri that controls Hrrm's Hive. An Azurian let that blast go."

     "And that's bad?"

​     "When it comes to telepathic blasts, nothing's stronger."

     Med bots rolled in to carry out corpses.

     A smiling face appeared on all the communication screens in Hrrm's Hive. It was a face not human, but not really anything else, either.

     It said, "Hi everybody! I guess you're all wondering what just happened, and you know what? So are we! That was something, wasn't it? We won't rest until we get to the bottom of what happened, but, if there's one thing we can guarantee, it will never happen again! Hrrm's Hive is the most secure facility in the galaxy! So. whatever you were doing before, please continue to do it, and please, please, please stay."

     The screens went blank, and half of those in the cafeteria went immediately for the exits.

     "Hey!" Skip called out after them. "Where are you going? What did I just say about a party?"

     "Skip!" Claudia exploded.

CONTINUE