Dr. Zach Smith noticed a few things as he walked off the plane in Yerba. First, the island didn't look all that much like the brochure. He hadn't seen any beaches as the aircraft came in. Second, there were soldiers everywhere. He heard someone mutter something about a prison break. He hoped the prisoners weren't dangerous.

Smith pulled his Huckleberry out of his pocket and turned it on. Emails started to come in, and yes, there was the one he was looking for.

From: Notify (Bank of Yerba)

To: Zach Smith (zmail)

Subject: Deposit Notification

A deposit has arrived in your account.

Account number: 1146828037867871877609772-897565867685-18686876

Deposit amount: $250000000 (US dollar)

Dr. Smith was now a very rich man. Even if Yerba didn't work out, there were plenty of other islands with warm beaches and no extradition treaties with the US. He breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as he got up to his hotel room, he'd fire up his laptop, and make a minor change on an obscure web site. DAN was monitoring that web site from space, and as soon as the change was detected, the virus he had uploaded would terminate gracefully, allowing them to return the Spacecraft Dos to Earth. While he was relieved that the fate of the girls wouldn't be on his head, he was surprised that Richard Blanton had caved so easily.

Smith approached the Customs checkpoint. He opened his briefcase and took out his passport, then handed it to the guard. The guard took one look at it and pressed a button on his podium. Suddenly alarms went off all over the airport. A number of soldiers surrounded the customs station.

"What's going on?" Smith asked, a trace of fear in his voice.

"You are American?" one of the soldiers, the only one with stripes on his sleeve, asked in response.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"Our Chancellor has declared that being an American is now a crime against the state," the soldier answered.

This was ridiculous. "Since when?" Smith asked in a huff.

"Since Americans from Hollywood assaulted him, killed his pet, and broke out of Yerbanian prison. Since yesterday," the soldier explained.

I'll bet a bribe would change his attitude, Smith thought. He whispered to the soldier, "Can I talk to you in private?"

The soldier led him over to a corner of the room, away from the others. Smith spoke up, "Listen, if I were to give you, say one hundred thousand American dollars, would you be willing to let me get back on that plane and leave the country?"

The soldier laughed heartily, and Smith could swear he saw the dollar signs in his eyes. "You have the money on you?" the soldier asked.

Smith laughed along with him, "No, it's in my account at the Bank of Yerba. I can transfer it to your account, and no one will ever need to know about this."

The soldier laughed even harder, and Smith laughed along, until the man turned to one of his underlings and said, "He has Yerbanian bank account. Have it confiscated. It will help pay for eye surgery for the Chancellor." He indicated Smith. "Take him away!"

Spencer Shay was worried. It had been more than 24 hours since Mr. Blanton had transferred the money to Yerba, and DAN still wasn't letting them bring the ship down. He was also tired. While the ground control crew had rotated shifts twice, Spencer, Freddie, Quinn, and Mr. Blanton had all stayed in the room. They wanted to be ready when the scientist released control.

"Spencer… Spencer… Spencer!" a voice broke him out of his reverie. Mrs. Benson was standing there, Freddie by her side. "I'm taking Freddie back to the hotel. He's falling asleep at the console. I'd suggest you do the same."

Kara, one of the techs that Freddie had dinner with just two nights earlier, overheard the conversation. "Mr. Shay," she began, "if you give me your cell phone number, I'll call you if anything changes."

Spencer considered this for a minute. He wanted to stay. His little sister was still up there. Right now, though, she and Sam were sleeping peacefully. Maybe it was a good idea. "It's 206-555-1999," he replied.

Freddie jumped in, "Mine's 206-555-8749. Call me too."

He turned to Quinn, "If she calls me, I'll call you."

Mrs. Benson wasn't completely without sympathy. "I think, under the circumstances, if Quinn wants to come back with us and sleep on our couch that would be okay."

Freddie's jaw hit the floor. His mother was actually being cool about this. He looked over at Quinn, who silently nodded. The four of them left the control room to go back to the hotel. They overheard Mr. Blanton saying he was going to his office to lie down and that they should wake him if anything changed.

Spencer walked into his hotel room after dropping the others across the hall. He knew he was tired and should probably sleep, but he was also very worried about Carly and Sam. As he lay down on the couch, he turned on the television, hoping the noise would lull him to sleep. He purposefully chose the most boring thing he could find, the evening news.

Spencer had his eyes closed but was still listening to the drone of the newscaster. "The American ambassador to Yerba was recalled today after the US broke off diplomatic relations with the small island nation."

Spencer opened his eyes on the mention of the country. That was where Dr. Smith was headed, he remembered. He turned up the volume, "This is in response to the arrest of an American, Dr. Zach Smith. The State Department says that Dr. Smith was arrested without just cause. Yerbanian authorities would not comment."

Oh my God, Dr. Smith is in jail in a foreign country! That's why he didn't send the signal. He jumped off the couch and ran to the door. He quickly ran across the hall to the Bensons' room. "Freddie!" he screamed, pounding on the door.

It was Mrs. Benson who answered. "Spencer! What is all the ruckus?"

Spencer was almost incoherent, he was so wound up, "I know where Doctor Smith is! On the news… He's in Yerbanian jail!"

By now Freddie and Quinn were standing behind her. "What?"

Spencer took a deep breath to calm himself. It worked to some extent. "I turned on the news to help me go to sleep. They had a story. It said there was an international incident because an American, Dr. Zach Smith, was arrested in Yerba." Spencer had to calm down again and took another breath, "Don't you see, that's why he never sent the signal. He's in jail."

"Oh my God!" Freddie exclaimed, ignore the dirty look his mother gave him. "We need to tell Mr. Blanton now. The State Department needs to get Dr. Smith out now so he can send the signal."

Spencer sighed, "The story said that we'd broken off diplomatic relations with them," he said sadly. "It's worth a shot, though."