The executives had deliberated for just over two hours, working out every possible angle—both in their heads and on scrap paper. No one had yet noticed the absence of Mister Falcon and Omega. By the time Bosak was ready to call the meeting back to order, several solutions were ready for discussion. Before he could speak, his receptionist beckoned to him from the entrance. She looked ghastly pale.

“Kristen, what’s wrong? You’re shivering like a leaf!”

“Sir,” she gazed up into his eyes like a fawn in headlights, “I just received a call from Security. Doctor Klaus and Doctor Klingel have just been found. Murdered!”

“Christ in heaven!” His features fell as he embraced her gently for comfort. “Are you sure?”

“Lieutenant Hale is waiting for you in reception. He their bodies were found in a service elevator. Shot through the head!” She sobbed into his chest. “What are we going to do?”

“I’ll…I’ll have a word with him. Stay in here with the others. Eat something if you can. You’ll feel better.”

He gently pulled away from her and headed into the anteroom. Lieutenant Hale stood at ease with his helmet under one arm, studying the hanging art.

“You wished to speak with me, Lieutenant Hale?”

Hale turned around, his face wan. “Mister President, I regret to inform you that two of your top research staff have been murdered.”

“Klaus and Klingel?”

Hale nodded apologetically. “For the time being, I will have to insist that you and the Board remain here under our protection. In addition, I have requested additional cooperation from in-house security.”

“I agree with you, Lieutenant.” Bosak nodded slowly. “What happened?”

“As best we can tell, each man was killed with a high caliber pistol at close range. A maintenance worker found the bodies in a service elevator. It was rather…messy, sir. I’m sorry. We’ve retrieved the slugs and sent them to our ballistics expert.”

“Do you think whoever cut the power earlier had anything to do with this?”

“It’s highly possible, sir. We’ve conducted an investigation among the staff on duty at the time of both incidents. A Police Sergeant Harvey has been missing for several hours. At 6:45 his superior, Captain Tanzer ordered two men to guard the multipurpose room adjacent to the galley. We are seeking both men for questioning. We are also still looking for the fugitives who fled from Miss Omega’s office.”

“If it’s any help in your search, their names are Joe Noone and Simon Lawrence. A security guard and a janitor, respectively.”

“Excellent. Thank you, sir. Miss Omega was reluctant to tell us who we were looking for.”

“No. Thank you, Lieutenant. You are incredibly thorough.”

“There is one other problem, sir.”

“What is it?”

“In one of the rooms near the galley we found twenty-five identical men having a party who say that Klaus and Klingel were supervising them. What would you like me to do about them?”

Bosak sighed and mulled it over. “There is a makeshift barracks five stories down from here. That is where they are currently staying. If you would, please escort them there and lock them in. Be gentle, they’re important prototypes. I’ll swing by later and break the news to them. After that, I want you to forget everything you’ve seen having to do with them.”

“Understood, Mister President. Need to know, and we don’t need to know.”

“Very good, Lieutenant. And please, call me Hank. When this is all through, if you want a job here, we could really use a man like you on the team. For the time being, I want to give you full command of security until further notice. All in-house employees must follow your lead. If there’s a problem, they can take it up with me.”

“Thank you, sir.” Hale saluted and walked out.

Meanwhile, Falcon and Omega were enjoying their play date.