ntil three of the newcomers had started up a nearby
ladder, Jon began to quietly work his way towards the back of the
building.

Safe for the moment, he took stock of his position. The men were spread
out through the building, it could only be a matter of time before they
found him. The doors were all locked and--he had made a complete circuit
of the building to be sure--there were no windows that he could
force--the windows were bolted as well. If he could call the emergency
operator the unknown friends of Venex 17 might come to his aid. This,
however, was out of the question. The only phone in the building was on
Coleman's desk. He had traced the leads to make sure.

His eyes went automatically to the cables above his head. Plastic
gaskets were set in the wall of the building, through them came the
power and phone lines. The phone line! That was all he needed to make a
call.

With smooth, fast motions he reached up and scratched a section of wire
bare. He laughed to himself as he slipped the little microphone out of
his left ear. Now he was half deaf as well as half lame--he was
literally giving himself to this cause. He would have to remember the
pun to tell Alec Diger later, if there was a later. Alec had a profound
weakness for puns.

Jon attached jumpers to the mike and connected them to the bare wire. A
touch of the ammeter showed that no one was on the line. He waited a few
moments to be sure he had a dial tone then sent the eleven carefully
spaced pulses that would connect him with the local operator. He placed
the mike close to his mouth.

"Hello, operator. Hello, operator. I cannot hear you so do not answer.
Call the emergency operator--signal 14, I repeat--signal 14."

Jon kept repeating the message until the searching men began to approach
his position. He left the mike connected--the men wouldn't notice it in
the dark but the open line would give the unknown powers his exact
location. Using his fingertips he did a careful traverse on an I-beam to
an alcove in the farthest corner of the room. Escape was impossible, all
he could do was stall for time.

"Mr. Coleman, I'm sorry I ran away." With the volume on full his voice
rolled like thunder from the echoing walls.

He could see the men below twisting their heads vainly to find the
source.

"If you let me come back and don't kill me I will do your work. I was
afraid of the bomb, but now I am afraid of the guns." It sounded a
little infantile, but