All of a sudden the Geiger counter went off in a single beep that lasted three very long seconds. Then it went silent again. I stared at it in horror and shock, almost falling out of my chair. The dogs started barking again. Hurriedly I jumped up and grabbed the counter. My chair fell over. I turned off the sound of the counter and inspected the dial. The radiation level was just below the alarm level. I softly shook the machine. It consisted of the body with the electronics and batteries, connected by a thin cable to the detector, a cylinder five inches long and one inch wide. The cylinder was covered by a plastic lid that helped to protect the thin metal sheet through which the radioactivity could pass into the chamber.
