ould
have been some reason for singling me out, but they had all had
clothes just like ours--suits and shirts and ties for the men, a dress
and high heels for the one woman with them. I felt somewhat
disappointed that clothes hadn't changed any, but it worked out to my
advantage; I wouldn't be so conspicuous.

Yet why should anyone have yelled "Here we are!" unless.... No, they
must have thought I was somebody else. It didn't figure any other way.
I had run because it was my first startled reaction and probably
because I knew I was there on what might be considered illegal
business; if I succeeded, some poor inventor would be done out of his
royalties.

I wished I hadn't run. Besides making me feel like a scared fool, I
was sweaty and out of breath. Playing old men doesn't make climbing
down fire escapes much tougher than it should be, but it doesn't
exactly make a sprinter out of you--not by several lungfuls.

* * * * *

I sat there, breathing hard and trying to guess what next. I had no
more idea of where to go for what I wanted than an ancient Egyptian
set down in the middle of Times Square with instructions to sneak a
mummy out of the Metropolitan Museum. I didn't even have that much
information. I didn't know any part of the city, how it was laid out,
or where to get the data that May Roberts had sent me for.

I opened the door quietly and looked both ways before going out. After
losing myself in the cross-connecting corridors a few times, I finally
came to an outside door. I stopped, tense, trying to get my courage.
My inclination was to slip, sneak or dart out, but I made myself walk
away like a decent, innocent citizen. That was one disguise they'd
never be able to crack. All I had to do was act as if I belonged to
that time and place and who would know the difference?

There were other people walking as if they were in no hurry to get
anywhere. I slowed down to their speed, but I wished wistfully that
there was a crowd to dive into and get lost.

A man dropped into step and said politely, "I beg your pardon. Are you
a stranger in town?"

I almost halted in alarm, but that might have been a giveaway. "What
makes you think so?" I asked, forcing myself to keep at the same easy
pace.

"I--didn't recognize your face and I thought--"

"It's a big city," I said coldly. "You can't know everyone."

"If there's anything I can do to help--"

I told him there wasn't and left h