back. No one could make it on foot,
and anyone on horseback would attract instant attention."

Scotty probably was right, Rick thought. Still, it wasn't at all what he
expected.

In a few moments the guard was back. He handed them laminated plastic
badges with their names and pictures. At the bottom of Rick's were the
numbers one, two, and three. Scotty's badge had only the numbers two and
three.

"What do these mean?" Rick asked.

"Those are the areas where you're allowed to go. Area One is the
blockhouse. Area Two is the main base and firing pads. Area Three is the
machine shop and maintenance depot. You can go anywhere. Scott can go
anywhere but inside the blockhouse. Sign these, please." He handed them
forms in which they agreed to be bound by all security regulations,
under penalty of the Espionage Act. They signed, and returned the forms.

"Go through the gate," the guard directed, "and report to the reception
desk in Building Five. That's personnel. They'll take it from there."

They returned to the jeep and drove to the gate. The guard inspected
their badges, compared the pictures with their faces, then waved them
on.

"Taking no chances," Rick remarked. "There's Building Five."

The personnel office gave them another map, showing installations and
buildings on the base itself, and assigned them to bunks nine and ten in
Barracks Seven. Rick was told to report at eight in the morning to Dr.
Gould in Building Twelve, while Scotty was told to report to Mr. Rhodes
in Maintenance Building Twenty-three. They received a leaflet marked:
"_Read This_."

They followed the map for another three miles, leaving the gate
buildings out of sight behind a ridge of rock. Their map showed that the
main cluster of buildings was three miles from the gate and nine miles
from the blockhouse and the firing pads on the dry lake bed. Again, Rick
began to appreciate Western distances.

The boys found their barracks without difficulty, and moved into a room
containing four bunks. It wasn't elaborate, but it was adequate for a
camp of this kind. It was clear that the other bunks were occupied, but
at the moment their bunkmates were apparently out.

Rick stowed his gear in the locker with his bed number on it, then sat
down to read the leaflet. It was a directory of camp facilities, plus a
written lecture on security. He was allowed to say what kind of work he
did, and that was about all.

"Let's look the place over," he sugge