"Here's one!" Tana exclaimed.

​     They found a computer in one of the many offices inside the casino. Every few seconds, they'd be attacked by another associate, but there was no coherence in any of their attacks so Adam had no problem dispatching them. 

     "Cool," he said when he saw the computer itself. To Claudia he asked, "Ready?" 

​      "We'd better hurry."

     Adam connected Claudia up to the Skymaster's onboard computer. Seconds later,

     "Okay, I think I've got control of the place," Claudia said. 

     "You have any idea what he's planning next?"

     "It looks like he's trying to cut the oxygen off to the parts of the ship where the guests are. I've countermanded the order."

     "Good. Now shut everything down except for the mechanisms that are keeping everybody alive and the escape pods."

     "I've done it." 

     "Could you hook me up with a loudspeaker?" Adam asked. "I need to talk to everybody."

     "I'm not sure I...oh yes. Here it is. Adam, go ahead. Go ahead and talk."

     "Ladies and gentlemen," Adam began, keeping his voice calm and deep. "And now I'm talking to both the guests and remaining associates. This is Adam Forwarder speaking. Many of you know me. Many more of you know about me. I've just had my friend, Claudia, take control of the Skymaster. The laser cannon they used to obliterate parts of San Diego? Claudia arranged things so that it's now pointed towards us, towards this vessel. In exactly twenty-five minutes, the Skymaster is going to come apart. Now let me add very quickly, there is no reason to panic. Everyone has plenty of time to disembark. Claudia will lead you to the hangers that lead to the escape pods. There's plenty of room for everybody. Claudia will chart your progress. As soon as each of your pods are full, Claudia will eject it from the Skymaster to return you to Earth."

     "That is all." 

CONTINUE