For a moment he stood at the edge of the open doorway, staring into the darkness of the shaft. There was emptiness waiting for him, and a five-story drop to the bottom. Ron took a deep breath, then leaped out into the dark emptiness, reaching for the steel cable that hung in the middle of the shaft, hoping he could grab it, praying that it would hold his weight.

It was slimy with grease. Ron felt his breath puff out of him as his body slammed into the cable. His hands slid and scraped, but held. The cable’s creaking, as his body swayed on it, seemed loud enough to wake everybody in the building.

For a moment Ron hung there. But only for a moment. Slowly, painfully, he started to climb up the cable. It was difficult. The cable was slippery. Finally, though, he had climbed the six flights to the equipment shed on the roof.

Wonder why they never asked me to fix the elevators? Ron asked himself as he stepped out of the shed and onto the roof.

He crossed one roof after another until he was at the end of the block. Then he went downstairs inside the building, knowing that it was empty and unguarded. He made it to the street and started walking.

Dawn was already starting to brighten the new day when Ron stopped on the sidewalk next to the last row of buildings before the huge girders of the Dome. Across the wide avenue ahead of him, the massive steel girders reared and arched so far overhead that they were lost in haze. And on the other side of the Dome—freedom? No, Ron realized. Not freedom. Just another kind of world, with its own kind of slavery.

Still, Ron started walking along that avenue, following the curving flank of the Dome, looking for the nearest gate. As he walked block after block, it began to get brighter with daylight. The streets were still empty, though.

Off to his left, just a few blocks away was Central Park. Ron kept a careful eye out for stray dogs. He had heard from the Muslims that the dog packs sent out scouts, and a single dog’s bark could bring out a snarling horde in no time.

By mid-morning, he saw a bus growling along one of the crosstown streets several blocks up ahead of him. He walked faster. Soon he saw well-dressed people strolling on the streets, staring up at the buildings and the overspanning Dome. Tourists! A gate must be nearby.