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still,” Hawkeye ordered.  “Let’s not give anyone cause to think we have hostile intentions.”
    “We also need to empty our minds,” Aiko suggested.  “Think of nothing.”
    “You heard the lady,” said Hawkeye.  “Do it.”
    The bright beam disappeared a minute later.
    “What just happened?” asked Gator.
    “We were being probed,” Hawkeye said.
    “I thought it might regard us as benign if we emptied our thoughts,” Aiko said.
    “Good call, Aiko,” Hawkeye said.
    “How come it didn’t incinerate us like our two bony friends on the ground?” Shooter asked.
    “Just speculation,” Hawkeye said, “but I’m guessing that it has a special interest in us because we’re soldiers — and armed.  The cube, or whatever’s inside, may be processing what to do with us next, so we’re not home free yet.  We need to get inside before that thing decides its unhappy with our presence.”
    Hawkeye glanced at the bones of Durangue and Wallce, then up at the cube.  Its sheer mass made it appear impenetrable.
    “Notice the symbols on the illuminated crawl,” Quiz said.  “The symbol for hydrogen comes at specific intervals, while the other shapes appear randomly.  It skips one symbol, then three, then five, then seven, then nine.  Then the pattern repeats.”
    “Prime numbers,” said Ambergris.  “Numbers that are divisible only by themselves and one — one, three, five, seven, and nine.”
    “Over here,” said Tank, who had moved twenty steps to the right.  “On the outer wall.  The hydrogen symbol.  A small dot is orbiting a larger one.”
    “Try pushing on it,” Quiz said.
    “I’m starting to feel my flesh crawl,” Gator said.  “My entire body itches.”
    “I feel scared out of my wits, and I don’t know why,” Shooter declared.
    Hawkeye pressed the hydrogen symbol once.  “Nothing’s happening, Ops.”
    “Now press it three times,” said Quiz.
    “Still nothing,” Hawkeye said.
    “Press it five times.  Then seven and nine.”
    “Whoa there,” Hawkeye said, having completed the sequence.  “The ninth time’s a charm.”
    An arched corridor opened up in the face of the cube, which was now glowing a hazy blue.
    “Let’s move in, people,” Hawkeye said, “before this thing changes its mind.  Shooter, you take point.  Gator, bring up the rear.”
    Titan Six entered the cube, walking slowly down the passageway.
    “What’s this hall made of?” Tank asked.  “Stainless steel?  Chrome?”
    “I’m reading small amounts of titanium,” Touchdown said, “but I can’t get a clear read on the structure at all.  The metal alloys are . . . ”  He paused.  “Well, I’m not sure what they are.  The readings are conflicting.”
    It was the sage voice of Joshua Ambergris that dropped the bomb: “I’m reading trace amounts of nickel, iron, copper, chromium, and zinc.  All found in human blood.  Also, I’m detecting strange chemical activity in the walls of the cube.  It retains structural integrity, although I believe it’s molecular structure is constantly changing.”
    “What are you getting at, Joshua?” asked Caine.
    “That the cube may be alive.”
    There was silence in the Ops Center as well as in the arched corridor.
    Whoosh!
    Titan Six wheeled around to see that the opening behind them had closed.  Indeed, no seams indicating the existence of a portal of any kind could be detected.  The metallic wall was totally smooth.
    “We’re in,” Hawkeye said, “but the downside is that we appear to be a captive audience.”
    “Just like Jonah in the Bible,” Shooter said.  “We’ve been swallowed by a whale.  A really big whale.”
     

Central Intelligence Agency
Langley, Virginia
     
    Gwen Moss sat in the CIA cafeteria for sector G, located on the second level beneath the main Agency building.  Picking through a salad shortly after the nuclear attack simulation, Gwen wasn’t overly surprised to see Admiral Grady McManus deposit his tray on