"Just a minute," the guard said, holding up a palm. "You must be lost,
fella. This here ain't no tourist attraction. You can't come in here."
"This is the cameo works?" I said anxiously.
He shook his head. "Too bad you let your cab go. It's an hour yet till
the bus comes."
A dun-painted staff car came into view, slowed and swung wide to turn
in. I fingered the driver's mind. The car swerved, braked to a halt.
A portly man in the back seat leaned forward, frowning. I touched him.
He relaxed. The driver leaned across and opened the door. I went around
and got in. The guard was watching, open-mouthed.
I gave him a two-finger salute, and the car pulled through the gate.
"Stop in front of the electronics section," I said. The car pulled up.
I got out, went up the steps and pushed through the double glass doors.
The car sat for a moment, then moved slowly off. The passenger would be
wondering why the driver had stopped--but the driver wouldn't remember.
I was inside the building now; that was a start. I didn't like robbery
in broad daylight, but it was a lot easier this way. I wasn't equal to
climbing any walls or breaking down any locked doors--not until I'd had
a transfusion, a skin graft and about three months' vacation on a warm
beach somewhere.
A man in a white smock emerged from a door. He started past me, spun--
"I'm here about the garbage," I said. "Damn fools _will_ put the cans
in with the edible. Are you the one called?"
"How's that?"
"I ain't got all the morning!" I shrilled. "You scientist fellers are
all alike. Which way is the watchamacallit--equipment lab?"
"Right along there." He pointed. I didn't bother to thank him. It
wouldn't have been in character.
A thin man with a brush mustache eyed me sharply as I pushed through
the door. I looked at him, nodding absently. "Carry on with your work,"
I said. "The audit will be carried out in such a way as to disturb you
as little as possible. Just show me your voucher file, if you please."
He sighed and waved toward a filing cabinet. I went to it and pulled a
drawer open, glancing about the room. Full shelves were visible through
an inner door.
Twenty minutes later I left the building, carrying a sheet metal
carton containing the electronic components I needed to build a matter
transmitter--except for the parts I'd have to fabricate myself from raw
materials. The load was heavy--too heavy for me to carry very far. I
parked it at the door and waited until a pick-up truck came along.
It pulled over. The driver climbed out and came up the walk to me. "Are
you--uh...?" He scratched his head.
"Right." I waved at my loot. "Put it in the back." He obliged.
Together we rolled toward the gate. The guard held up his hand, came
forward to check the truck. He looked surprised when he saw me.
"Just who are you, fella?" he said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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