They must already have noted the absence of the watchman. Now he heard
a gasp from Lymer, a groan that must have come from Blayson. Then there
was cursing, slow, bitter and steady. Then footsteps, and Lymer was
standing at the door of the office and shouting, “Here he is!”
Blayson was shouting to someone outside, and Kayin knew that in a
moment the entire building would be swarming with people. He promptly
tossed one of the files at Lymer, saw the man stumble and fall in an
effort to avoid being hit, and was past the door before the enraged
man could scramble to his feet again.
Then he was in the great incubation room, with its monstrous vats,
heading for the opposite end. But before he could reach it, a door
swung open. A policeman appeared, and shouted, “Hey, you--stop!”
He dashed out through a side door into a small control room. He locked
the door behind him. He heard a club pound furiously upon it, and the
pounding ceased as the policeman decided against a further waste of
time here. Kayin ran to the other door. As he did so the knob turned.
He threw all his weight against the door and turned the key. Men
pounded on both doors, and he looked around for windows. There were
none. He was locked in.
He heard Blayson’s voice, “Open up! You can’t get away!”
There was, it was true, no way out. But Kayin said calmly, “Stay away,
or I’ll blow up the building.”
* * * * *
After the destruction he had already accomplished, they had no way of
knowing that he was bluffing. The pounding stopped. Through the door he
heard the whispered sounds of consultation. Then Blayson’s voice again,
“Come out. We won’t hurt you.”
“I realize that.”
“You realize--”
“You think that I am afraid, do you not?”
There was surprise in the tones of Blayson’s reply. “You don’t sound
crazy, but--”
“But what other reason could I have had for destroying so much valuable
equipment?”
He heard Lymer say, “Over a hundred thousand dollars’ worth. That
cosmic ray collector cost at least that.”
A policeman’s voice: “You saw him, Mr. Lymer. Recognize him?”
“No, never saw him before in my life.”
Blayson shouted again, this time with unconcealed anger, “Come on out.”
“With pleasure. But first I should like to talk to you.”
“You’ll talk later.”
“No.” He knew that later they would not listen to him, and he realized
that if he could convince Blayson of the danger of the project, his
battle would be won. “Do you want to know why I did so much damage,
Mr. Blayson?”
“You’ve already answered that.”
“No, I am not insane. It is you who are failing to use your mind
properly. Your method is extremely dangerous.”
“How do you know?”
“I have made similar studies.”
“That’s absurd. No one on Earth has done anything like this.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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