“Hey, man,” Warren said, pulling Jack to a stop. “Maybe Natalie and I should wait down here. We’re not used to being in a hospital, you know what I’m saying?”

“I suppose,” Jack said reluctantly. “But I kind of think it’s important for us to stick together in case we have to mosey down to the canoe sooner than we’d like. You know what I’m saying?”

Warren nodded and Jack pressed the elevator call button.

Cameron McIvers was accustomed to false alarms. After all, most of the time he or the Office of Security was called, it was a false alarm. Accordingly, as he entered the front door of the Inn, he was not concerned. But it was his job or one of his deputies’ to check out all potential problems.

As he crossed to the information desk, Cameron noted that the lounge was as subdued as usual. The calm scene bolstered his suspicions that this call would be like all the others.

Cameron tapped on the glass, and it was slid open.

“Miss Williams,” Cameron said, while touching the brim of his hat in a form of salute. Cameron and the rest of the security force wore khaki uniforms with an Aussi hat when on duty. There was also a leather belt with shoulder strap. A holstered Beretta was attached to the belt on the right side and a hand-held two-way radio on the left side.

“They went that way,” Corrina Williams said excitedly. She lifted herself out of her chair to point around the corner.

“Calm down,” Cameron said gently. “Who exactly are you talking about?”

“They didn’t give any names,” Corrina said. “There were four of them. Only one spoke. He said he was a doctor.”

“Hmmm,” Cameron voiced. “And you’ve never seen them before?”

“Never,” Corrina said anxiously. “They took me by surprise. I thought maybe they were to stay at the Inn since we had new arrivals yesterday. But they said they had come to see the hospital. When I told them how to get there, they left straightaway.”

“Were they black or white?” Cameron asked. Maybe this wouldn’t be a typical false alarm after all.

“Half and half,” Corrina said. “Two blacks, two whites. But I could tell from the way they were dressed they were all American.”

“I see,” Cameron said, while he stroked his beard and pondered the unlikely possibility of any of the Zone’s American workers coming into the Inn to say they wanted to see the hospital.

“The one who was talking also said something strange about his bodily functions working fine,” Corrina said. “I didn’t know how to respond.”

“Hmmm,” Cameron repeated. “Could I use your phone?”

“Of course,” Corrina said. She pulled the phone over from the side of her desk and faced it out toward Cameron.

Cameron punched the manager’s direct line. Siegfried answered immediately.

“I’m here at the Inn,” Cameron explained. “I thought you should be apprised of a curious story. Four strange doctors presented themselves here to Miss Williams with the wish to see the hospital.”