It had been days since Mary had seen, Buddy, her Scottish terrier.  Her parents almost convinced her to leave the dog behind, but she wouldn't go without him. She was an intelligent and persuasive 10-year-old who, in the end, convinced her parents to bring the dog along with the promise to keep her pet under control.

Mary was feeling terrible that she let her parents and the ship's captain down.  Buddy had chewed through his leash and ran away.  And it was Mary's fault.  She knew he liked to chew his leash, but didn't pay attention, not realizing that he had chewed through most of it, and it was hanging by only the thinnest threads.  It was on an evening walk, as she passed the aft monorail station, Buddy barked, he tugged, and then there was a snap and he was gone.

Buddy had seen and heard something that no one on board the Las Vegas had seen before.  It flew by him as he walked with Mary along the monorail tracks and he had to chase it.  He liked its smell, and was sick of the food that he had been eating since they left Earth.

He was surprised when the first tug on his leash freed him.  He fell to the ground, and then quickly recovered and scampered down two flights of stairs and into the dimly lit corridor below the monorail tracks.  He paused to sniff the air, and then turned to the right to follow the scent below the tracks.  He was thinking about his prey, thinking about eating, thinking about nothing else.  And as he ran toward the scent, it became stronger and stronger.

It was dank and dark where he stopped, and he could feel their presence all around him.  And then he heard buzzing and whooshing sounds as he moved his head side to side and up and down to try to locate his prey.  But it found him first, and he felt a stabbing pain in his right leg.  He yelped, and then turned to bite what was biting him.  He caught the stinger with his teeth, pulled it out and then shook the bug that was connected to it.  He had the prey now.  He sniffed it and then began eating, ignoring the blood dripping from his leg.

The bug was as big as Buddy.  Its mosquito head and body were connected to its long stinger-like mouth.  Buddy had already finished eating the head with a million eyes, white and green insect blood dripped from his mouth.  He then bit the wings off, and started on the bugs body, but was interrupted by more buzzing sounds.  He looked up, but not in time.  Two giant mosquitoes landed on him and penetrated his back and side with their foot-long mouths.  Their wings, appearing like small stained glass windows, filtered the dim corridor lights to dark green, red and blue as they sat perched, unmoving, on Buddy.  He tried to bite at them but it was too late.  He whimpered and then fell to the ground as they quickly drained his blood.

Buddy's body, now lifeless and still, could not hear the rumbling sounds as the monorail passed above him.  But the two giant mosquitoes responded and lifted their blood-sucking noses up and out of Buddy, and then flew down the dimly lit corridor to their watery habitat, some one hundred yards north.

Their habitat was buzzing with activity.  Now there were only ten insects flying above the marshy area, accidentally created and fed by a surface water leak and a partially broken sewage pipe filling a side maintenance corridor.  But soon, with the shared blood from Buddy, the mosquitoes would quickly multiply.

Mary was frantic and crying when she ran back to the hotel with the broken leash and no Buddy.  Tears flowed down her cheeks as she entered their room calling for her mother.

"What's the matter, honey," Mary's mother said, concerned.

"We've got to look for Buddy," Mary cried, running to her mother.  "He broke the leash and is gone."

"Honey," her mother answered, " Buddy will show up soon enough.  He'll come home when he gets hungry.  Don't worry, dear.  He needs a little freedom.  He needs to run.  But he'll be back."

Mary wasn't comforted by her mother's response.  "We have to look for him, mom.  Where's dad?  We've got to go."

"Not tonight, honey.  Dad's gambling.  Why don't we start looking tomorrow morning?  But I know Buddy will turn up before then.  Come on, let's get ready for bed."

"Okay," Mary said, giving in.  Her mother wiped the tears from her face and kissed her."

"We'll find him tomorrow, if he doesn't find us first."

"So, there you are," Barry said as he rounded the corner and seeing Paul happily counting his winnings.  "I thought you'd be in the casino.  Is Slim around here?"

"Hi, and no!" Paul said, smiling.  Silver dollars were clanging as the slot machine flashed and sang its payoff song.  "Slim isn't here and I don't care.  Look what I've won.  I must be ahead $15,000.  I just can't stop winning at this machine." 

"Well, I'm glad you're winning and I'm glad we found you," Barry said.  "We were asked to meet with Captain White, on the bridge, before dinner.  It sounded urgent."  They left the Luxor Casino and headed to the monorail for transpertation to the bridge, at the front of the Las Vegas.

Unrest in the Briney System was growing.  Explosions in the cities and oceans were happening more frequently.  Colony officials on all three planets urgently needed an explanation of the phenomena for the colonists and the Federation.  Then, a speedy solution was needed to insure the safety of the residents and resort guests.

"I'm glad you could meet with me at this short notice," Captain White said.  He greeted Barry Cohen and Mark Simonson on the bridge of the Las Vegas.  After a firm handshake, he escorted the men to a nearby meeting room.  "Please be seated, doctors.  We are in need of your assistance and expertise."  His years as the captain of a starship were revealed in the deep lines on his forehead and salt-and-pepper hair, which was once pitch black.

"We're happy to help in whatever ever way we can," Barry said.

The captain sat back in his chair and took a deep breath.  "The atmospheric explosions began just a year ago, mainly occurring over the oceans on all three planets in the Briney System.  At first, we thought the events were caused by meteors entering the atmosphere, which is common when a planet moves through a debris field, and it's usually uneventful.  Unfortunately, in the last two months, these incidents have doubled in frequency with some explosions appearing on land, near the resorts.  We have had fires and some minor damage, but no casualties, as yet."

"Sounds like all you have is a meteor problem," Barry said.  "How can we help?"

Captain White moved his chair closer to the table and said, "You men have top secret clearance, don't you?"

"Why, yes, of course,"  Barry said.

"We're red hot," Mark added.

"We'll, what I'm about tell you is for your ears only.

We've discovered evidence of a primitive race of humanoids on Briney 1.  We think they died out centuries ago, but we're not sure. 

"Very interesting," Mark said.  "First contact?"

"Not exactly, contact," Dr. Simonson," Captain White said.  "We have found very few artifacts, nothing else."

"Do you think these explosions are tied to the planet's previous inhabitants?" Mark asked.

"Well, yes and no.  At first, we assumed meteors.  Then, when the explosions dramatically increased, and started appearing near the resorts, we suspected employee union violence.  Last month, the union contract negotiations broke down, which triggered violence on some of the picket lines.  We just don't know for sure."

"We're happy to help you in any way," Barry said. "If it's employee unrest, we'll find it.  If they're alien ghosts throwing meteors, we'll find that too."

Their trip back to the Mirage on the monorail went uneventful.  They were now commited to help discover the cause of the incidents in the Briney system, with only a few days more before their arrival.

Barry broke the silence.  "I'm getting hungry."  Let go pick up our wives and then all decide where to go eat."

"Fine with me," Mark said.  "And, Paul, since you're $15,000 richer, you can treat us to dinner."  Paul did not answer.  He was looking in the distance, not paying attention.

"Hey, Paul," Barry said, "what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, uh," Paul replied, "Sure, I'll treat.  I"m not thinking about a thing."

They exited the monorail and entered the moving walkway which connects the Luxor to the Mirage in the middle of the artificial desert.  In a distance, a small sand tornado was moving steadily toward the walkway, but unnoticed by the men.  As they approached the lobby, the swirling torrent of sand jumped over the walkway as if it were intelligently controlled.  They entered into the lobby covered with sand, but otherwise unhurt.

"What was that," Barry said, wiping sand from his hair and on to the hotel carpeting.  "I have grit in my teeth."

"I guess it was a sandstorm," Mark replied as sand fell from his arms and legs.  "Hey, wait a minute.  Where is Paul?"

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