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Sam followed Victoria out the door and down the corridor to Deck 3. His face was flushed with anger. There must be some secret drawings that reveal the exact construction of the Vesuvius! he thought bitterly. Didn't Icarus officials realize they were compromising the Vesuvius' safety and operation when they misrepresented parts of the ship?

With his sleeve, Sam gently wiped blood from the raw wounds on the side of his face. He had already experienced that result of Italian stupidity today. I guess nothing should surprise me anymore, he thought as he tried to gather his courage for what might be the last moments of his life.

As Sam passed a group of frightened crew members huddling on the floor, the Vesuvius rotated again and knocked him into a bulkhead. Sam was battered and bruised and bleeding. He felt like joining the crew members on the floor. But the sight of Victoria running down the corridor ahead of him kept him moving.

She reached the Deck 3 maintenance door about forty feet ahead of Sam and vaulted through it. When Sam came in, he saw her on her knees pounding furiously on the floor in various places. She seemed oblivious to the huge bruises forming on her fist. Sam got as near as he could and listened to the sound her pounding made.

"Here!" she cried. She pounded some more on an area that was near the corner of the room. It sounded as if there was a dull echo when her fist hit the metal floor there. Victoria started clawing at the floor, trying to find a crack or opening. Shards of her fingernails went skittering across the floor but nothing budged or moved.

Sam ran to the wall and started inspecting it for anything unusual. Several times he was thrown into Victoria as the Vesuvius pitched more wildly than ever. The hull creaked ominously. Despair gripped Sam's heart. The wild pitching would soon breach the Vesuvius' hull! When that happened, the merciless vacuum of space would swiftly suck the life out of them.

He and Victoria were just blindly scrabbling like crazed animals in a room that had a tiny chance of holding a solution to the Vesuvius' crisis. Oh, God! Sam thought. I don't want to die now, light years away from Earth, on this accursed space ship!!

"I think I know what you're trying to find" a trembling voice said.

Sam whipped around and gaped. He could hardly recognize Benito. His face was ghostly. It was as pale as a sheet except for a huge purple bruise that closed his right eye and swelled half his face. Blood was streaming from a large gash above Benito's swollen eye. His right shoe was off and his pant leg was torn. Sam couldn't believe his eyes. Benito's right ankle was swollen as large as his calf.

He must have crawled and slid the entire way from his cabin! marveled Sam.

With his last shreds of strength, Benito pulled himself up the wall by a box containing a fire extinguisher. With a groan, he slid to the floor. Sam jumped across the room in one bound. He wrenched Benito up by his armpits. Gritting his teeth Benito pushed on a very slight depression next to the box and then pulled on the back edge of it.

The box swung smoothly away from the wall and revealed a small cavity that contained two buttons, one green and one blue. Benito punched the green button.

Victoria yelped with surprise and rolled instantly sideways. Only her cat-like reflexes and martial arts training had kept her from falling into the space below the floor. Benito had tripped a hidden trap door! Inside was a large wooden crate that had wedged itself against some control cables. The crate was about two feet narrower than the pit.

Victoria ran back to the opening. “Wait, let me help you!!” Sam roared.

“I can do it myself!” Victoria spit back defiantly. As she reached down to move the crate off the control cables, the Vesuvius rocked again. The crate slid sideways against her right arm. With a sickening crunch, it the snapped the bones in her forearm. Victoria screamed in agony. She started to slide into the pit.

Sam dived across the room and slid next to Victoria. He grabbed the back of her uniform and moved to the edge of the pit. Putting both heels on the top edge of the box, he pushed with all his might. The crate moved a fraction of an inch and Sam pulled Victoria out, falling backwards.

Victoria slumped on the floor, unconscious from the excruciating pain of her injury. When the crate fell backwards onto the control cables, the Vesuvius pitched again. Victoria was safe for the moment, but the Vesuvius and her crew were still in grave danger.

Sam carefully laid Victoria on the floor so her broken bones would not tear through her flesh. How can I save the Vesuvius? agonized Sam. I barely moved the crate, pushing with both legs. Victoria is hurt and unconscious and Benito is not in much better shape. He lay moaning beneath the fire extinguisher. Sam thought of getting Josh to help move the crate. However, he was uncertain that Josh would even be conscious. And, he didn't know if the Vesuvius would survive that long.

A final desperate plan formed in Sam's mind....

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