An hour later he dropped me on a street corner in a shabby marketing district of the city and drove off. I hoped he made out all right with the dark-haired girl. I spotted a used-clothing store and headed for it. Twenty minutes later I was back on the sidewalk, dressed in a pinkish-gray suit that had been cut a long time ago by a Latin tailor--maybe to settle a grudge. The shirt that went with it was an unsuccessful violet. The black string tie lent a dubious air of distinction. I'd swapped the railroader's cap for a tarnished beret. The man who had supplied the outfit was still asleep. I figured I'd done him a favor by taking it. I couldn't hope to pass for a fisherman--I wasn't the type. Maybe I'd get by as a coffee-house derelict. I walked past fly-covered fish stalls, racks of faded garments, grimy vegetables in bins, enough paint-flaked wrought iron to cage a herd of brontosauri, and fetched up at a cab stand. I picked a fat driver with a wart. "How much to the Delta National Laboratories?" He rolled an eye toward me, shifted his toothpick. "What ya wanna go out there for? Nothing out there." "I'm a tourist," I said. "They told me before I left home not to miss it." He grunted, reached back and opened the door. I got in. He flipped his flag down, started up with a clash of gears and pulled out without looking. "How far is it?" I asked him. "It ain't far. Mile, mile and a quarter." "Pretty big place, I guess." He didn't answer. We went through a warehousing district, swung left along the waterfront, bumped over railroad tracks, and pulled up at a nine-foot cyclone fence with a locked gate. "A buck ten," my driver said. I looked out at the fence, a barren field, a distant group of low buildings. "What's this?" "This is the place you ast for. That'll be a buck ten, mister." I touched his mind, planted a couple of false impressions and withdrew. He blinked, then started up, drove around the field, pulled up at an open gate with a blue-uniformed guard. He looked back at me. "You want I should drive in, sir?" "I'll get out here." He jumped out, opened my door, helped me out with a hand under my good elbow. "I'll get your change, sir," he said, reaching for his hip. "Keep it." "Thank YOU." He hesitated. "Maybe I oughta stick around. You know." "I'll be all right." "I hope so," he said. "A man like you--you and me--" he winked. "After all, we ain't both wearing berets fer nothing." "True," I said. "Consider your tip doubled. Now drive away into the sunrise and forget you ever saw me." * * * * * He got into the car, beaming, and left. I turned and sized up the Delta Labs. There was nothing fancy about the place; it consisted of low brick and steel buildings, mud, a fence and a guard who was looking at me. I sauntered over. "I'm from Iowa City," I said. "Now, the rest of the group didn't come--said they'd rather rest one day. But I like to see it all. After all, I paid--"