As he finally ran toward the ship’s weapon control center, he came across two frightened sailors. They had been off duty but they had gone back to their station to collect some magazines they had left behind. They had found the crew unconscious and been unable to wake them. Since then they had found several other people asleep. But even as they spoke John could see they were starting to flag as well, their eyelids drooping and their speech starting to slur. But he didn’t have time to argue with them. He cut them off, and told them he needed their help.

“You,” he said, pointing at one of them, “get to the bridge immediately, wait there for me and make sure it is secure. Don’t lock the doors, but make sure no one comes or goes without the orders of a senior officer.” He waited for the man to react, but he was clearly already struggling to stay awake, as was his colleague. He watched them a moment, mildly sympathetic, and then changed his tactics.

“You know what, I order you both to sit down … right here.” They both looked at him and the relief on their faces was palpable. Mumbling their acquiescence, they lowered themselves gingerly to the floor. They were asleep by the time their arses touched the cold steel.

At the lightest possible dose John had doled out, he estimated he had about three hours. Any of them who had eaten a larger portion at dinner might be out for closer to six or seven. Longer than that and they would be in danger of cardiac arrest and possibly even paralysis. That was not desirable, but it was also unavoidable.

He came to a halt in the weapons con and stepped inside. John approached the main control board and noted the flashing red light on the console. The weapons officer had been proactive and diligent. Clearly he had sensed that he was unable to stay awake and had reacted accordingly. Unable to maintain his station, he had activated the ship’s alarm and locked his console. If the ship’s communications had still been active, a warning would even now have been sounding at every Admiralty outpost in the world. Only the captain and first lieutenant knew the code to unlock the weapons console. Not even the weapons officer knew it. That way, if he thought he was going to be coerced into activating the ship’s weapons systems, he could remove himself from the equation by activating the alarm.

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for humanity as a whole, John had long since hacked the captain’s personal files. He had learned the code and now he pulled the weapons officer out of the way and reinitiated the console. It had to be reactivated on the ship’s bridge as well, but first John pulled the launch key from officer’s neck and inserted it into its sacred slot.