He even trundled the cart out to the entrance for me.

When we got there, a slight hitch developed: the cart was too wide to go over the footbridge. "Can't I just stand on one side of the line and you on the other?" I asked. "You can pass the documents out to me."

"It's not that simple," Sudakis said. "Go on outside; I'll show you." I crossed the bridge, stepped a couple of feet to one side of it. Sudakis made as if to pass me a folder; I made as if to reach for it. Our hands came closer and closer to one another, but wouldn't touch. Sudakis chuckled. "Asymptotic zone, you see? The footbridge is insulated, so it cleaves a path right on through. We do take containment seriously, Dave."

"So I notice." Even if anything was on the rampage in the dump, that zone would go a long way toward keeping it inside where it belonged. When I leaned toward Sudakis above the footbridge, he had no trouble passing me the files.

I turned to the security guard. "Do you have twine? I don't want these blowing away after I load them onto my carpet"

Gemme look." He went back into his cage and came back out with not only a ball of twine but also a scissors. I hadn't expected even that much cooperation, so I was doubly glad to get it Sudakis watched me tie parcels for a minute or two, then said, "I'm going back to work. Now that you've officially taken these documents, you understand I'm going to have to notify my superiors about what you've done."

"Yes, of course," I said. Decent of him to remind me, though. I thought he really might be on my side, or at least not altogether on the side of his company.

I carted the documents across the street to my carpet; I needed three trips. Like anybody, I had storage pockets sewn on, but the great pile of parchments overwhelmed them. I don't know what I would have done if the guard hadn't had any twine. Sat on some of the folders and hung onto others, I suppose, until I flew by a sundries store where I could buy some for myself. You see people doing that every day, but it's neither elegant nor what you'd call safe.