* * *

Mike had almost been able to ignore his headache since he'd found the drawing, but it returned with a blinding fury once he'd gone outside. The day was partly sunny and the air was very cold. It felt like snow. The boy wished he'd worn a sweater under his jacket. Flannel shirts were nice, but they didn't help much against this type of biting cold. Mike stopped to look up at the sky. He could see the top of the sun just peeking out from behind the dark clouds.
"That's it!" he thought through the pain, as he briskly walked along again, "The sun is making me sick again! I'll bet I feel so bad because I was outside in the sun a lot yesterday getting ready for the party! I'll never do that again, you can bet on it!"
There weren't even other pedestrians on the roads that morning, let alone trucks or runabouts, and Mike reached the Institute in good time Someone had turned on the heat in the building so he rested a minute to get warm, then sped off toward the lab.
As he reached the door to the lab, a young guard he didn't know was standing there.
"I have to see Dr. Cooper," he said.
"No, way!" snapped the guard, "I have strict orders. Nobody can see Cooper for any reason whatsoever, unless he opens that door and lets them in. You'll have to go to the switchboard and have them call him. I don't open that door unless a bomb goes off in there!"
Mike knew it was useless to argue with a security man, especially when he was holding a Remmington Assault Gun! So he headed for the reception desk.
"Sorry," said the attendant, "I have strict orders not to disturb the doctor. He's working on something big, and the security chief said no interruption."