eed to his
legs, but he could never outdistance them, as long as others picked up
the chase.

A sudden blast of heat struck down, and the air was golden and hazy
above him. He staggered sideways, blinded by the glare. The crowd was
screaming in fear now, no longer holding him back. He felt the edge of
a subway entrance. There was no other choice. He ducked down the
steps, while his vision slowly returned, and risked a glance back at
the street--just as the whole entrance came down in a wreck of broken
wood and metal.

A clap of thundering noise sounded above him, drowning the hoarse
screams of the people. The few persons in the station rushed for the
fallen entrance, to mill about it crazily, just as a train pulled in.
Hawkes started toward it, and then realized his pursuers would suspect
that. Whatever frightful weapon had been used against him had
back-fired on them--but they'd catch him at the next stop.

* * * * *

He found space at the end of the platform and dropped off, skirting
behind the train, and avoiding the the high-voltage rails.

The uptown platform held only three people, and they seemed to be too
busy at the other end, trying to see the wreckage, to notice him. He
vaulted onto it, and dashed into the men's room. The few contents of
his coat pocket came out quickly, and he began to stuff them into his
trousers. He shoved the coat into a garbage can, wet his hair and
slicked it back, and opened his shirt collar. The change didn't make
much of a disguise, but they wouldn't be expecting him to show up so
near where he entered.

His skin prickled as he came out, but he fought down the sickness in
his stomach. A few drops of rain were beginning to fall, and the crowd
around the accident was thinning out. That might help him--or it might
prove more dangerous. He had to chance it.

He stopped to buy a paper, maintaining an air of casual interest in
the crowd.

"What happened?" he asked.

The newsstand attendant jerked his eyes back from they excitement
reluctantly. "Damned if I know. Someone, says a ball lightning came
down and broke over there. Caved in the entrance. Nobody's hurt
seriously, they say. I was just stacking up to go home when I heard it
go off. Didn't see it. Just saw the entrance falling in."

Hawkes picked up his change and turned back across Broadway,
pretending he was studying the paper. The dateline showed it was July
10, just seven months from th