blaster, until he managed to get the grip of his weapon wedged over a faux instrument panel that could support his weight. He let go of Clay's hand and quickly found a better handhold for his left hand, freeing his blaster hand. Thomas held on tight and scrambled for a foothold on the plastic rocket nozzles jutting out from the back of the hovercoaster car. Finally gaining his balance, he trained his blaster on the power system and fired once. Sparks flew in his face, forcing him to lose his grip and balance, and he was flung free from the hovercar. As Thomas watched the car pull away from him, he maintained his focus and aimed his weapon at the remaining power unit of the ride. He held his aim tight and pulled the trigger.
The directed energy bolt danced across the darkened virtual space room toward its target, passing through a holographic asteroid and hitting home on the remaining power plant. The explosion of the supply threw the same cloud of vapors when it hit. 'Yes!' Thomas thought. Then something pounded into his back and his head cracked against it too—the floor.
Thomas tucked as best he could and rolled with the impact. At seventy kilometers per hour, he continued to tumble wildly until he smashed into a wall of chain-link fencing that was surrounding several racks of the ride's special-effects computer equipment. The final impact against the fence knocked him unconscious briefly.
He came to looking upward into the darkness with his feet above him resting on the fence. There was a serious pounding in his head, and the moist feeling he had on his face was probably blood from the broken nose he was certain that he had.
Without hesitation or complaint, Thomas reached into his breast pocket with his left hand—his right was now broken—and pulled out the immunobooster injector and jabbed it into his neck. He then followed the booster with a painkiller and an adrenaline injection. A few seconds later, the pain was gone, and he managed to get to his feet.
'This is Washington; somebody talk to me!' he announced over the net. Thomas ran as best he could in the direction of the crashed cars. His AIC told him that his M-blaster was more than fifty meters behind them, but his railpistol was still in his rear holster. He pulled the railpistol free with his left hand and the safety interlock recognized his biometric signature and went green, ready to fire.
'Everybody is fine, sir,' Jackson reassured them. 'It was a bumpy landing, but we came to a stop with no injuries. I'm removing the restraints now. We need backup in here.'
'Kootie! Backup converge on the sarge's signal,' Thomas ordered. 'I want Marine One, now!'
'Yes, sir!'
Thomas found a large hole that the falling hovercars had apparently made in the wall of the virtual-effects dome and into a 'backlot' area. Drywall, sparking electrical conduits, and broken aluminum studs protruded like jagged teeth on the gaping hole. Being careful not to touch the electrical wires, Thomas quickly weaved his way through the jumbled mess of rubble and debris until he stepped into a larger cavernous room filled with amusement ride vehicles in need of repair. The three crashed hovercars rested sideways against a large metal I beam on the other side of the room. The car that Thomas had been in was cracked in half and was wrapped around the beam, while the beam was basically unscathed. Had he stayed in that seat, he would have been a slimy spot on the metal beam and would be dead for certain.
'Mr. President! Are you okay, sir?' He rushed up to the middle car scanning the president and his daughter for injuries. His AIC assured him that they were alive and in stable condition.
'I'd say we are in at least as good of shape as you, Thomas,' President Moore replied. Neither he nor his daughter realized that the latter was injured yet. 'What the hell is going on?'
'Uh, not sure yet, Mr. President,' Thomas replied. From the look on the president's face, he could tell that his AIC had just informed him that his daughter was injured.
'Deanna?' President Moore turned to his daughter and helped her down from the car.
'I'm okay, but my arm hurts, Daddy.'
'Don't worry, baby,' Moore said unwaveringly, and kissed her forehead.
'Mrs. Moore?' Thomas turned to the third car, where Clay was dropping the First Lady to the floor carefully.
'I'm fine, thank you, Thomas.' Sehera straightened her blouse and dusted herself off. Thomas pulled another immunobooster injector from his coat pocket and handed it to the First Lady.
'Ma'am, Deanna has a fractured right ulna. This is immunobooster.'
'Understood.' Sehera took the injector from him and calmly hugged her daughter to her as she administered the medication.
'I have no detailed information about what has just happened. The most important thing is your safety right now. We need to move along the wall to the exterior of this building, and from there we'll make our way to Marine One.' Thomas scanned the room and caught a glimpse of motion. He quickly raised his pistol to the ready and made certain that his body was between the motion and the president.
'Clay!' He nodded in the direction of the motion.
'See it, sir,' he said. Clay squared up his shoulders and stood slightly to the left of Thomas. The two men held their weapons at the ready and began running scenarios in their minds for escape routes to Marine One.
'Sniper Three to Boss. I've got your motion in sight. Do you want me to take action, sir?'
'Negative, Sniper Three. Hold for further instruction,' Thomas ordered subvocally. He didn't want to kill any innocent civilians by accident.
