vidsender box. "You get
out of here!"

"Wait." Cole smiled crookedly at them. His voice was dry and raspy.
"What do you have there?" He pointed with his long, slender fingers.
"The box you're holding."

The children were silent. Finally Steven stirred. "It's my
inter-system vidsender."

"Only it doesn't work," Sally said.

"Earl broke it." Steven glared at his brother bitterly. "Earl threw it
down and broke it."

Cole smiled a little. He sank down wearily on the edge of the curb,
sighing with relief. He had been walking too long. His body ached with
fatigue. He was hungry, and tired. For a long time he sat, wiping
perspiration from his neck and face, too exhausted to speak.

"Who are you?" Sally demanded, at last. "Why do you have on those
funny clothes? Where did you come from?"

"Where?" Cole looked around at the children. "From a long way off. A
long way." He shook his head slowly from side to side, trying to clear
it.

"What's your therapy?" Earl said.

"My therapy?"

"What do you do? Where do you work?"

Cole took a deep breath and let it out again slowly. "I fix things.
All kinds of things. Any kind."

Earl sneered. "Nobody fixes things. When they break you throw them
away."

Cole didn't hear him. Sudden need had roused him, getting him suddenly
to his feet. "You know any work I can find?" he demanded. "Things I
could do? I can fix anything. Clocks, type-writers, refrigerators,
pots and pans. Leaks in the roof. I can fix anything there is."

Steven held out his inter-system vidsender. "Fix this."

There was silence. Slowly, Cole's eyes focussed on the box. "That?"

"My sender. Earl broke it."

Cole took the box slowly. He turned it over, holding it up to the
light. He frowned, concentrating on it. His long, slender fingers
moved carefully over the surface, exploring it.

"He'll steal it!" Earl said suddenly.

"No." Cole shook his head vaguely. "I'm reliable." His sensitive
fingers found the studs that held the box together. He depressed the
studs, pushing them expertly in. The box opened, revealing its complex
interior.

"He got it open," Sally whispered.

"Give it back!" Steven demanded, a little frightened. He held out his
hand. "I want it back."

The three children watched Cole apprehensively. Cole fumbled in his
pocket. Slowly he brought out his tiny screwdrivers and pliers. He
laid them in a row beside him. He made no move to return the box.

"I want it back," Steven said fee