This is actually the ideal time to panic. If there were a “panic” spot on the clock, both hands would be right smack on it. It is panic past panic o’clock. —Hal Torque, brief sidekick to Vic Daring, even fewermoments before being eaten by a space monster FP ran in a circle, feeling his way around the walls. The door they had bolted wouldn’t unbolt, and there were no other exits. Everyone was shouting at once, running around in the tiny space. Dr. Devilish and Kevin Keels crashed into each other, and the smaller Keels nearly flipped over backward, smacking into the wall. As he slid onto the ground, shaking his head dizzily, a panel in the wall was dislodged, revealing a small computer screen. “Hey!” Keels cried out. “Look at this. It’s some kind of control panel.…” He squinted at it. “There’s a weird math problem on the screen.…” “Let me,” Fisher said, pushing him out of the way as the ceiling crept downward. His heart jerked with every click. “It’s not a math problem,”
