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“What are you talking
about?”
    Ralph whispered, “I ain’t told nobody about this. But
I’m showing it to you. If you’re a fink for Tenny... you ain’t just
going to see this, you’re going to feel it.”
    Keeping his eyes on the closest teacher, who was
several benches away, Ralph bent down slightly and reached
underneath his bench. He pulled and then brought his hand out far
enough for Danny to see what was in it.
    “Hey!” Danny whispered.
    It looked crude but deadly. The pistol grip was a
sawed-off piece of pipe. The trigger was wired to a heavy spring.
The barrel was another length of pipe.
    “Shoots darts,” Ralph whispered proudly. He took a
pair of darts from his shirt pocket. They looked to Danny like big
lumber nails that had been filed down to needle points.
    “You made it all yourself?” asked Danny.
    Ralph nodded. He put the darts back in his pocket and
tucked the gun inside his shirt. It made a heavy bulge in his
clothing.
    “Now I got to test it. There’s a spot out in the
woods I know. No TV eyes to watch you there. If it works, then
tonight I go sailing out of here. Right through the front
gate.”
    Danny gave a low whistle. “That takes guts.”
    “With this,” Ralph said, tapping the gun, “I can do
it. Now, you start walking out. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t go
too fast. Take it easy, look like everything’s cool. And remember,
if you peep one word, I’ll test this piece out on you.”
    “Hey, I’m with you,” Danny insisted.
    They walked together toward the door, with Ralph
slightly behind Danny so that no one could see the bulge in his
shirt.
    They threaded their way past the work benches, where
the other boys were busy on their projects. The two teachers paid
no attention to them at all. They got past the last bench and were
crossing the final five feet of open floor space to the door.
    The door swung shut.
    All by itself. It shut with a slam. All the power
machinery stopped. The room went dead silent. Danny stopped in his
tracks, only two steps from the door. He could hear Ralph breathing
just behind him.
    “ONE OF THE BOYS AT THE DOOR IS CARRYING SEVERAL
POUNDS OF METAL,” said SPECS from a loudspeaker in the ceiling, “I
HAVE NO RECORD OF PERMISSION BEING GIVEN TO CARRY THIS METAL AWAY
FROM THE SHOP.”
    Danny turned and saw all the guys in the shop staring
at him and Ralph. The two teachers were hurrying toward them. With
a shrug of defeat, Ralph pulled the gun from his shirt and held it
out at arm’s length, by the barrel.
    One of the teachers, his chunky face frowning, took
the gun. “You ought to know better, Malzone.”
    Ralph made a face that was half smile, half
frown.
    “And what’s your name?” the teacher asked Danny. “How
do you fit into this? I haven’t seen you in here before.”
    “He don’t fit in,” Ralph said, before Danny could
answer. “He didn’t know anything about it. I built it all myself.
He didn’t even know I had it on me.”
    The teacher shook his head. “I still want your name,
son.”
    “Romano. Danny Romano.”
    The second teacher took the gun from the first one,
looked it over, hefted it in his hand. “Not a bad job, Malzone.
Heavier than it needs to be. Who were you going to shoot?”
    “Whoever got between me and the outside.”
    The teacher said, “If you’d put this much effort into
something useful, you could walk out the front gate, and do it
without anyone trying to stop you.”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    “And, by the way, SPECS won’t let anybody through the
door if he’s heavier than he was when he walked in. We’re all
standing on a scale, right now. It’s built into the floor.”
    “Thanks for telling me,” said Ralph.
    “Okay, get out of here,” the teacher said. “And don’t
either one of you come back until you’ve squared it with Dr.
Tenny.”
    Ralph started for the door. It clicked open.
    Danny followed him.
    Out in the hall, Danny said, “Thanks for keeping me
off the hook.”
    Ralph