He quietly approached the door with his small bit of metal. His ears were tuned to the slightest noise. He knew that they were after him but he had eluded them so far and was confident that he could continue to. He stopped suddenly. Was that someone? A long wait and he didn’t move a muscle. No, just the wind. He smiled and continued on.

The door was simple to open by now. He’d done so enough times that he could almost do it in his sleep. A simple shift and a pop and it was open. Another pause while he listened to see if this small noise brought about any change. Nothing.

He lived a tough life and this was the one luxury that he afforded himself. To be able to relax and catch up with the outside world. A quick note to his family to let them know that everything was ok.

He went to ‘his’ computer and sat down. A quick fleeting bit of guilt shot through him but he reminded himself that the owner’s internet bill would be the same whether he was doing this or not. Yes, he was using some power but it was a drop in the bucket. He’d love to compensate her with the change he’d been collecting but announcing his presence that loudly wasn’t smart.

Nothing new from his family. A few emails of small talk and again his mother wanted to know when he was coming home. Some brief replies and then onto the newspapers.

And then a noise from behind him. A chair moved! He spun around and crouched ready to meet his attacker. It was just an older man sitting in a chair.

“Easy, son,” said Sam. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to know why you’re up here.”

He’d been found! It was all over. Had he been careless? What mistakes had he made? His mind raced and raced but it couldn’t seem solid ground anywhere. He took a step toward the door.

“There’s no reason to run. And besides, now that we know that you’re up here, we’ll be certain to find you.” The young man’s shoulders slumped a bit. “Have a seat and talk with me.” The man just stood there, looking at him. “You do speak English, don’t you? Should I try a different language?”

Finally, he spoke, “Yes, I speak English.”

“Ah, wonderful!” Sam again motioned for him to have a seat. “Please, I really just want to talk.”

“You’re not going to take me away?”

“Well, I don’t really want to. Don’t think that I can have you haunting my Tower though. Can you tell me why you’re here?”

The young man dropped his eyes and stared at his feet for a moment. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“You’d be surprised, maybe. I can understand quite a bit. My name is Sam, by the way. Yours?”

“Sam? The…builder of this place?”

“Yes. You’re standing on my Tower. Probably living in it if I’m not mistaken.”

“Then maybe you will understand. You built this place. You must know.”

“Know what?”

The young man looked at him with suspicion in his eyes. “You really don’t know? Was it all an accident then?”
”I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Can you give me a hint?”

“You’re…an unbeliever then.” The hurt in his eyes stabbed at Sam.

“I believe in lots of things but I don’t know what you’re referring to just now.”

The young man was defiant. He stood up straight and the pride of knowledge filled him. Then he glanced over his shoulder, out the window and to the sky. Sam followed his gaze but didn’t see anything. Finally the man said to him, “Come with me.”

Sam agreed and they went outside. The Tower had been designed so that the elevators would be on the north side of the tower. The shops and arcade stretched to the center. Over all of this was the roof that housed the electronics and the elevator equipment. Surrounding this was a wide space, open to the wind. Sam designed this to give the fullest range of vision for the star parties. Now he was led out into this and towards the rail. Sam decided that whatever happened, he wouldn’t get between this unpredictable stranger and the side.