The effectiveness of Baird’s appeal was demonstrated to Mart the following morning as he stepped into a taxi. The moment he was seated, the doors on either side opened, and two neatly dressed men sat down beside him. He felt the points of guns pressed against him on either side.
Somewhat sadly, he turned to get a look at each of them. There was nothing familiar except a certain thoughtless determination that could be associated with crusaders like Baird — or equally well with thugs who hoped to torture out of him his secrets for their own use.
With the point of his elbow, Mart pressed the control segment of the teleport belt and found himself sitting on the cornice of the apartment building watching the taxi jolt through the traffic below. He watched until it disappeared. He would have to get Carolyn and the children out of town, he thought. He had known the party would be rough, but he hadn’t anticipated it quite this bad.
He moved himself down to the apartment and faced Carolyn, who gave a start at his sudden appearance. “I thought you went to the office!” she said.
He told her what had occurred.
“Well, we’re not going to move somewhere out in the sticks,” she said. “That’s the craziest idea you’ve had yet. If anyone is going to kidnap us, they could do it ten times as easy out there as they could here in town. You would be worrying constantly about how we were. There's no sense in it. We’re staying right here until it’s over.
“The children are as competent in their use of the belts as you or I. And that reminds me, you are going to have to speak to Jimmy. His teacher gave him a scolding yesterday about his homework, and he teleported himself right out of class and back home. The teacher became hysterical, and it scared the other children out of their wits. I made him go right back. But you’ve got to warn him that it’s not to be used like that.”
Mart grinned at the thought of Jimmy’s teacher. But he sobered and admitted to himself that Carolyn was right. It would be foolish to send them away. The incident in the taxi still gave him jitters, however. Something would have to be done to speed things up.
When he finally reached the office, a couple of hours late, it looked as if that something had occurred. Berk handed him a telegram from Jennings.
It said, “Looks like you’re going to need help, boy. We’re going to give it whether you want it or not. Las Vegas has become the mecca of American physical scientists. The poor guys are losing their shirts. This thing has got to end. Following is a copy of the message we have sent to Washington: