I figured you'd know
about it."

Gordon shrugged, and let it pass. He found the rest of the group ready,
with Mother Corey wishing them better luck tonight. The Mother obviously
knew something; but he kept his suspicions to himself, and gave them a
cover from the others.

There was no sign of Sheila near the dome. But inside, there were guards
pacing along it. Gordon spotted them first, and drew the others back. If
they'd found the carefully worked-in powder...

The Kid ducked down and out of the car, worming his way around the
building that concealed them. He waited for the guard to vanish, and
then went crawling forward. Gordon swore, but there was no sense in two
of them risking themselves, only to attract more attention. And at last
the Kid came back. He ducked into the truck, nodding.

"Wire and explosive still there?" Gordon asked.

The Kid made the sound he used for assent.

It made no sense; there was no reason for the sudden vigilance inside
the dome.

"We might be able to run the wire in," Izzy said doubtfully.

Gordon grunted. "And tip them off to where it is, probably. No, we'll
have to do it under some kind of covering, the way I had it planned in
the first place, only with one more damned complication. We'll pull
another false raid on the dome. As soon as we get chased off, I'll
manage to set it off while they're relaxing and laughing at us."

"It smells!" Izzy told him. "Who elected you chief martyr around here?
You'll be blown up, gov'nor--and if you ain't, they'll rip you to
ribbons for knocking off the dome."

Then he stopped suddenly, staring. Bruce Gordon leaned forward, with
Izzy's hands grabbing for him. But he'd seen it, too.

Standing next to the dome was Trench, talking to one of the guards. And
beside him stood Sheila, with one hand resting on the man's elbow!

He could feel the thickness of the silence and misery in the truck, but
he pushed it away, with all the other things. "Get us back, Izzy," he
ordered. "We've got to round up whatever group we can and get them back
here on the double. They must be counting on our original time, so
they're in no hurry to remove the powder and wiring. But we can't count
on any more time."

"You're going through with it?" Randolph asked doubtfully.

"In one hour. And you might pass the word along that we're doing it to
save the dome. Tell the men we just found out that Trench is losing and
intends to blow it up instead of letting the Legals