text: [Themes: sci-fi, science fiction]
  
  You get Esmeralda from your quarters, put on your spacesuit, grab your suitcase, and make a quick stop at Dumont's quarters to say goodby to him.
  
  "I'll miss you, Dumont," you say with tear-filled eyes. "You were a real friend to me when I needed one."
  
  Standing in his doorway, Dumont stares at you with a heavy frown. "I do wish you'd consider changing your tactics, Sandra. This plan is bound to get you killed. Even if you and Andrea can get out of the Jovian city, you'll only go deeper into an extremely dangerous conspiracy. It already cost you your parents. It cost me my best friend."
  
  "Dumont," you stare down at the floor and sigh, "there's a very good possibility that I'm responsible for Harlan's death."
  
  You expect him to respond with something like: "All the more reason to stop this venture."
  
  He says nothing. The door slides down in front of him.
  
  You sadly turn to Esmeralda. "Well, Esse, we should be going."
  
  You and Esmeralda soon make it to the spaceship hanger and the shuttle. As you approach the curved metallic hull of the ship, steps fold out from the bottom of the craft and Andrea steps out, several ray pistols and rifles in her arms and a bag full of extra air tanks hanging from one shoulder. She's already donned her helmet.
  
  "Sandra," she says, "put your helmet on, already."
  
  You silently comply with her request.
  
  "Here," she continues, handing you a pistol.
  
  You take it from her. "Where to now?"
  
  "Follow me. I'm heading to the reception area. I'm going to blow out the window so we can get into the main part of the city shaft."
  
  When the three of you get to the reception area, Andrea sets down most of her ray guns and air tanks and aims a rifle at the ribbon window. "Okay, now, Sandra, I want you to turn the valve on your air tank."
  
  You turn the air tank valve and hear the air hissing into your helmet.
  
  Andrea aims the ray rifle at the window and fires.
  
  A harsh blue bolt of light flashes from the gun and window begins glowing orange in the area touched by the ray.
  
  "Andrea," says Esmeralda, "you do realize that the atmosphere beyond that window is primarily hydrogen."
  
  Not looking away from the window, Andrea says, "I know what I'm doing Esmeralda."
  
  Esmeralda taps your shoulder with a claw. "I suggest we vacate the room for the time-being."
  
  "Good idea, Esse."
  
  You and your robot step into the hallway outside of the reception area and wait.
  
  There's a loud booming sound.
  
  Terrified of what you'll see, you open the door and look in. Andrea is sprawled on the floor, her ray gun lying next to her. Where there was ribbon window there is now a roiling blue flame that quickly dissipates, leaving a blackened room beyond.
  
  Andrea slowly picks herself up and looks back at you and Esmeralda. She taps the radio button on the side of her helmet. "You two can come in now. I knew they'd cut their area from this region once they realized there was a fire. That gives us a little more time to get out, since the Jovians will have to suit-up now."
  
  "What about their robot drones?" you ask after tapping your own radio button. "They don't need air to come after us."
  
  Andrea smiles behind her face-plate. "Stick with me, kid. I know what I'm doing."
  
  You wander if she really does...
  
  > get Esmeralda to Capture Andrea and Go Back and Check on Mildred
  With her ray rifle raised up in her arms, Andrea climbs over the windowsill and steps into the Jovian section of the shaft. She briefly looks back to you and waves you on, then runs to the door at the end of the Jovian room.
  
  You look to Esmeralda. "She's out of control, Esse. If I try and stop her, she or I will wind up getting killed. Can you go after her and disarm her and then bring her back?"
  
  Esmeralda's eyes turn a deep red. "Of course."
  
  Initially, Esmeralda has trouble crawling over the windowsill so you're forced to assist her. (For all her greater strength, she's still disadvantaged by those spidery legs of hers.) She then scuttles across the room beyond till she meets Andrea at the still-closed door. The two rooms are currently vacuums, so there's no way to tell what Andrea and Esmeralda are saying, but Andrea's gesticulating one arm spastically, while training her ray gun on Esmeralda with the other one. You're tempted to shoot Andrea in her gun hand, but the fear of accidently killing her stops you. One of Esmeralda's claws shoots up and pinches Andrea's wrist. The ray rifle drops from her hand and she crumples to her knees. Esmeralda's other claw slices through the air hose connecting Andrea's helmet to her air tank and Andrea soon collapses on the floor. The Esmeralda stoops down and takes Andrea's unconscious form into her metal arms.
  
  Seeing that Esmeralda has things under control on her end, you head back into the hallways of the Hostage Resort and run to Mildred's room. When you open the door, you find the captain and the Sikh standing over Mildred's body. The two men look up at you.
  
  "She was one of them," says the Sikh. "I saw her and the the woman with the short hair going into Mildred's quarters a few hours ago."
  
  The captain regards you with his dark eyes. "She's dead, young lady. Mildred is dead."
  
  You feel your blood chill to ice-water.
  
  Maybe when Esmeralda brings back Andrea, you can make a case for yourself and say that you didn't really want to go along with her plans and that's why you stopped her. But you just don't know anymore. As far as everyone here is concerned, you're now an accomplice to murder.
  
  The End