They went into the restaurant and were served by a fat woman who waddled back and forth from the kitchen, wedging herself through the doorway each time. The food was acceptable, exactly what could be expected in a place like this. Outside again, Tom Brazier stopped suddenly in the middle of the hot street. "What's wrong?" Brooks added. "Damn it! Damn it all to hell! I don't know! And I should know! I came back here to find out and I still know something's wrong but I can't spot it." Frank Brooks was concerned. "Tom, are you sure you're not just all tightened up about this whole deal?" "No, I'm not. Look here--didn't you ever go through a place and remember it later as being--well, not quite right? Something you missed, maybe?" "I'm afraid I'm not the sensitive type but I get what you mean. Then again, though, it _might_ be an illusion of some kind. You might have the place mixed up subconsciously with another place of this kind you've seen." "Maybe. Let's take a walk around the whole town--look at it from all angles." * * * * * They walked. They climbed into the jeep and rode the slopes and the _arroyos_. No one paid any attention to them. No one bothered them. They spent the day and returned to town and ate again in the bleak little restaurant. The same woman pushed endlessly through the too-narrow doorway. When they went to their room the lamp cast such an unsatisfactory light that they put it out and went to bed. This arrangement satisfied Frank Brooks completely. He was bone tired and sound asleep as soon as he hit the bed. But not for long. He was awakened almost immediately, it seemed, by a prodding hand. He rolled over. "Whazza mat--?" "I've got it!" "You got what?" Tom Brazier did not appear to hear him. Brazier stood tensely beside the bed holding the lighted lamp. His eyes were bright and hard. "They couldn't have been left here alone--without some kind of guidance--some means of command. There has to be something. Get your clothes on." Brooks was out of bed dragging at his pants. "Okay, okay. If you're going nuts, I might as well go with you. But what the hell will we be looking for?" "I don't know. Some kind of a machine maybe." They were in the hall moving quietly through the darkness. "Anything like that would probably be in a cellar or basement somewhere wouldn't it?" "You'd think so. Under the biggest building I imagine." "That's right here--the hotel." "Let's look for a door." They hunted quietly, making the sparest use of the pocket flashes they carried clipped in their breast pockets. But they found no cellar door, no basement entrance, and ascertained, finally, that the building stood on solid ground. "We'll have to check the other ones," Brazier said. They found what they were looking for under the restaurant. They broke in through the back door and found a trap behind the counter. Brazier lifted it.