A pair of burly sprites wrestled a green-eyed cadet down the corridor to Quarantine as Turbo stepped off the elevator.

"Prime?" One of the sprites stared for a moment, his grip on the thrashing infectee loosening.

"Prime, Prime, it's the Prime!" the green-eyed cadet sang giddily. She wrenched an arm free and swung toward Turbo. "Are you an optimist?' she asked as she balled her fist. She aimed a punch at Turbo's head.

Turbo deflected the blow, and the cadet's fist slammed into the wall beside the Prime Guardian.

"Crashes!" The paramedic grabbed for the flailing cadet as his partner struggled to hang on. "I'm sorry, Prime. She's stronger than she looks." He shifted his feet and changed his grip on the struggling sprite. The top of her head was level with his shoulder.

"So I noticed," Turbo replied, giving his right arm a shake. "Looks like you're getting a workout."

"Yes, sir," the other paramedic said respectfully. "We should get her into quarantine, sir."

Turbo nodded. "Carry on." He headed for the launch bays.

Launch Bay Two was a hive of activity. Mechanics, pilots, and cadets hurried back and forth between rows of ships. Someone tossed Turbo a heavy headset. Jamming the thick earphones onto his head, Turbo set off across the wide floor.

The Prime Guardian's presence did not go unnoticed. Turbo returned smiles, waves, and salutes as he headed toward a landing pad occupied by a half-disassembled freighter and a grease-spattered team of mechanics. A short, stocky sprite with close-cropped purple hair turned as a cadet pointed.

Turbo gestured toward the Dockmaster's shack. The purple-haired sprite nodded, then waved a few instructions to his crew.

The Dockmaster's "shack" was actually a set of offices, storerooms, and machine shops at the back of the launch bay. Its wide windows offered a good view of the entire floor, and its soundproofing dulled the noise of running engines.

Turbo settled down on the edge of a table and took his headphones off as his companion closed the door behind himself.

"What are you doing down here, Prime?" the other sprite asked.

"I need a ship, Charlie. Web-safed and well-armed."

Charlie's brow wrinkled as his eyes narrowed. "Trouble?"

"I wouldn't ask unless it was trouble, Charlie."

The Dockmaster nodded. "Of course not." He glanced at a screen that took up most of the rear wall of the room. "Take the Riot Wing. They're all new since Daemon. Plenty of firepower, in case you get into trouble."

Turbo shook his head. "I only want one. You need the rest here."

"I won't deny that, but we also need a processing Prime Guardian."

"I can take care of myself, Charlie. Besides, any one of those pilots could show up with the infection at any time."

"So could you."

"Yeah, and I don't want to take a bunch of kids out with me. Give me a ship, Charlie."
Charlie sighed. "You're the boss." He touched a blip on the screen, then drew his finger across the gleaming surface to the Launch Bay.

"Anytime you want the job, let me know."

Charlie snorted. "You're not getting off the hook that easily." He tapped the screen, and the line he'd drawn blinked gold. "There. Priority One. You'll be off in half a microsecond." He turned back to Turbo. "You mind telling me where you're going?"

"Mainframe."

A Portal opened above Mainframe's Data Sea, and a Guardian escort ship glided out, engines humming. Several CPUs rose from the city.

"Unidentified ship, this is the Lieutenant Algernon of the Mainframe CPU force. Please identify yourself."

"This is Prime Turbo of the Guardian Collective. I need to talk to the Principle Office."

There was a pause, then the lieutenant responded, "Very good, sir. You have been cleared for landing."

"Thanks," Turbo acknowledged. He set the little ship down, then left it running as he marched up to the massive blast doors of the Principle Office. He knocked.

"Mainframe Principle Office, we're ready for anything, how may I help you?" a young voice asked.

"Enzo?" Turbo said.

A vidwindow popped open. "Turbo? You're here? Cool!"

"Hello, Enzo," Turbo greeted. "No school today?"

"It got cancelled 'cause of the viral attack," Enzo explained. "It's too bad you missed it, it was totally random!"

"I'll bet it was," Turbo agreed. "Listen, Enzo, I've got to talk to Bob and your sister. Can you open this door for me?"

"What's the password?" Enzo prompted.

"Password? Enzo, you know me."

"No one gets into the Principle Office without the password, Turbo, sir," Enzo replied. "If you don't know the password, you could be Megabyte! He can be anyone, anywhere!" The boy warmed to his subject. "He even transformed into Frisket, once. Who would suspect a dog? He got all the way into the War Room, and he infected Dad and made him take me prisoner. But I let Dad out of his helmet and he—"

"Enzo!"

"Yessir?"

"Is your sister around?"

"No, sir. But Phong and my Dad are here," Enzo offered.

"Let me talk to your father, then," Turbo said.

"Sure, Turbo. I don't really think you're Megabyte, I'm just not allowed—"

"I understand, Enzo. Just patch me through, OK?"

"Yes, sir, Turbo sir!" Enzo saluted, then rose from his seat. "Dad? Hey, Dad!" His running footsteps carried to the vidwindow pickup.

There was a brief, unintelligible exchange off-camera, then a somewhat staticky voice said, "Yes, what is it?"

The picture skewed, then blipped out entirely.

"Enzo!" the voice said reproachfully.

"Sorry, Dad."

The picture came back, this time showing Welman Matrix.

"Oh, hello, Turbo," the scientist said. "What can I do for you?"

"One of my Guardians and a doctor from the Academy Portaled here a few microseconds ago, and they haven't reported in. We also picked up Web traces headed your way."

"Those would be the virals, most likely," Welman commented. He tapped a few keys on an unseen console. "The signal from the Saucy Mare II won't reach the Supercomputer for at least another thirty-two microseconds."

"Capacitor's involved in this?" Turbo asked.

"Yes," Welman replied. "Dot financed the ship's construction, so Captain Capacitor owes her a few favors. They've gone out into the Web after Bob and your Guardian."

"Is Doctor MacHewlett with them?"

"Well—" Welman hesitated.

"He went random and ran right into a Game, then he and Matrix were kidnapped by virals!" Enzo bounced into view, then grabbed the vidwindow with both hands and dragged it down to his eye level. "Dot figured out that Megabyte's got a hideout in the Web, so Bob and the other Guardian went to rescue them, and then Megabyte's forces attacked the city! We totally trashed them!" The boy waved his hands for emphasis, and knocked the vidwindow sideways. "Even Bob's apartment is still standing! We've got Megabreath on the run this time!"

"Enzo, settle down before you break something," Welman reproved the child. He righted the vidwindow. "Sorry about that, Turbo. He's a little rambunctious."

"Kids almost always are," Turbo replied. "Thanks, Welman, you've helped me out a lot." He closed the vidwindow and jogged back to his ship.

"All stop! Deploy the Web armor! Call the Surfr to the deck!" Captain Capacitor's bellowed orders carried from stem to stern, and echoed below decks.

"Answering all stop, sir!" Mr. Andrews' voice replied. "We be at the Edge of Beyond!"

The Saucy Mare II glided to a stop, her massive timbers creaking gently.

"I guess that's my cue," Ray Tracer said wryly. He rose from the galley table.

"Remind the Web Riders that they're not really attacking," Dot said anxiously. "We've got to get Bob and the others safe before we begin the real assault."

"I'm make sure they're pulling their punches," Ray reassured the Command.com.

"Megabyte won't be," Mouse declared. "Viruses don't do anything halfway."

Dot's lips thinned. "Nor do I," she answered.