Alternia Comics

   Kevin looked all around Jack's chair at the council table until he was sure he had looked everywhere. He pushed the chair back in frustration, its wheels squeaking with the age, and sat on the floor. He stared into space, not focusing on anything, letting his eyes drift around the room as he thought of where he might search next.
   He decided to check Colin's chair next when his eyes set upon a small depression under the table where Jack sat. He reached a tentative finger to it and pressed.
   The room shook with a rumbling shudder. Jack's chair slid away from the desk as the floor tile carried it toward the back of the room. In its wake, the floor revealed an opening, just big enough for a grown man to fit through, with a ladder. The movement took only a few seconds, but to Kevin it seemed to happen in slow motion as excitement washed over him.
   Kevin looked down the hole where Jack's chair had been. He was about to consult SAL for a guess to where it led when the room shook again and the tile inched forward. He pushed his backpack down the hole, quickly mentally inventorying the contents for breakables as it fell. He jumped down after it and landed on a small ledge ringing the shaft.
   Kevin ducked as the tile slid in place over his head. He reached a hand out to steady himself and caught hold of a ladder hidden under the lip of the opening,. He was about to climb down in the darkness when he heard a voice bellowing in the council chamber.
   He recognized the voice as the CGC's shouting drew nearer the bench and council chairs. He shouted about hearing something and how there was obviously someone in the air ducts and about his moronic security officers.
   Another voice spoke in soft tones, too soft for Kevin to make out the words, but the meaning was clear; the speaker was trying to calm the CGC. The voices faded and Kevin felt slight vibrations in the floor around him. He guessed the heavy security door at the end of the hallway had opened and closed again.
   Kevin climbed down in darkness until hie reached a solid floor, and his backpack. He estimated he was three meters below the council chamber now. He whispered, "SAL, have you been tracking my position?"
   "I have been attempting to triangulate based on wireless node locations since your last request, but signal strength diminished greatly once you entered the Council Chamber."
   "Best guess where we are now?"
   "Insufficient data," SAL announced in a dry monotone.
   "Okay," Kevin pulled the map out of his backpack and took off his wristcomp, using it to light the map again. "What's under the Council Chamber?"
   "Insufficient data."
   Kevin sighed. "Alright SAL, keep trying to get a fix on our location." SAL chirped an affirmative and Kevin studied Jack's map of the colony.