rway and sent another shot after the
fleeing man, whose outline was easily visible against the pre-dawn
light that was now beginning to come in through a window at the far
end of the hall.

The figure kept running, and Karnes went after him, firing twice more
as he ran.

_Who taught you to shoot, dead-eye?_ he thought, as the man continued
to run.

At the end of the hall, the man turned abruptly into one of the
offices-to-be, his pursuer only five yards behind him.

* * * * *

Afterwards, Karnes thought it over time after time, trying to find
some flaw or illusion in what he saw. But, much as he hated to believe
his own senses, he remained convinced.

The broad window shed enough light to see everything in the room, but
there wasn't much in it except for the slightly iridescent gray object
in the center.

It was an oblate spheroid, about seven feet high and eight or nine
feet through. As Karnes came through the door, he saw the man step
_through_ the seemingly solid material into the flattened globe.

Then globe, man and all, vanished. The room was empty.

Karnes checked his headlong rush into the room and peered around in
the early morning gloom. For a full minute his brain refused even to
attempt rationalizing what he had seen. He looked wildly around, but
there was no one there. Suddenly he felt very foolish.

_All right. So men can run into round gray things and vanish. Now use
a little sense and look around._

There was something else in the room. Karnes knelt and looked at the
little object that lay on the floor a few feet from where the gray
globe had been. A cigarette case; one of those flat, coat-pocket jobs
with a jet black enamel surface laid over tiny checked squares that
would be absolutely useless for picking up fingerprints. If there were
any prints, they'd be on the inside.

He started to pick it up and realized he must still be a bit confused;
his hands were full. His right held the heavy automatic, and between
the thumb and forefinger of his left were the four tiny sheets of
microfilm.

Karnes holstered the pistol, took an envelope from his pocket, put the
films in it, replaced the envelope, and picked up the cigarette case.
It was, he thought, a rather odd-looking affair. It--

"Awright, you. Stand up slow, with your hands where I can see 'em."

_Great God_, thought Karnes, I _didn't know they were holding a tea
party in this building_. He did as he w