"This is our chance; Together then and quick." As one man they bolted to the door and down the corridor into the elevator, slamming the door behind. "That was a close shave!" Mellish exclaimed as the cage streaked down. "He caught me by surprise," Bondy moaned. "Never expected it from him, he almost killed me!" "He can't get away though, the guards will get him the moment he comes down. But what about the girl? We quite forgot to warn Vivian that she has a paranoiac on her hands." "Bah!" Bondy scoffed, "Vivian is an intelligent girl. It was our _duty_ to evacuate, wasn't it? Besides, we can warn her over the phone." With the unbearable tension gone from him as sudden as the air from a blown tire, Lee really acted like a madman now. Stretching to his full length he reached out to the alarm over the door and put it at rest. What was alarm to others, to him was a signal to rest. The noise didn't befit the wonderful calm and serenity he felt. His job was done, his mission completed. Time for him had ceased to exist. Danger--he had no consciousness of it. Slowly he stepped out in the corridor. It felt like walking on air. There, it was Vivian Leahy who brought him down to earth. She came rushing out of the archive laden with precious records up to her chin. Under the provoking red of her hair the face looked pale and pinched: "Where are the doctors?" she panted. "I don't know," Lee said. "They left me a moment ago--rather suddenly." "The rats! Leaving me to get their chestnuts out of the fire for them. How d'you like that?" Her flippant manner was nothing but a brave front she put up to hide the panic in her heart. Lee sensed it. There was an unexpected responsibility thrust into his hands. His mission was not yet completed; he had to get this girl to safety. She followed the direction of his glance. "No go," she said. "They took the elevator. It will be some time before another one comes up. If it does come. What are we two going to do now, Dr. Lee?" He smiled down to her as he would have to a child lost in the woods. "Never you fear, Vivian. We still have that other exit. We can use the glideway through The Brain." "Through the fire?" "Yes. I think we can make it if you're a brave girl. Know where the gas masks are and asbestos suits? There ought to be some in every Apperception Center." "How about these records? Your own amongst the lot!" "Leave them; they aren't worth risking your life for. You can believe that." She dropped them instantly: "I like you, Dr. Lee, you're a real old-school cavalier. My doctors here, they'd rather see me burn to a crisp than any of those records. Come on, I'll show you the gas masks and the other stuff." * * * * * He helped her to put on the outfit. "Ready to go?" he asked. "With you? To the end of the world at any day." Proudly she marched him off toward the rear exit.