"This morning. I helped her get away last night, gave her directions, and then turned off the force field that's been protecting the house and you three in my absence. If she doesn't appear soon, I'll have to turn it back on. I can't risk having the R.A.'s stumble on this retreat of mine." "Force field?" Grundy asked timorously. "Sure, a smaller version of the thing that the last scientists built to protect our whole planet from interlopers. Unseen, it blankets the whole area around the house in an invisible sheath that keeps anyone from even being aware of the house." So that, Comstock thought, was why they had heard no one, seen no one passing by. Bowdler got up from his chair and began to pace the floor uneasily. "It's getting later. I'd better turn the force field back on, even though it means that she'll never get here. Sometimes sacrifice is essential." Rather to Comstock's surprise, he got to his feet, jutted out his rather insignificant jaw and said, "I'm going looking for her!" "Good boy!" Grundy said approvingly. Helen asked, "But how will you manage to get back even if you find her?" "I don't know. All I know is that I can't rest thinking of someone wandering around at the mercy of the Father's Right Arms." "I've got it," Bowdler said, slowly, "You go ahead, Comstock. Look for her to the east, down around Puritan Square. That's the direction from which she would be coming, if she's not been captured. Then, at twelve midnight, and twelve noon, I'll turn off the field for exactly thirty seconds each day and night till you return." The if, was unspoken. "Shall I go dressed in the R.A.'s uniform or as a citizen?" asked Comstock. "Umm...." Bowdler pulled at his lip thoughtfully, then said, "I'd go as a private individual. That way there should be fewer problems." Helen asked the question that should have occurred to Comstock. "How will he know her?" "She's about Comstock's height, willowy, red-haired, and instead of the dull apathetic look that most of our fellow citizens have, she has bright green eyes that penetrate right to the core of any problem. You'll know her as a fellow rebel as soon as you see her!" Comstock wanted to ask how old she was but he couldn't. He felt that it might reveal the motives that were driving him out of the security of Bowdler's house into the harsh reality of his world which he had grown to hate and fear. Waving his hand in farewell to Bowdler, Helen and Grundy, he tried to look like one of the heroes he had been reading about. With that image in mind, he threw back his shoulders, took a deep breath, and slammed the door behind him. Then, head held high, he walked straight off the verandah and missed the top step completely. Floundering, he landed in a heap at the bottom of the four steps. It wasn't particularly heroic he feared, rising and brushing himself off.