“I know you’re in here!” Rome bellowed as he stood in the doorway, his pudgy body trembling with rage. “You can’t get away from me!” He ran down a different aisle from the one Pete had chosen.
Immediately Bob slipped back out the door and ran to the office corridor. He pulled down the molding, and the alcove panel swung open.
“Jupe!” he called as he took the steps down two at a time.
In Club Dead, Pete had kept ahead of Norton Rome for more than ten minutes, but now he was in trouble.
Rome was crazy, but he was smart, too. He was slowly herding Pete toward a far corner of the room. Pete slid in and out among the costumes and props, trying to circle back, but Rome had an uncanny ability to guess what Pete’s next move would be.
“Where’s your friend, kid?” Rome snarled at Pete as he closed in. “I’m going to get rid of both of you at the same time!”
Suddenly pink, yellow, and blue strobe lights whirled and danced across the room. Pete saw Rome lift his head, startled. Then the big screen high on the wall clicked on with a high-speed car race that seemed to extend across the entire room. Calliope music filled the air. Horns honked. Tires squealed. The metal mask shot out of its box. A foot-stomping Sousa march played…
Club Dead was chaos.
“Hel-l-l-l-o-o-o!” came a loud groaning voice that seemed as deep as the Earth itself.
Pete watched in awe as the Grim Speaker sailed through the air—straight at Norton Rome!
Confused already, Rome froze to the spot. His mouth fell open, and his glittering eyes grew huge.
“You must take care of the Earth and all who dwell on it!” the Grim Speaker intoned. “Because you have not, the Grim Speaker predicts doom for you, Norton Rome!”
And then right next to Rome, the Grim Speaker dropped from the high overhead wire on which he’d sailed across the room. Beneath the green costume Pete caught a flash of athletic shoes — Jupe’s!
Instantly Pete raced toward Rome.
Bob bellowed, “Get him!”
They converged on Norton Rome at the same time. It was too much for his unstable personality. Like a fat, frightened puppy, Rome cringed back against a box labeled clay models. Quickly Pete grabbed his gun.
“Don’t!” Rome cried. “Please don’t hurt me!”
Branson shook his head at the pitiful sight of the pudgy programmer blubbering against the cardboard box. “I’ll call the cops.”
“Now tell us where the antidote is!” Jupe told Rome. “Oracle needs your antidote to kill the virus. Give it up now, and things will go easier for you!”
But Rome shook his head. “I want my money!”
“You’ll never get the money now,” Bob told him. “All you’re going to get is the slammer!”
“And they won’t let you near a computer,” Jupe promised. He pulled off the Grim Speaker costume and took a breath of air.
“I must have my computer!” Rome wailed. He wiped the back of his hand across his damp face. Suddenly a cunning look came into his eyes. “Let me go, and you can have the antidote!”
“No way, Jose!” Pete said, disgusted.
“The game’s up!” Bob added.
“Not my game!” said Rome with a flash of his old arrogance.
“Game… ” Jupe repeated. He pulled on his lower lip.
“What’s up, Jupe?” Bob asked.
“The game disk!” Jupe said. “That’s got to be it!”
“What?”
“You know the game disk Rome gave to my computer club?” When the guys nodded, Jupe went on. “Rome lives and breathes computers. Where else would he hide the antidote but somewhere connected to computers… like on a game disk!”
“That’s nuts!” Rome said in an almost normal voice. But his eyes darted crazily around the room.
“Rome, you’ve really blown it this time,” Jupe told him. “You thought you could store the antidote with my club, didn’t you? You knew your apartment would be searched. But when you put the antidote on the game disk, you transferred your virus, too. The master game disk and our copies are all wiped clean, so the antidote is gone!”
Rome blinked. “So what?” he said in his old arrogant voice. “You think I haven’t memorized it? I know exactly what to do to get rid of the virus.”
Jupe took a pencil and a little notebook from his pocket and handed them to Rome. “I don’t believe you!” he challenged the programmer. “Nobody’s that smart. Prove it!”
Norton Rome lifted his eyebrows as if Jupe had the IQ of a Neanderthal. Quickly he scribbled numbers and symbols and handed the codes back to Jupe.
“There!” he said, cocky as ever. “I told you I memorized them. Every detail perfect.”
Jupiter, Bob, and Pete looked at one another and grinned.
“You just made a fatal error!” said Jupe.
“Case closed,” Bob agreed.
“Let’s tie this creep up!” finished Pete.
The next afternoon was warm and sunny in Rocky Beach. Jupiter, Bob, and Pete were meeting Silas Ek in front of the movie theater where Cosmic Trek was playing.
“Why do you suppose Ek set this up?” Pete wondered as he parked his Aries in the theater lot.
“To give us more free movie tickets, probably,” Bob speculated. “You know, a kind of thank-you for nailing Rome and the antidote.”
“Too bad Kelly and Elizabeth aren’t answering their phones,” Pete said. “We could’ve leveled with them now.”
As they strode down the sidewalk Jupe stared ahead. “Hey, guys! Do you see what I see?”
“It’s Qute den Zorn,” Bob cried. “And Hack!”
Qute and Hack den Zorn, Silas Ek, and some pretty young woman none of the guys recognized were waiting on the sidewalk in front of the theater.
“Glad you could make it,” Silas Ek said as he shook hands with the Investigators. His face was no longer serious. Instead it was wreathed in an enormous smile. “I thought you’d like to know that Oracle has decided to go public with the entire crime, to help encourage other companies to refuse to pay off computer blackmailers. We’ve all got to support each other on this.”
“What about Rome?” Jupe asked.
“He’s undergoing psychiatric evaluation,” Ek said. “If he’s sane, he’ll go to trial on criminal charges.”
“And if he’s as crazy as we think he is?” asked Bob. “Then he’ll be locked up for treatment until he’s well enough to stand trial.” Silas Ek smiled at the young blonde standing next to him. “Now I’d like you to meet Thursday Thrane, Hack’s date. Keep your eyes on this talented young actress — she’s going to be very big some day!”
“She’s a natural for sword-and-laser films, guys,” Hack said proudly as he put an arm across Thursday Thrane’s shoulder. “She can sub for Qute when Qute’s in college.”
Qute grinned at Jupiter. “Hi, Jupe. I found a really neat fact. Want to hear?”
“Sure.” He grinned right back and unconsciously patted the likeness of her he still carried in his pocket.
“If you live in the United States, you spend more than seventy percent of your time indoors. That’s from Science Digest.”
“I believe it!” Jupe ‘laughed. “And with any luck, Norton Rome’s now going to spend almost a hundred percent of his time indoors!”
“Right on!” Qute laughed too. “Silas told us what you dudes did. So we decided we should have a party to celebrate!” She leaned down and gave Jupe a kiss on the cheek.
“A party?” Pete and Bob asked Ek, while Jupe turned tomato-red.
Ek nodded. “Here they come.” Everyone looked down the street.
“Kelly?” Pete said, astounded.
“Elizabeth!” Bob called.
The girls trotted up to them, but their eyes were locked on Hack.
“You weren’t kidding, Mr. Ek,” Kelly said. “Hack den Zorn! Wow! I’m so thrilled to meet you, Hack!” She smiled happily up at him as they shook hands.