l following.
If he could get there in time, before the man could run off with
Ellen....

VII

The paper he'd found kept the other passengers on the bus from seeing
him, but he was too deep in his own thoughts to read it. His eyes
roamed back to the story of the cop-killing monster--a seemingly
harmless florist in Brooklyn who'd suddenly gone berserk and rushed
down the streets with a knife; he'd been wrong in thinking that
concerned him. And he'd been wrong in thinking anyone would try to
kill him on sight. The reward notice and picture were in front of his
eyes--but it was a reward for information, and there was a huge box
that proclaimed he was _not_ a criminal and must not be harmed, or
even allowed to know he was recognized.

The new facts only confused the issue. He twisted about in his mind,
trying to explain why the young man had left him to drift down, and
gone rushing into the apartment. He was ready for the collecting--and
he'd been left uncollected!

The girl had said there were no aliens. Now he wondered. She had known
more than he'd found from her--she'd known his brand of cigarettes,
even. And there had been that shopping list, with the lipstick on
it--the same type he now remembered her using. He'd known her
before--and not just as a little girl. That tied him in with Meinzer,
who was a mystery in himself.

He puzzled over it. The things that had happened to him had always
been preceded by violent emotion, instead of followed by it. Usually,
it had been fear--but sometimes some other emotion, as had been the
case just before he was suddenly shifted to the Moon. Whenever he
seemed on the verge of discovering something or emotionally upset, it
hit at him. Did that mean he was only susceptible to the phenomena
when off balance? It still didn't account for the fact that some of
the things hadn't directly affected him, at all.

The more he knew, the less he knew.

He got off the bus and headed for the warehouse. This time, he had to
wait before he could see a chance to dart under the trailer and into
the entrance. He noticed that the gray sedan was parked nearby.

He darted in.

They were still there! He heard Ellen's voice, sounding as if she had
been crying, and then an answer from the other. He felt his way
carefully over the rubble, working as close as he could. Now, if he
sprang the few feet....

"... must be a time-jump," the man's voice said, doubtfully. "I tell
you, Ellen, those damned