He must have become aware of the partly open door because he grabbed the handle and slammed it shut. Moved off, still complaining.

And he had not seen me!

I waited what I thought was a respectable amount of time. Then waited a little bit more. Opened the door again ever so carefully. The workshop beyond was silent and empty. I went in slowly, listening. There was the sound of some voices in the distance, a door closed, then silence. I didn’t know how much time I had before they returned. Before that happened I had to have a plan, an escape, a hiding place. Something.

The panorama they were building was life-size. A laboratory of some kind, hulking machines with dangling wires. A nude window-dressing dummy was working incongruously at a desk. Others dummies were stacked nearby, some partly clothed. In the rear was a white-coated figure wearing breathing apparatus. Blazoned on its chest was the tripartite red warning signal for radiation. Was there danger?! I jumped back.

“Don’t be a dummy,” I scolded myself. “Like the rest of these dummies. They wouldn’t have real radiation sources in a display. Everything is a mockup.”

I went behind the rear of the display and found cabinets, a paint locker, shelves of parts and models. Plenty of places to hide. Plenty of places that would be well searched. I had to move on.

Or did I. Look. Think. Think like a magician. Always misdirection. People look for secrets, complications. They never notice the obvious.

And the obvious was staring me in the face.

I lifted off the breathing apparatus carefully and stared into the painted eyes of the dummy inside.

“You have been demoted,” I said.

I noted its position carefully before I undressed it. Once it was naked I carried it over to the piled up dummies on the floor. There were seven of them there. By careful digging and rearranging they became eight, with the newcomer concealed at the bottom. They were dusty, had been there awhile. Hopefully the additional plastic corpse would not be noted. I pulled on the white clothing and leaned against the bench just as the original had. Put the breathing apparatus on and instantly began to suffocate. Took it off and found that all of the valves were closed. I opened them and tried again. Musty but bearable.

I took it off and placed it down on the bench before me. Then I wriggled around to find a position where I could stand without moving, in some degree of comfort. When I had done that, I sat down on the nearby chair and waited.

I had plenty of warning. Closing doors and loud voices. When they came back into the room I was immobile at the bench and looking at them through the dusty eyepieces.

“Where are we on this plan?” the guard asked as he came into view. The same one that I had knocked down. He had a large and much-folded chart in his hand.

“Right here,” one of the technicians said. “Right off the central hall.” There were a half-dozen more men with the guard.

“Is there a door down this way?”

“Just one to the workspace behind the hall displays.”

“We’ll search there first.”

They did. I had been right to get out of there. When they came back they began to methodically search the rest of the area. Opening and banging shut the cabinets and storerooms. When they returned, one by one, they walked behind me. I stood, rigid, my back tingling.

There was a loud sneeze and the guard reappeared.

“Don’t you care how dusty it is in there?”

“We work in here. Never go near that hall. What difference does it make to you?”

“Not healthy.” The guard rubbed his nose on the back of his hand. One of nature’s gentlemen. “Maybe he’s hiding in here.” He kicked the pile of dummies.

“Stop that! You break anything and you are in trouble.” The speaker pushed the guard’s shoe aside, straightened the limb he had assaulted.

Would he notice the extra figure?

Surely they could hear my heart hammering. The blood thudding in my ears.

“Or maybe he is in here,” the guard said. Pointing at me. Looking me square in the face. The others looked. I looked back and wondered what I should do when they found me.

“I made that thing myself,” one of the technicians said. “Can we get on with this search? We’ll be working after quitting time if we don’t start moving.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the guard said. “Now show me again on the map.”

I began to shiver with released tension when the door closed behind them at last. Although it was not hot at all I was soaked with sweat. I tremored over to the chair and dropped into it.

“Jim,” I confided to myself, “you are getting too old for this kind of crap.”

I laid the breathing apparatus next to the chair and kept the white clothing on. When they came back I was ready to do the dummy act again.

But they didn’t return. Perhaps it was past their work time. Or, more likely, everyone was involved in the search. So what did I do next? I had eluded my pursuers for the moment-but I was still trapped on the island. They would have searched the ferry by now. If I could make it to the ferry after dark, hide there. Then maybe I could get off the island when it left. A slim reed to lean on. That was the only way off the island and they knew it. It would be searched again before it pulled out.

What then? The answer was very simple. I needed help. Although I was the rat that walked alone, I could see where a little aid and succor might very well be in order. Should I stay in this room? The lights stayed on, but the skylight in the ceiling above darkened. I was probably as safe here until morning as I would be anyplace else. And a good deal might be accomplished before the sun came up.

I took out the phone and dialed the number.

“Believer,” I said when he answered. “I wonder if you would be kind enough to do me a little favor.”

The search for Angelina was still on; he told me about that first. And I’ll give him credit. He did not laugh when I told him where I was and why I was here. He listened while I explained, in great detail, what had happened. Then he asked a few cogent questions.

“It is going to be alright,” he finally said.

“I’m glad to hear you say that, but things here look plenty black at this time.”

“After darkness comes the sunshine. I’m going to call James and see if the new computer can help. And I have a few ideas of my own.”

“I’m glad of that, because that is a few more than I have.”

“Stay put. Don’t get caught. I’ll get back to you. Get some rest.”

Rest! Trapped inside a diorama, inside a nuclear power plant on an island with no exit. Yet it wasn’t a bad idea. I arranged some of the drop cloths into a nest behind a partition where I couldn’t be seen easily if anyone should come in. I lay tense for some time, waiting for the sound of approaching footsteps. Then I must have fallen asleep because the next thing that I was aware of was vibration of the phone waking me up.

“We have the germ of an idea but we need a few more facts. Were the guards in uniform?”

“Blue with gold buttons.”

“Did they wear badges? “

I tried to remember. “No. Just name tags.”

Bolivar had some more questions, then wished me a good night. I thanked him and this time I was too tired to stay worried. When I opened my eyes again the skylight was getting light. Just to make the day complete the rain was thrumming down on it again. I felt absolutely rotten. Sore, bleary-eyed, depressed. I took off my face and rubbed the stubble on my face. I heard a tiny voice speaking. I looked around, the room was empty, then I heard it again. I held my face close to my ear.

“Chicken soup… “ it said plaintively.

“You’ll get fed when I get fed-and not an instant before. But I’ll get you a drink of water though, I need one myself.”