“I’ve got a favor to ask,” Alina said, pushing her now-empty food tray aside.

  “Hey, whatever you need, I’m your man,” George said as he stuffed his mouth with an oversized bite of cornbread.

  After walking the race course, the four of them had made straight for the mess hall. Walking a few kilometers in a spacesuit was a surefire way to work up an appetite.

  “So it wasn’t random that I suspected you three of messing with Naug’s systems. I don’t know the what or how or why of what’s being done, but I do know the where.”

  The three teens stopped eating, now curious.

  Alina continued. “Whatever is being done has its source in one section of CIG software. It’s the CIG games. There are only three of them, but other than the fact that the games package was updated during a nonscheduled time, I don’t have anything to go on.” Alina rested her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples with her thumbs. “Honestly, it’s driving me a little nuts. I haven’t really played any of the CIG games, so if something has changed or is off, I don’t think I’d notice.”

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  George clapped his hands. “Lucky for you, you came to the right place. I’m a ninja at games.”

  “So you’ve played them?” Alina asked, sounding a bit relieved.

  “Well, not all of them. I’m super good at Evulsion, though. That game’s amazing.”

  “What games are there?” Zed asked. In all the distractions lately, he hadn’t really found the need to seek out entertainment.

  “Eh,” Alina made a few gestures with her fingers. “It looks like there’s Evulsion, as George mentioned, Abe Orbit, and Bubble in Time.”

  “Well, why don’t we divide them up then?” Miranda said. “George, since you’ve put way too many hours into Evulsion, you take that one.”

  “On it!”

  George gave Alina a painfully cheesy thumbs-up. Miranda and Zed exchanged glances and rolled their eyes.

  “I’ll take Abe Orbit, and Zed, how does Bubble in Time sound?”

  “Fine by me; I haven’t played any of them.”

  “Me neither,” Miranda said, “so no promises that we’ll notice anything, but we’ll do our best.”

  “Thank you,” Alina said quietly. “I know it seems like a silly thing, but it’s my job to keep Naug safe, and I just have a rock in my stomach about this. Or a pit in my stomach? I can't remember the English phrase, but I have a bad feeling, and my stomach feels bad about it. Yes?”