Somehow or other you reach the shore - more
because the waves carry you and Bill there then
through your own efforts.  There's no beach here,
only a high black wall of cliffs.  But fortunately the
surf drags you into a cave hollowed out by the sea.
There's a ledge a couple of feet above the water.
You life first Bill, then yourself onto it.  Next you
collapse into sleep.
   When you wake, it is morning.  Lifting your
head, you can see blue sky and calm seas outside
the cave mouth.  Behind you, in the dark at the
back of the cave, stones rattle.  The clatter grows
louder.  Is it Bill? you wonder.  You glance over to
where you left him.  No.  He's still sleeping. Some-
thing shuffles toward you along the cave floor.
Wild animals?  That would be all you need!
   But it's a man who emerges from the shadows.
   "Bill," you whisper urgently, "wake up!"  Bill
stirs a little.  "Bill! Please! Somebody's coming." At
that he opens his eyes and looks alert.  But when
he tries to sit up, he winces.
   "Nuts," he mutters.  "Omicron is on to us already."
   You turn to face the stranger, who is only a few
feet away now.  He is an immense-bellied, flabby-
faced man in an old, rumpled gray suit, a wide-
brimmed hat of more or less the same color, a
white shirt, stained with grease, and an unknotted
tie.  He wipes at his sweaty face with a hand-
kerchief that's almost as big as a bath towel.
   Bill groans as he recognizes the man.  "Oh, no!
Viktorov!"

Continue...