Once again he was in the corridor. An alarm now wailed through the Wheel; Conroy, half out of breath, dashed pantingly along the metal floor, hearing the dull chonking sound of his feet as he ran.

Run. Run. That was the only thought in his mind. They were hunting him, wanted to stick him back in the jet section to rot into a mindless hulk of neutron-blasted protoplasm, and he was running away.

The endless wheel of the Space-Station opened out before him. He knew he would have to turn off somewhere, else he would come full circle and run smack into guards again.

He passed a washroom, toyed with the idea of entering it, then rejected the stratagem. No sense blockading himself in there; they'd only starve him out once they found out where he was. No. He needed some more strategic hiding-place until this blew over.

The thought of what Janet had said drifted through his mind. A saboteur aboard the Station—threatening to bomb Washington.

Just another wild rumor, probably, though it certainly needed checking. But—

The control center! he thought. What if I hide there—and threaten to destroy the station if they don't release me from serving in the jetroom?

They'd have to grant him safe-conduct; he'd broadcast his appeal over a world-wide circuit to the planet below. It would cause a global scandal once the world learned how recruits for the jetroom were found.

He racked his memory for location of the control center, finally found the blueprint in his mind and searched it. Designs that he'd forgotten along with the rest of his engineering career came back.

He doubled along his track, found a side-corridor, ran down it. The way to the control center was along lateral spoke eleven, to the heart of the Wheel.

The corridor was clear. He ran desperately.

It seemed like an endless corridor, but eventually he reached the ultronic door that led to the control center. As he expected, a poker-faced guard stood there.

"Sorry, no one's allowed in, sir. Commissioner Merrill is in there and—"

Commissioner Merrill? Janet's dad? That complicated things. But he had to get inside.

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