Admiral Harriman Nelson looked up from the plot table at the clatter of someone dropping down the deck access ladder. A satisfied smile crossed his face as he identified the tall blond. "Chip! Welcome back!"

Reaching up for the duffel being lowered to him, Lt. Cmdr. Chip Morton returned the smile, saying, "Thank you, Sir. It's good to be back."

Nelson stepped closer, "How was the seminar? Did it go well?"

"It sure did, Admiral. I've got four or five process improvements that I think you'll be very happy with. Oh, and a dynamite software package for our sonar array. I'd like to schedule a meeting with you and Lee to go over it. Today if you've got the time."

Nelson worked to suppress the grin that was trying to bloom. Chip Morton was a quiet, reserved officer and it was good to see him in such exuberant spirits. "All right, Chip. I'm free after dinner. Talk to the Captain and set it up for, oh, say, 1900 hours."

"Thank you, Sir, I'll do that." The Seaview's Exec hoisted the duffel, and headed toward the aft hatchway.

"Oh, Chip! Did you run into Admiral Starke at the seminar? I was trying to reach him last Friday, and his office said he'd be there until today."

The closed look on the younger man's face surprised Nelson. "No, Sir. I didn't see him. With your permission, Admiral?"

"Certainly, Chip. I'll see you later." Admiral Nelson stood absently rapping a knuckle on the corner of the plot table. He sighed inwardly, Now what was that all about? With a shake of his head, he returned to his work.

Several hours later, Admiral Nelson paused in the nose of the research submarine, Seaview. Coffee in hand, he admired the play of sunlight on the crystal azure water before him. After having made a short trip to Miami to pick up Morton and several cases of equipment, the Seaview had returned to her station in the shallow water of the Caribbean Sea. Although technically submerged, the boat was so near the surface that Nelson could see the sparkling reflection of sunlight. They were doing an important survey of the coral reefs in the area.

Perhaps not a world saving venture, but important enough to warrant the expense of using Seaview as a giant floating lab, since research was her primary function.

The Admiral felt almost as if he were on vacation, an attitude that seemed to be shared by the crew. The highly trained men were working hard, but there was a lighthearted feeling on the boat. Nelson grinned ruefully. This was what he had originally intended when he first dreamed of a submarine dedicated to scientific research. Too often lately, Nelson and his crew were at the whim of forces beyond their control.

He looked up at the quiet step of Seaview's Captain, Lee Crane. Crane poured himself a cup of coffee, and walked to the giant observation window and stood staring out at the sea. Harry sat watching his friend for a moment, then rose to join him. The two friends were comfortable in each other's presence and neither felt the need to break the silence. Nelson quickly became caught up in the play of light across the shoals of silvery fish. Crane's gaze was less focused, taking in the overall beauty and tranquillity of the scene.

Breathing a contented sigh, Nelson said, "Well, I had better get to the lab. I have several experiments that need monitoring." As he reached the base of the spiral staircase leading to the upper passageway, he paused. "Oh, Lee, did Chip get with you about meeting after dinner?"

The Captain smiled at the memory. "Yes, he certainly did. Have you ever noticed that he bounces when he's excited?" At the Admiral's snorted laugh, Crane continued, "Unfortunately, I had to turn him down. I have that engineering conference call with Bremerton scheduled at 1845, and I expect it to last for at least a couple of hours. You and Chip will have to go over it without me."

"I'd forgotten about that conference call... I want to attend it myself. I suppose we will have to put Mr. Morton off until tomorrow."

"I really hate to do that, Sir. Chip doesn't get animated about things very often, and putting him off tends to short-circuit his excitement. Why don't I go get him and bring him down to the lab right now? He can go over his 'process improvements' while you monitor your experiments."

Nelson felt a little flush of irritation. Not because Lee had implied that his experiments were something requiring less than his full attention. Nelson often performed two functions at once. No, it was because he knew that despite the Captain's casual attitude, he had an ulterior motive in suggesting the lab as the site for the meeting.

Several months earlier, Nelson had gone a little stir-crazy, and used a robotic spy device shaped like a rat to try to lift morale. The little true-to-life rat had done wonders for his morale, he still chuckled at his memory of the look on Francis Sharkey's face as he tried to explain why he had 'killed' the rat. But as often happens with practical jokes, he had misjudged the level of antipathy the rat would raise in some crewmembers, specifically Chip Morton. Nelson had known Chip disliked rats, but had been unprepared for the Exec's violent reaction to the rat showing up in his bed. Aside from falling out of his bed, Chip had also started avoiding the lab whenever possible, on the grounds that rats seemed to be able to escape their cages at will.

Harry, feeling guilty, was disposed to let Morton slide on the issue, but Captain Crane felt no such inclination. By nature a perfectionist, Lee Crane demanded perfection in his officers. He had taken to ordering his Exec to the lab, on the flimsiest of pretexts, determined to 'break' the man of his unreasonable fear. Chip Morton, for his part, never complained or refused, but simply followed orders, stiffly entering the lab when he was told to, and fleeing at the first opportunity.

Harry hated being caught in one of Lee's object lessons, but the fact of the matter was, both he and Lee were busy men, and for that matter, so was the Seaview's Exec. The next few hours were probably the only time they would be able to get together for at least the next several days. The Admiral threw the Captain a look to remind him that nothing got past a four star, but his response was mild. "All right, you go round up Chip and I will see you in the biology lab."

Harriman Nelson's experiments were not of a critical nature. His desire to monitor them came from an insatiable scientific curiosity rather than any crucial timing requirements. It was just as well. Once Morton had relaxed enough to warm to his topic, he had presented his information with an enthusiasm that was contagious. The experiments went unmonitored as the three men debated the pros and cons of several technical processes that could cut operating costs, but with no loss of performance.

For once, it was Lee Crane who took a conservative view. "Wait, Chip. Are you saying we can gain three knots just by changing a setting? No, there has to be some catch!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, Lee. But I've gone over it with a fine-toothed comb, and I can't find any flaw."

"I don't know. This seems like the kind of thing that's too good to be true. If this really works, why hasn't anyone come up with it before?"

"Because we never had titanium couplings in the impeller rods before." Harry replied. He watched as the light dawned in the eyes of the younger officers. There are times when it pays to be a genius.

The Captain leaned back, and a gleam came into his eye. "Three knots, you say?"

Morton waggled his eyebrows, grinning. Nelson smiled, shaking his head. The two officers had that look of teenagers discussing work on a hot rod. He knew what Lee was going to say before the words left his mouth.

"We could do a speed run." Lee said with just the right tone of innocence. Harry broke out into laughter, and the two officers joined him.

"We'll see about that. For now, Chip, I want you to turn over all of that information to O'Brien. See what he makes of it. Now, what else do you have in that bag of tricks?"

"Oh, you're going to like this one, Sir. It enables the laser drill to be used as an emergency communications set up."

"What!!! Oh, now you have got to be kidding!"

"Not at all, Lee. Now, it has some initial cost, but...."

Morton was cut off by an announcement over the intercom. "Admiral Nelson, I have an emergency communication from Admiral Starke, Sir."

Surprised, Nelson responded, "All right, Sparks, put him through."

"Sir, the Admiral requests that you take the call in private."

Crane and Morton immediately stood, but the Admiral put up a restraining hand. "I'll take the call in my cabin. Tell the Admiral I'll be with him in a moment."

Heading for the door, Nelson said quietly, "We are going to have to continue this conversation later, gentlemen. Chip, good job."

With that Nelson headed out the hatch, but not before noticing Morton was sidling away from the cage wall, despite having been assured no rats were currently in residence. Hurrying down the passageway, Harry sighed. Perhaps Lee was right in pushing Morton to realize the irrational nature of his anxiety.

Reaching his quarters, he had turned on his vidphone to find his good friend Admiral Belton "Jiggs" Starke, waiting in a state of near panic. "Harry!! Harry, we've got trouble!"

Nelson felt his body tense. I should have known better. Things were far too quiet. "All right, Jiggs, calm down. What's wrong?"

"Harry, remember the JS4 device I sent you? You said you weren't going to activate it. Please tell me you didn't! It has a flaw, a glitch! Whatever you do, don't turn the damned thing on!"

"JS4? What are you talking about? What is this JS4?" Harry couldn't for his life figure out what the man was referring to.

Talking slowly, as if to a rather stupid child, Starke replied, "The JS4 spy device. The robo-rat, Harry, the robo-rat! You said you had no use for it. You said you were going to send it back. But you didn't, Harry, you didn't! I assumed you were just going to put it away somewhere, but now, in light of this disaster, I need you to either get it back to me, or destroy it."

Teddy? He wants me to destroy Teddy? Nelson was surprised at the strength of his rejection to the idea of destroying the little robotic device. "Jiggs, you're not making any sense. What disaster? Why would I want to destroy a toy rat? I thought you said it was a multi-million dollar project?"

Jiggs paused, visibly taking a hold of himself. "Harriman, first tell me. Did you ever activate the device?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. Why, Jiggs?"

"Damn, I was afraid of that. Harry, there is a glitch with these damn things. The lab built five of them, and three have already gone berserk."

"Berserk? What do you mean, 'berserk'?" Harry's eyes strayed to the closet where the case holding Teddy rested.

"Apparently, the microprocessor that runs the thing was built with a 'learning' function, but nobody realized how powerful these microchips were. Each time the rats are turned on, they absorb more information until they develop this kind of pseudo intelligence. They reach a point where they become self-activating. Harry, two of the damn things have escaped, and we have no way of finding them!"

Nelson frowned. "Jiggs, I can understand how upsetting that must be, but it hardly qualifies as a disaster."

Harry felt his stomach tighten as Starke's gaze got a distant, unfocused look. Here comes the other shoe. "Well, Harriman, this device was designed with two purposes in mind. You know the obvious one, espionage."

When Starke's pause dragged out, Nelson prompted him, "Yes, go on."

"The second purpose is...assassination."

There was a silence as Nelson tried to grasp this concept. "Jiggs, did you say assassination?"

Starke seemed to find something fascinating on his desktop, and his response was somewhat muffled. "Yes, Harry."

Nelson felt his face flame as his anger rose. Of all the asinine....

"You put an assassin on my boat? And you didn't tell me?"

Starke's head flew up at the tone of accusation in Nelson's voice. In a hard voice of his own he said, "Harriman, you knew that thing was developed at the Livermore Weapons Lab! Did you really think it was a harmless little toy? It's a weapon, for God's sake!"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Nelson asked in a tight voice, "What kind of weapon? Is it some kind of bomb?" Harry tried to imagine what kind of explosive would be effective in a package so small.

"No, no, nothing like that. Its tooth structures are hollow, it carries a nerve toxin. If the damn thing bites you, you're dead before you hit the floor."

Starke's visage was grim. "Harry, we have two dead technicians at the weapons lab. They were attempting to capture what they thought was an ordinary lab rat. One of the men grabbed it and was bitten, but Harry, the second was chased down a hall. He got into an office, shut the door, and called for help. When security arrived, he was dead. We still haven't figured out how the rat got into that office!"

Harry sat stunned. It was difficult to think of Teddy as a cold-blooded killing machine. "Jiggs, is there any antidote to the poison?"

"No, I am sorry to say there isn't. It simply works too fast. I've got the bio boys working around the clock to see if they can come up with some sort of vaccine, but it's a long shot." Starke's voice took on a bewildered tone, "They tell me the poison has a shelf life of something on the order of a thousand years. I tell you Harry, I just don't know what the Navy is coming to. "

Nelson was unmoved by Starke's remarks. While it was true that Jiggs was notoriously 'old Navy', the man was in charge of the Navy's weapons programs. He should have had these second thoughts long before he authorized this JS4 program. "Jiggs, even if the poison had a long life, surely the rats will run down quickly. The kind of computing power you're talking about would eat up battery power in hours."

Shaking his head, Starke replied, "The only reason I approved this project was because one of its main objectives was to test a new type of compact battery system. Did you notice that the 'hairs' along the backbone of the damn thing are clear optic fibers? No? Well, they are. They act as solar collectors. The thing can recharge in any kind of light. Sunlight, lamplight, you name it. The batteries will accept recharging for at least five years. It's a brilliant piece of engineering, Harry."

"Hold on a moment, Jiggs." Nelson got up and went to his locker. Opening the door, he breathed a sigh of relief. Teddy's case sat on the shelf, unmolested. Returning to his desk he said, "It's all right, Jiggs, my rat is still there."

"Oh, thank God!" Starke's relief was plain. "Harry, I want you to take the entire case and submerse it in a tank of seawater, with a 3% solution of hydrochloride sodium. In a few hours that should destroy the microchip."

"All right, Jiggs. And listen, I agree with you about the engineering. Don't let this setback sour you on the project. Just get rid of the poison fangs and I think you will have a winner here. I can already think of several applications for that battery system. And the surveillance system is remarkable."

Jiggs Starke listened intently, the confidence coming back to his tired face. "Thank you, Harriman. I appreciate your thoughts on this. I'm, uh, sorry if I scared you."

"No harm done, Jiggs. Listen, I'll be back in Santa Barbara on the tenth. Why don't we go out to dinner?"

"I look forward to it, Harry. Over and out."

Admiral Nelson disconnected the line, and sat back in his chair. He really hated destroying his little friend, Teddy, but it was the only sensible thing to do. He got up and went to the locker to lift down the case. As he pulled it forward, he sensed something was wrong, the balance off.

Frowning, Nelson took the case over to his desk, and opening a drawer, pulled out a key. He put the key in the lock, and hesitated. Looking around the spartan furnishings of his cabin, he finally settled on an empty coffeepot. Lifting it high with one hand, he quickly turned the key and opened the case. Teddy was gone.

Harriman looked wildly around the cabin, half expecting the rat to spring out at him. When nothing of the sort happened, he realized that he was still holding the coffeepot above his head. He lowered the pot, quietly replacing it on the credenza, all of the time listening intently for any telltale rustling.

Nelson looked closely at the carrying case. In a corner that had not been visible on casual inspection, was a hole surrounded by telltale gnaw marks. Teddy had chewed his way out of the case, but how had he escaped the locker? How had he gotten out of the room? An involuntary shudder crept down Harry's spine as he realized that Teddy could be watching his every move.

Nelson gauged the distance between himself and the cabin door. Sweat sprang to his lip as he tried to calculate his chances of making the door without being bitten. Realizing he had no choice, Harry ran to the door, yanked it open, jumped through, and pulled it shut behind him. He leaned his head against the door and let loose a shaky laugh. He glanced around, glad that no one had seen his antics.

Realizing that the rat could have escaped at any time in the last two months, Harry shook his head at his foolishness, and opened the cabin door. A movement near his feet caught his eye, and he jumped back just as the rat ran out into the corridor. The sheer fright had Harry breathing hard, holding his chest.

The rat ran down to a cross-corridor, then turned and sat up on its furry haunches, looking for all the world as if it were laughing. Shaking, Harry dashed into the cabin to his safe. Fumbling with the combination, he finally wrenched it open and grabbed his sidearm in its holster. With grim determination, he darted out into the corridor, bringing the weapon to bear. The rat was gone.

Expelling a breath that he didn't realize he was holding, Harry lowered the gun, and eased his way down the hall. When he reached the cross-corridor, he jumped out, pointing the gun one way then the other. Lt. Bob O'Brien yelled out, "Don't shoot, Sir. It's only me!"

Nelson immediately lowered the gun. "O'Brien, did you see a rat come this way?"

Startled, O'Brien looked around wildly. "A rat? Where?"

Exasperated, the Admiral said, "Obviously not here. Very well, go about your business." Nelson paused, thinking. "Bob, I would rather you keep this to yourself for the moment. I, uh, don't want to raise a fuss if it isn't necessary."

O'Brien frowned, but replied, "Yes, Sir. Did you want some help finding it?"

"No, I may have been jumping at shadows. Let's just forget this ever happened, shall we?" Harriman hoped he was not putting his crew at risk, but after all, Teddy hadn't actually done anything. Harry was still having difficulty in thinking of the little robot as a danger. Certainly not as great a danger as Harry would face if Lee Crane or, God help him, Chip Morton found out about his prank.

Lt. O'Brien responded. "Aye-aye, Sir." The young officer could not quite contain a look of worry as he proceeded on his way, and Nelson knew it was only a matter of time before O'Brien let something slip.

As O'Brien disappeared down a stairwell, Harriman heard a soft squeak behind him. He spun around just in time to see a pink hairless tail disappearing around the opposite corner. Harry choked on a sudden expletive and raced down the corridor. By the time he reached the corner, the rat was nowhere in sight.

Harry's heart clenched as he realized that the only place that Teddy could have gone was down the stairwell. Down the spiraling staircase that led directly into the Seaview's control room. Within a few steps, Harry reached the stairwell, and he paused, listening for any sound of disaster below.

Looking down, he could tell by the lighting that the crash doors separating the observation nose from the control room were open. He stepped quietly down the stairs, eyes darting left and right as he tried to spot the small brown menace.

The control room was a hive of activity. All of the stations were manned. Crane was at the periscope, performing a routine check of the shipping in the area. Morton was at the base of the periscope island, watching the Captain, ready to respond to any orders. Sharkey was at the plot board, marking the positions of the pleasure craft that crowded these waters.

Harry surreptitiously scanned the baseboards of the room, searching for any sign of Teddy. When he raised his eyes again, he thought his heart would stop. There on the plot table, directly between himself and the turned back of Chip Morton, sat Teddy. It was if the damned thing knew Harry had a gun that he didn't dare use. As the apprehensive Admiral holstered his gun, the rat turned and gathered itself for a leap to the oblivious Exec's back. Nelson sprang forward yelling "No!" just as the rat sprang up to the startled man's shoulder, and then to the railing circling the periscope island. Captain Crane barely had time to register that something was happening before the rat jumped onto his arm, and ran up and climbed up on his head.

Lee Crane danced around in a panic, arms flailing as he tried to brush the rat from his head, but Teddy apparently had grabbed hold of the Captain's hair, and sat on his head like a bizarre hat.

The control room was in an uproar with men shouting protests, as the Admiral tried to get Lee's attention. He was terrified that the rat would bite the Captain, a terror that increased when he saw Morton sliding to the floor, hands clasped over a bloody head wound. Crane was becoming increasingly frantic, as the little beast refused to let go. Ignoring the danger, Harry raced to his friend's aid, grabbing at the rat, trying to reach the hidden off switch.

As if it realized the danger, the rat suddenly leapt from the frenzied Captain's head, landing at the feet of Chief Sharkey who skipped out of the way. The rat was gone through the rear hatchway before anyone could get organized enough to stop it.

Nelson was aware of white, strained faces throughout the compartment, but his thoughts were all for the two victims of the attack. He turned to help Chip Morton up, realizing the head wound was just a bump received when the startled officer hit his head on the island railing. He called out to the Captain, "Lee, are you all right? Did it bite you?"

"I'm fine, Sir."

Nelson looked up at the angry tone in the Captain's voice. "Admiral, you said you had no lab rats on board this trip."

Harry deflected Crane's attention by turning his own attention to Chip Morton. "Are you all right? Move your hand, let me have a look." Gently prying the pale- faced officer's hand away Harry surveyed the damage.

Lee's voice came over his shoulder. "Chief Sharkey, assist Mr. Morton to Sickbay." Morton's automatic protest was cut off by the Captain's hard voice. "You're bleeding on my deck, Commander. Get to Sickbay. Now."

Stung by the harsh tone, Morton mumbled "aye, Sir." and practically slunk from the control room, trailing a visibly worried Sharkey. Harry turned to face the furious Captain who was staring cold-eyed at the retreating Executive Officer's back.

"He'll be fine, Lee. It's just a scalp wound."

Crane's gaze was no less cold when he turned it on Nelson. "I'm aware of that, Admiral. He's had scalp wounds before."

The pointed comment was not lost on the Admiral. Testily he replied, "Meaning the last time a rat got loose? I don't need you to remind me, Captain."

Crane took a deep breath, perhaps realizing he was in danger of losing his temper. Looking around, he called "Kowalski, get a detail up here to clean up this mess." Calmly he turned to Nelson, "Perhaps we should continue this conversation in private, Sir."

At Nelson's tight nod, Crane called out, "Sparks, you have the con." The young officer responded with an acknowledgment, and Crane waved an invitation for the Admiral to proceed him to the observation nose. As they passed the plot table, Lee pressed the button that would close the crash doors and effectively seal out all noise.

"All right, Admiral. Let's have it. What is going on?"

Harry felt himself bridle at his Captain's preemptory tone. "May I remind you, Captain, that this is MY boat? I do not need to explain my actions to you!"

The two men stood like two bulls in a yard, neither willing to back down. After several tense moments, Harry felt his anger subside. Sighing, he said. "Lee, we have a problem we have to address. This rat is a danger to every man on board the Seaview."

Lee scowled. "A danger? How do you mean, Admiral?"

This is not going to be easy. "The rat is a robot. A spy device. Jiggs Starke gave it to me three months ago for testing. But now it has a fault, a systems failure that is causing it to run amuck. Starke just informed me that the damn thing has poison fangs. Its bite is deadly. We have to catch it and destroy it before it kills someone."

Crane stood dumbstruck. He absently ran his hand through his hair, combing the disheveled strands back into order. Finally he said, "It's not a real rat."

Although it was not posed as a question, Nelson responded. "No, not a real rat. It is a remarkable piece of engineering with a faulty microprocessor. I want to get search parties after it, but I want them well protected against the possibility of getting bitten."

Lee Crane's face had gone blank. Harry got the impression of a volcano just before the eruption. He was mildly surprised when the Captain said calmly, "So, Admiral. This spy device. Is this the first time it has been loose on my boat?"

Looking up at the ceiling, Harry answered, "I think we both know the answer to that, Lee."

"Were the other times 'systems failures' too?"

The Admiral lifted his chin and replied with a touch of defiance, "No."

"Shall I assume, Sir, that you will want the... privilege... of advising Commander Morton that you saw fit to put a rat in his bed?" The Captain's said, icily.

"Lee.... It was all supposed to be a harmless prank. I had no idea Chip would react to it so badly."

"In my experience, Admiral, there is no such thing as a 'harmless' prank. With your permission, I will go and get the search parties briefed."

"Very well, Captain."

Lee punched the button opening the sliders, and stalked through the control room disappearing out the rear hatchway. Nelson watched him go. Absently looking around the control room, the Admiral glanced at the men surreptitiously eyeing him, and announced to the room in general, "I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me."

As he climbed the spiral staircase, he heard the Captain's voice over the intercom ordering Chief Sharkey to the missile room. Harry's shoulders slumped when he thought of Sharkey's reaction to the news of Teddy's origins.

As he traversed the short corridor to his quarters, he saw an angry Doc Jamison coming his way. Holding up his hand to forestall anything Doc might say,

Harry opened the door to his cabin, and ushered the irate man in.

Doc started in as Harry put his sidearm away in the safe. "Admiral, I just finished stitching up Commander Morton's forehead. He told me that a rat startled him. I thought we had agreed that you wouldn't pull anymore of these tricks. I was hoping I was wrong, but I can see that I wasn't." The ship's doctor pointed accusingly at the incriminating case still sitting on Nelson's desk.

Determined to hold onto his eroding temper, the Admiral asked, "How many stitches? How bad is it?"

Doc seemed to realize that he was walking on the thin edge of insubordination, but he could not seem to help the accusatory tone. "Only two. It's right at the hairline, and I doubt there will be any scarring. There is no sign of concussion, but he was complaining of a headache when I released him."

Harry sat up. "You released him? Was that wise?"

"Harry, don't second guess my medical decisions, please." Doc said wearily. "Yes, I released him on the condition that he report back to Sickbay after his watch. He bumped his head, that's all. If he hadn't torn the scalp I doubt he would even have bothered to see me. But all of that aside, Harry, why did you bring out that rat again?"

"I didn't. Teddy is malfunctioning. And what's worse, Starke told me today that Teddy is armed with poison fangs. If I had had any idea, I would have refused to bring it onboard."

"Poison fangs? What kind of poison?"

"A nerve toxin. Starke didn't specify other than to say that it has no antidote, and it works in seconds." Nelson ran his hand through his hair. "Will, when I think how I treated that damn thing like a toy.... Well, I thank the powers that be that my Irish luck is intact."

"Well, what about this malfunction. Can you stop it, turn it off or something?"

"According to Jiggs, three of the things have run off, and he said there was no way to locate them."

Doc sat quietly, knowing Harry was thinking. Harry stared at Doc with a pensive look. Suddenly, he reached for the miniature control deck in the rat-damaged case.

As he connected the power leads, Harry said, "You know Doc, I have just been assuming that these controls are useless, but it occurs to me that I might still have access to the surveillance system, if nothing else."

Puzzled, Doc asked, "What good will that do us?"

"If we can see what Teddy is seeing, we should be able to trap him." The Admiral explained patiently.

Doc's face showed his skepticism, but he made no comment. He walked around Nelson's desk to get a look at the miniature television screen. At first there was nothing but static, and both men shook their heads in disappointment. Then, just as Harry reached to shut the system down the picture shifted to startling clarity.

Both men gasped as they realized they were the subjects on the screen. As one, their heads turned toward Nelson's bunk. Teddy sat in the middle of the bunk watching them both intently. Nelson felt his face drain of color. He sensed Doc backing away behind him. The rat's beady little eyes tracked the movement, and it moved forward to the edge of the bed.

Doc immediately froze, as Harry looked around for a weapon. Once again he reached for the coffeepot. Teddy's eyes again followed the movement, and suddenly the cabin was filled with an eerie chittering. Harry withdrew his hand, and the room was once again silent except for the labored breathing of two frightened men.

The standoff went on for a few minutes, minutes that felt like hours to the two trapped officers. Harry realized they had no hope of out waiting the little robot. Speaking in a low voice, without turning his head he said, "All right, Doc, here is what we're going to do. I'll attract its attention, and I want you to get to the door, and get out of here."

"What? No way am I...."

Doc's protest was cut off when Teddy suddenly moved. The little robot leapt from the bed and trotted over to crouch in front of the door. Harry frowned. How did it understand that?

Doc said shakily, "Well, so much for that idea. Now what?"

Harry looked around the cabin. Spying the blanket on his bed, Harry looked from the bed to the rat and back again. He tried to judge his chances of reaching the blanket and throwing it over the rat before it could bite him.

"Admiral...." Nelson held up his hand to quiet the Doctor. He stared intently at the safe next to the cabin door, determined not to telegraph his next move. Checking the position of the bed out of the corner of his eye, Nelson without warning leapt to the bed snatching the blanket up.

He looked around wildly, and to his horror, saw the rat racing across the room toward the frightened Doctor. Doc saw the danger, and jumped up on Harry's desk, sending the control deck and case flying. For a moment the rat was out of sight behind the desk, and Nelson yelled for Doc to get out of the room.

Before Doc could act on the order, the rat appeared at the corner of the desk, and in one hop leapt onto Doc's leg, and scampered upwards. Doc let out an ungodly bellow, and jumped from the desk. Harry, holding the blanket in front of him, crashed into the terrified Doctor as he tried to grab the deadly robot before it could bite.

Through the weight of the blanket, Harry got a hold of it. It wiggled desperately in his grasp, but Harry held firm. He backed away from a wild-eyed Doc who asked in a tenuous voice. "Did you get it?"

With a shaky laugh, Harry started to grin. The two men shared a look of triumphant relief, when the cabin door exploded inward and Lee Crane came hurdling in. Unable to stop, he slammed into the startled Admiral. Harry tried desperately to maintain his grip, but it was too late, the rat had escaped.

Crane, unaware of the rat, but drawn by Doc's cry, was trying to simultaneously untangle himself from the Admiral and his blanket, and locate the danger. Doc, for his part, had returned to the top of Nelson's desk. And Admiral Harriman Nelson kneeled on the floor, frantically feeling the various folds of the blanket, searching for the rat.

Bewildered, the Captain watched the antics of the two men. "What on earth are you doing?"

Harry suddenly got to his feet and with a heave, shook the blanket out. Teddy was nowhere to be seen. "Lee, the rat is in this room!"

Harry belatedly noticed the open cabin door. He flew to the corridor, quickly looked in both directions, and stepped back and closed the door. "Lee, Doc, I want you both to leave now."

"Admiral..."

"That's out of the question..."

Both men had spoken with determination, but Harry would not be swayed. "Out, now! That's an order." Harry turned to his safe, opened it, and pulled out his sidearm.

"Admiral, let me get some men up here with proper equipment."

"'Proper equipment'? Lee, there is nothing onboard this boat that will stop this thing any better than this gun. Now, get the blazes out of here, and let me deal with it."

Doc glanced around the room from his perch on the desk. Swallowing hard, he jumped as far away from the desk as he could, landing near the door, where Lee steadied him. Opening the door, the Doctor stepped through. Crane followed, saying, "Be careful, Admiral. I'll continue the search in case it got out."

Nelson had to smile at the concern on his Captain's face. It was good to have a man like Lee Crane for a friend. When the door closed, the Admiral reached over and snapped on the lock. With grim determination, he started a rat hunt.

Five minutes later, he was stumped. He was positive that the rat did not get out through the door when Crane came in, but there was no sign of the beast anywhere in the room. He had checked and double-checked every possible hiding place, but it was as if Teddy had disappeared into thin air. Puzzled he sat down at his desk. He recalled Jiggs comment that the rat in the lab had also disappeared from a locked room.

Harriman jumped when Sparks' voice came over the intercom. "Admiral, I have a priority communication from Admiral Starke. Shall I pipe it through, Sir?"

Wearily, Nelson replied, "Go ahead, Sparks."

Harry reached for the vidphone that had been knocked askew in Doc's frantic dance on his desk. He was somewhat surprised to see Jiggs Starke in a colorful Hawaiian shirt.

"So, Harriman! Did you destroy that JS4 without any problem?"

Harry felt a bit confused by Jiggs' casual manner.

"No. I was premature when I told you it hadn't escaped. Jiggs, that monstrosity is loose aboard Seaview."

"Really? A bit careless of you to let it loose, wouldn't you say?"

"Have you lost your mind? I told you your killer robot is loose on my boat, and you're talking about careless? People could die here!"

"Oh, I doubt that."

Harry looked at Starke's smug face and narrowed his eyes. In a tight angry voice he said, "What do you mean?"

Starke's face took on a look of innocence. A look that hadn't fooled Harry in thirty years. "What did I tell you when I first loaned you that JS4? Didn't I say 'look up a few skirts'? And didn't you say you didn't have time for such foolishness?"

"What of it, Jiggs?"

"Last week, Harriman, I attended a very high level technical seminar. Lots of top flight people there giving lectures on all sorts of subjects. I myself was on a panel discussing robotics." Jiggs by this time was leaning back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head. "In the middle of a presentation on the JS4, I was treated to an amazing display of color. One of the officers in the audience went dead white, then after a moment, he turned a remarkable shade of bright red. Care to guess who that officer was?"

Sighing Nelson replied, "He said he hadn't seen you."

"Hmmm. Well, don't be too hard on the man. You know I eat Lieutenant Commanders for breakfast. I will say this, for a victim of your little prank, he is remarkably loyal. I had to lean pretty hard to get the story out of him. Anyway, I figured what's good for the goose is good for the gander. And I wanted to try out the override system. It's a safeguard in case the control module fell into enemy hands."

Harriman Nelson sat dazed. It had been a very long time since he had fallen for a prank. Jiggs was the perpetrator the last time I fell too.

"No poison fangs?"

Starke guffawed. "No Harry. No poison fangs."

"No dead technicians?"

"No, no dead technicians."

"Chip was in on this?"

"He knew. But the only reason he went along with it was because I threatened to transfer him to the Pentagon. Make him deal with politicians."

Harry smiled. "That's dirty pool, Jiggs."

"No point in having the stars if you don't use 'em, Harry."

"All right, Jiggs. Where is the rat?"

"Why, he's right here." Jiggs hands moved below the level of the camera, and Harry jumped as he felt Teddy climbing his leg. Knowing Jiggs' sense of humor, he reached down before the rat could reach his crotch, and quickly hit the off switch. The little rat went stiff. With a bemused smile, Harry lifted the rat up to eye level, and inspected it closely. It appeared to be none the worse for wear.

Catching the grinning Admiral Starke's eye, Harriman shook his head, accepting his defeat with chagrin. "See you on the tenth, Jiggs?"

"Wouldn't miss it, Harriman. Under the circumstances, shall I assume you're buying?"

Laughing, Harry replied, "I can't stop you from assuming, Jiggs."

"I'll see you then, Harriman. Over and out."

As the vid screen darkened, Harry carefully put Teddy back in his case, and started disconnecting the power leads to the control deck. Never again, little friend, never again.