The man nodded, looking relieved, but still not happy. “Well, no families are allowed down here either. I don’t care how high up your mom or dad is, okay? Now get back to the government quarters before I turn you in.”

Fort nodded. He had no idea what the man was talking about, but he wasn’t going to question his good luck. Instead, he walked quickly out past the workman, careful to keep the book out of sight as much as he could. Out in the hallway, he paused at the sight of people working everywhere, most of whom seemed to be looking at him suspiciously. Fort waved at them, then picked a direction and hurried away, just trying to get out of sight.

“Hey, kid!” the workman from the kitchen called, and Fort froze, his heart racing. He slowly looked back over his shoulder, sure he was busted, but found the workman pointing in the other direction. “You’re going the wrong way. Government quarters are back there.”

“Oh, right, sorry, I got turned around,” Fort said, and turned to walk in the other direction.

“Don’t worry about it,” the workman said. “I get lost here, like, every other day.”

The others let him pass without saying anything after that, and Fort made his way down the hall, then made a quick turn as soon as he could, just to get out of sight. He wasn’t sure what the government quarters were, or why there were families here, but he knew he’d get caught if he ended up there.

What he needed was another empty room, one that didn’t have anyone working in it. Even another bathroom might be worth the risk, if it’d give him enough time to cast another teleportation circle and get out of here.

He continued down the hall, passing rooms with people working on the wiring in some, installing beds in others, and for a moment Fort wondered how big the facility actually was.

Unfortunately, it was way too large to find his way around, and the farther he went, the more lost he became, until finally he turned a corner and found himself at a dead end. A giant round metal door hung open at the end of the hall by just a foot or two, enough to see that the door had to be at least three feet thick, as he still couldn’t see inside whatever lay beyond it.

Fort sighed and started to turn around, only to hear footsteps back the way he’d come. Moving quickly, he ran to the huge door, not even sure he could move it, considering how heavy it must have been. But as he pulled, the door opened easily without even a squeak. He yanked it open just enough to slip inside, and then pulled it back shut again from the other side, unfortunately cutting off all the light to the room too.