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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30705-h.zip b/30705-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d04fffb --- /dev/null +++ b/30705-h.zip diff --git a/30705-h/30705-h.htm b/30705-h/30705-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..abe1cd0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30705-h/30705-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1677 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Happy Man, by Gerald W. Page + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +.tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} + + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 45%; + margin-right: 20%; +} + +.p1 { font-size:xx-large; font-weight:bold; margin-left:40%; } +.p2 { font-size: x-large; font-weight:bold; margin-left:40%; } +.p3 { font-size: large; font-weight:bold; margin-left:40%; } +.center {text-align: center;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Happy Man, by Gerald Wilburn Page + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Happy Man + +Author: Gerald Wilburn Page + +Illustrator: George Schelling + +Release Date: December 18, 2009 [EBook #30705] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAPPY MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction March 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image_001.jpg" width="300" height="797" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="p1">THE HAPPY MAN</p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>More's "Utopia" was isolated—<br /> +cut off—from the dreary world +outside.<br /> + All Utopias are.... </p></div> +<p> </p> +<p class="p2">by GERALD W. PAGE</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="p3">ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SCHELLING</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_n.jpg" alt="N" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p>elson saw the girl at the same time she saw him. He had just rounded +an outcropping of rock about ten miles from the East Coast Mausoleum. +They were facing each other, poised defensively, eyes alertly on each +other, about twenty feet apart. She was blond and lean with the +conditioning of outdoor life, almost to the point of thinness. And +although not really beautiful, she was attractive and young, probably +not yet twenty. Her features were even and smooth, her hair wild about +her face. She wore a light blouse and faded brown shorts made from a +coarse homespun material. Nelson had not expected to run into anyone +and apparently, neither had she. They stood staring at each other for +a long time; how long, Nelson was unable to decide, later.</p> + +<p>A little foolishly, Nelson realized that something would have to be +done by one of them. "I'm Hal Nelson," he said. It had been a long +time since he had last spoken; his voice sounded strange in the +wilderness. The girl moved tensely, but did not come any closer to +him. Her eyes stayed fixed on him and he knew that her ears were +straining for any sound that might warn her of a trap.</p> + +<p>Nelson started to take a step, then checked himself, cursing himself +for his eager blundering. The girl stepped back once, quickly, like an +animal uncertain if it had been threatened. Nelson stepped back, +slowly, and spoke again. "I'm a waker, like you. You can tell by my +rags." It was true enough, but the girl only frowned. Her alertness +did not relax.</p> + +<p>"I've been one for ten or twelve years. I escaped from a Commune in +Tannerville when I was in my senior year. They never even got me into +one of the coffins. As I said, I'm a waker." He spoke slowly, gently +and he hoped soothingly. "You don't have to be afraid of me. Now tell +me who you are."</p> + +<p>The girl pushed a lock of almost yellow hair from her eyes with the +back of her hand, but it was her only show of carelessness. She was +strong and light. She was considerably smaller than he and could +probably handle herself as well as he in this country. The landscape +was thick with bushes, conifers and rocks. She would have no trouble +in getting away from him if he scared her; and he would scare her with +almost any sudden movement. It had been too long for Nelson to keep +track of when he had been accompanied by others and he hungered for +companionship; especially for a woman. The patrol that had captured +Sammy and Jeanne and the old man, Gardner, had also gotten Edna and +almost had gotten him. The fact that the girl was alone now more than +likely meant that she had no one either. They needed each other. +Nelson did not want to scare her off.</p> + +<p>So he sat down on the ground with his back to a large rock and +rummaged in his pack to find a can.</p> + +<p>"You hungry?" he asked looking up at her. He couldn't be sure at the +distance, but he thought that her eyes were brown. Brown, and huge; +like a colt's. He held the can out where she could see it. She +repeated the gesture of a while ago to brush back that same lock of +almost yellow hair, but there was a change in her face which he could +see even twenty feet away, and another, more subtle change about her +which he had to sense. "You're hungry, all right, aren't you?" he +said. He almost tossed her the can, but realized in time that she +would run. He considered for a moment and then held it out to her. She +focused her eyes on the can and for a moment Nelson might have been +able to reach her before she turned and ran; but he had better sense +than to try.</p> + +<p>Instead, he watched the play of conflicting desires about the girl's +face and body. He could see the uncertainty and indecision in the +girl's nearly imperceptible movement. But she did not come.</p> + +<p>Well, at least she didn't run, either; and Nelson could claim to +having broken ahead some in stirring up any indecision at all. He +found the can's release and pressed it with his thumb. There was a +hiss as the seal came loose and an odor of cooked food as the contents +sizzled with warmth. Nelson looked up at the girl and smiled.</p> + +<p>It could have been wishful thinking, but it seemed to him that she was +a step or two closer than she had been before he had taken his eyes +off her to open the can. He couldn't be sure. He smelled the food for +her benefit and told her, "It's pork and beans." He held it out to her +again. "I stole it from a patrol warehouse a few weeks back. It sure +does smell good, doesn't it? You like the smell of that, don't you?" +But she still wasn't convinced that this wasn't a patrol stunt to get +hands on her and haul her back to a mausoleum. He couldn't blame her. +He slowly pushed himself to his feet and walked to a spot about ten +feet from where he had been, and still about twenty feet from her, and +put the can carefully on the ground. He went back and seated himself +against the same rock to wait for her to make up her mind.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It didn't take long. Without taking her eyes from him, she moved like +an animal to the food and stooped slowly, keeping alert for any sudden +move on his part, and picked up the food. She stood up, and stepped +back a couple of steps.</p> + +<p>She ate with her fingers, dipping them in and extracting hot food, +with no apparent concern for the heat. She pushed the food into her +mouth and licked her fingers carefully of clinging food. She ate +rapidly, as if for the first time in weeks. And she kept her eyes, all +the time, on Nelson.</p> + +<p>Nelson didn't care, now; he wouldn't have jumped her, or done anything +to scare her at all, even if her guard were to be let down for a +moment.</p> + +<p>He let her finish her meal, then smiled at her when she looked at him. +She still held the empty can, and she was wiping her mouth with her +free hand. She stared at him for almost half a minute before he said +slowly, "You like that food. Don't you?" She said nothing. She looked +at him and at the can she held. He knew what was going on in her mind +and he believed that he was winning. "You know we'll both be needing +someone out here, don't you?" But her answer was an uncertain +expression on her face as she stared at him.</p> + +<p>"Loners don't last too long out here. Being alone gets to you sooner +or later," he said. "You go mad or you get careless and the patrol +gets you."</p> + +<p>The girl opened her mouth and glanced around quickly, then back at +Nelson. She bent over, still watching Nelson all the time, and put the +can down. Then she stepped backwards, toward the edge of the clearing, +feeling the way with her feet and a hand held back to tell her if she +were backing into a tree or rock. When she was almost to the edge of +the clearing, almost to the trees, she stopped and stared at him. +There were shadows now; it was almost night, and night came quickly in +this country. Nelson could not see her face as she looked at him. She +turned suddenly and ran into the trees. He made no effort to stop her +or call her back; any such effort would have been futile and for his +purposes, disastrous. No such effort was necessary.</p> + +<p>He spent the night sheltered between some boulders and awoke the next +morning rested by an undisturbed sleep.</p> + +<p>He found a small creek near by and washed his face to awaken himself. +It was a clear morning, with a warm sun and a cool wafting breeze. He +felt good; he felt alive and ready for whatever the day had to offer. +And he felt ready for breakfast.</p> + +<p>He found another can of pork and beans in his pack and opened it. It +was, he noted, almost the last. His supplies were getting low. He +considered the situation as he slowly ate his breakfast.</p> + +<p>Of course there was only one thing to do. He supposed that he could +have gotten by simply by hunting his food, but hunting was at best +seasonal and required that he keep more or less to a specific area; +agriculture was about the same, only worse. A farm meant a smaller +area than a hunting preserve and it also meant sticking to it more. It +meant buildings to store food against winter. It meant inevitable—and +almost certainly prompt—capture by a patrol. No, all things +considered, there was only one answer and he knew the answer from long +experience. Find a patrol warehouse and steal your food there.</p> + +<p>The question of course, was where and when. There was a patrol station +near where Nelson now was, and that was the natural target. He had a +few furnace beam guns—three, to be exact—and since the patrol could +detect the residue from a furnace beamer a mile away even at low +force, the only safe thing to use one on was the patrol. And to be +frank, he rather enjoyed his brushes with the patrol. Like him, they +were wakers—people who had never known the electronic dreams which +were fed to all but a few of Earth's peoples. People who had never +lain asleep in nutrient baths from their seventeenth birthday living +an unreal world built to their own standards. Of the billions on +earth, only a few hundred were wakers. Most of those were patrol, of +course, but a few were rebels.</p> + +<p>That was he, and also the girl he had seen yesterday. And it had been +Edna and Sammy and Jeanne and Gardner; and maybe a dozen other people +he had known since he had escaped from the Commune, when he had been +just a kid—but when he had seen the danger.</p> + +<p>For the past two and a half centuries or so, almost everyone raised on +Earth had been raised in a commune, never knowing his or her parents. +They had been raised, they had been indoctrinated and they had mated +in the communes—and then gone into Sleep. More than likely, Nelson's +parents were there still, dreaming in their trance, having long ago +forgotten each other and their son, for those were things of a harsher +world over which one could have no control. In Sleep one dreamed of a +world that suited the dreamer. It was artificial. Oh, yes, it was a +highly personalized utopia—one that ironed out the conflicts by +simply not allowing them. But it was artificial. And Nelson knew that +as long as the universe itself was not artificial nothing artificial +could long stand against it. That was why he had escaped the commune +without letting them get him into the nutrient bath in which the +dreamers lived out their useless lives. His existence gave the lie to +the pseudo-utopia he was dedicated to overthrowing. The called it +individualism, but Nelson called it spineless.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Above him was sky stretching light blue to the horizons—and beyond +the blueness of stars. He felt a pang of longing as he looked up +trying to see stars in the day sky. That was where he should be, out +there with the pioneers, the men who were carving out the universe to +make room for a dynamic mankind that had long ago forgotten the +Sleepers of the home world. But no, he decided. Out there he would not +be giving so much to mankind as he was here and now. However decadent +these people were, he knew that they were men. Nelson knew that +somehow he had to overthrow the Sleepers.</p> + +<p>Before something happened while they lay helpless in their coffins, +dreaming dreams that would go on and on until reality became harsh +enough to put them down.</p> + +<p>What if the spacefarers should return? What if some alien life form +should grow up around some other solar type star, develop space +travel, go searching for inhabitable worlds—solar type worlds—and +discover Earth with it's sleeping, unaware populace? could dreams +defend against that?</p> + +<p>Nelson shuddered with the knowledge that he had his work cut out for +him, and awoke to his own hunger. He fished out a can and started to +open it before he remembered, and fished out another can as well. He +pressed the release on both and the tops flew off, releasing the odor +of cooking food.</p> + +<p>He leaned over and set one can on a flat rock that was just inside his +reach, then scooted back about a foot and using his fingers, scooped +up a mouthful of his own breakfast. Half turning his head, he caught +sight of her out of the corner of his eye, about fifteen feet away, +tense and expectant but ready to spring away if she thought it was +necessary. He turned back and concentrated on eating his own +breakfast.</p> + +<p>"This sure is good after all night," he said, after a few minutes, +making a show of gulping down a chunk of stew beef, and sucking the +gravy from his fingers. He did not look back.</p> + +<p>"My name is Glynnis," he heard abruptly. He sensed the uncertainty in +her voice, and the—distant—hint of belligerence, but even so he +could tell it was a soft voice, musical and clear—if he could judge +after not having heard a woman's voice in so long.</p> + +<p>"Glynnis," he said slowly. "That's a pretty name. Mine's Hal Nelson. +Like I told you last night."</p> + +<p>"I haven't forgotten. Is that for me?" She meant the food, of course. +Hal Nelson looked around. She was still standing by the tree. She was +trying to seem at ease and making an awkward show of it.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he told her. She took a step closer and stopped, looking at +him. He turned back to his own eating. "No need to be scared, Glynnis, +I won't hurt you." He became uncomfortably aware that she had not +spoken his name yet and he wanted her to very much.</p> + +<p>"No." Then a brief pause before she said, "I'm not used to anybody."</p> + +<p>"It isn't good to be alone out here with the animals and food so hard +to come by—and the patrol searching for wakers. You ever have any +brush with the patrol?"</p> + +<p>She had come up and was eating now; her answer came between eager +mouthfuls. "I seen them once. They didn't know I saw them—or they +would have caught me and taken me back with them."</p> + +<p>"Where're you from? What are you doing out here?"</p> + +<p>For a moment he thought she had not heard him. She was busy eating, +apparently having classified him as a friend. Finally, she said, "My +folks were out here. They were farmers for a while. I was born out +here and we moved around a lot until my daddy got tired of moving. So +we built a farm. He built it in a place in a valley off there"—She +vaguely indicated south—"And they planted some grain and potatoes and +tried to round up some kind of livestock. We had mostly goats. But the +patrol found us."</p> + +<p>Nelson nodded, bitterly, he knew what had happened. Her father had +gone on as long as he could until at last, broken and uncaring he had +made one last ditch stand. More than likely he had half wanted to give +up anyway, and had not only because of the conflict of his family and +saving face. "You were the only one who got away?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Uh-huh. They took the others." She spoke without emotion, peering +into her food can to see if there was any left. "I was out in the +field but I saw them coming. I hid down low behind some tall grain and +got to the forest before they could find me." She examined the can +again, then decided it was empty and put it down.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what they do to people they take?" Nelson asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Your daddy tell you? What did he say?"</p> + +<p>"He said they take you back to the Mausoleum and put you to sleep in a +coffin." She looked up at him, her face open, as if that was all there +was to it. Nelson decided that she was as guileless as he had expected +her to be, and reflected absently on that factor for a moment.</p> + +<p>A light breeze was up and the air was full of the scents of the +forest. Nelson liked the pungent smell of the pines and rich odor of +chokeberries and bushes; and the mustiness that could be found in +thickly overgrown places where the ground had become covered with a +brown carpet of fallen pine needles. Some days he would search places +in the forest until he found one or another brush or tree whose leaves +or berries he would crush in his fingers simply so that he could savor +the fragrance of them. But not this morning.</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet and reached over to pick up Glynnis' discarded +food container. She drew away from him, bracing herself as if to leap +and run. He stopped himself and froze where he stood for a moment, +then drew back.</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "We can't stay here, because if +you stay somewhere they find you. We can't leave the containers here, +either, because if they find them it might give them a clue in +tracking us."</p> + +<p>She looked ashamed, so he reached over, ready to draw back his hand if +she acted as if she were scared. She tugged at her lower lip with her +teeth and stared at him with eyes that were wide but she did not +spring to her feet. Somehow Nelson knew that the girl was acutely +aware of how much she needed help out here. Suddenly, her right hand +darted out and for a split second Nelson feared he had lost after all. +But she reached over for the discarded can, picked it up and handed it +to him. He reacted a little slowly, but he smiled and took the +container. Their hands touched briefly and the girl drew hers away, +immediately looking ashamed for so doing. Nelson continued to smile at +her, and rather stiffly, she answered with a smile of her own. He put +the container into the knapsack with the others and then slipped into +the armstraps. Glynnis helped him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They walked for an hour, that first day together, neither speaking. +Glynnis stayed close by his side and Nelson could feel her proximity +to him. He felt good in a way he had not felt in along time. When the +silence was finally broken, it was Nelson who broke it. They were +topping a small hill in a section of wilderness that was not as +heavily wooded as most and the sunlight was warm against Nelson's +face. He had been thinking the matter over off and on all morning, and +now he asked, "Have you ever raided a patrol depot?"</p> + +<p>"No," she answered, a trace of apprehension in her voice.</p> + +<p>They topped the hill and began moving down the other side. "Sometimes +it's a pushover, when nobody is there. Other times it's mortal hell. +The patrol is always anxious to get their hands on wakers, so they try +to keep an eye out for them at the depots. That means a fight unless +we're very lucky. If the depot we pick is too heavily manned—"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, 'Depot we pick'?"</p> + +<p>"We need more food. We either shoot some, raise some, or steal some."</p> + +<p>"Oh," she said, but there was apprehension in her voice.</p> + +<p>"We don't have any choice. We'll wait until almost dark. If the depot +is guarded by too many men, or for some reason an extra number is +there for the night, then we're in trouble unless we play our cards +just right. You just do as I tell you and we'll be all right." He +reached back and fumbled with the side pouch on his pack. "You know +how to use one of these? Here, catch." He tossed her in his spare +furnace beamer.</p> + +<p>She almost missed it. She caught it awkwardly and held it gingerly +with both hands, looking first at the gun and then him. Then, still +gingerly, but with a certain willingness, she took the gun by the grip +and pointed it to the ground, her eyes shut hard. Then, suddenly, her +expression changed and she glanced up at him, worriedly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you said they could tell if we fired one of these."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry," Nelson said. "The safety is on. Let me show you." He +took the gun and explained to her how to use it. "Now then," he +concluded. "When we get to the depot you stay outside the alarm +system. I'll go in, leaving you to guard. Try not to use this unless +you have to, but if it is necessary, don't hesitate. If you fire it, +I'll know. My job will be to slip past the alarm and get inside to the +food. If you fire, that'll be a signal that you've been discovered by +the guards and we have to get out of there."</p> + +<p>"Won't this give us away the same as shooting game?"</p> + +<p>"Sure, but we get more food this way and maybe some other stuff. +Especially reloads for the furnace guns. And, if we're lucky, we can +ground the patrol. One more thing, Glynnis," he added. "Are you sure +you can kill a man?"</p> + +<p>"Is it hard?" she asked innocently. Nelson was rattled only for a +second.</p> + +<p>"No, it isn't hard, except that he'll probably be trying to kill you, +too."</p> + +<p>"I've hunted some game with this." She held up her hunting knife so +that the blade caught the sunlight. She had kept it clean and sharp. +Nelson could see, but there were places where the blade had been +chipped.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe there won't be any need to kill anyone at all," he said, +a little more hastily than he intended. "I guess you'll do fine, +Glynnis, I'll feel a lot safer knowing you're out there." He would +feel as he had felt when Edna had gone with him on raids.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Toward evening they came to the depot Nelson had picked out. They were +on a high although gently sloping hill, among the trees that crested +it, looking down at the depot about a quarter of a mile away. There +was still enough light to see by, but the sky was darkening for night. +For the past two or three hours, Nelson had been repeatedly drilling +Glynnis over her part. It was simple, really, and she knew it +backwards, but she patiently recited her role when he asked her, +whether out of regard for his leadership or an instinctive realization +of his pre-raid state of nerves, he did not know. He made her recite +it again, one last time. She spoke in low tones, just above a whisper. +Around them the gathering of dusk had quieted the world. He waited for +it to get a little darker, then he touched her shoulder and clasped it +for a second before beginning his way to the depot.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_002.jpg" width="600" height="539" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>He kept close to the bushes as far down as he could and crouched low +over the ground the rest of the way even though he knew it was too +dark for ordinary optics to pick him up. He had an absorber in his +pack that would take care of most of the various radiations and +detectors he would come into contact with, and for the most part, +unless the alarms were being intently watched, he didn't expect to be +noticed on the control board. And you couldn't watch a board like that +day after day with maximum efficiency. Not when the alarms were set +off only by an occasional animal or falling tree limb. Mostly he had +to keep watch for direct contact alarms and traps; he was an +accomplished thief and an experienced burglar. At last he found +himself at the fence surrounding the depot.</p> + +<p>In a clump of bushes a few feet from the fence he hid the containers; +it saved him the job of having to bury them, and they would be +deadweight now, anyway. Then he turned his attention on the fence.</p> + +<p>He took a small plastic box out of his pack and pressed a panel in its +center with his thumb. Silently, smoothly, two long thin rods shot out +from each end of the box until they were each about a foot long. There +was a groove on the box and Nelson fitted it to the lower strand of +the fence wire. He let go of the gadget and it balanced of its own +accord, its antenna vibrating until they blurred, then ceasing to +vibrate as the gadget balanced. Nelson went down on his back and +pulled on gloves. He grabbed the fence wire and lifted it so that he +could slide under. When he was inside he picked the gadget off the +wire by one antenna and shut it off. The antennae pulled back inside. +Gardner had made this gadget; Gardner had been handy with things like +this. And there would be no other when Nelson lost this. He didn't +want to leave it where it could be found or where he might have to +abandon it to save his neck in an emergency.</p> + +<p>He turned to the problem of getting across the open field. He had +little fear of being picked up by radiation detectors, thanks to his +absorber. But direct contact could give him away. But most of those +had to be buried. That meant that he could keep close to the bushes +and not have to worry. The roots of the bushes fouled up the detection +instruments if they got to them. He made his way, judging each step +before he took it and at last stood by the door.</p> + +<p>It was dark by then. He could see the stars in the clear darkness of +the sky. They seemed somehow brighter than they had before. Nelson +fished through his pack until he felt the familiar shape of the gadget +he wanted. It was smaller, more compact than the one he had used to +get over the fence; but it was more complex. He felt along the door +frame for the alarm trip and found it. He placed the gadget there and +switched it on. There was a short, low, buzzing sound as the gadget +did its job and Nelson glanced around nervously, in fear it had been +heard. The door's lock clunked back and Nelson released air from his +lungs. He pushed the door open and found himself in darkness.</p> + +<p>He was in a corridor with doors facing off from it. He could see light +coming under two of the doors, meaning patrolmen behind them. He moved +cautiously by the two doors, almost opposite each other, to a door at +the end of the corridor. He grasped the handle and opened the door, +realizing too late that the door should have been locked.</p> + +<p>But by that time the door was open. His hand darted to his holstered +furnace beamer and unlocked the safety. It was almost pitch dark in +the room but he heard the room's occupant turning over on the bunk and +mumble low, incoherently, in his sleep. Nelson waited a minute but +the man didn't wake up.</p> + +<p>Nelson closed the door.</p> + +<p>He tried another door; this time, one that was locked. He had no +trouble forcing the lock pattern; less than a minute later he was +inside, with the door shut behind him. He took out a flashlight.</p> + +<p>This was the storeroom, all right. It was piled with boxes mostly +unopened. Nelson read the labels on the boxes and opened those which +contained food he needed and supplies. He found another pack in an +opened box in one corner and began outfitting it like his own. Or as +nearly like his own as possible; he know that he could never duplicate +or replace the gadgets Gardner had designed, and in a way he was +bitter about it. He found the ammunition stores and took as many +capsules for the furnace beamers as he could carry. He went to the +door but slipped the furnace beamer out of his holster before opening +the door.</p> + +<p>The corridor was still dark. He stepped into it, alert for any sound +or movement that might mean danger or herald discovery. His +nervousness had given way to cool, detached determination. He almost +made it to the door before he heard the footsteps.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>His reaction was unconscious and reflexive. He turned, leveling his +gun. He had passed the two doors light had shown under. One of them +was opening and Nelson saw the shadow of the man who had opened it; +then the man. The man saw Nelson at about the same time and stood +gaping at him. Without realizing that he had fired, Nelson felt the +recoil of the gun; the roar of the beam against the close walls hurt +his ears, parts of the wall blistered and buckled, other parts of it +charred black, some parts vaporizing in thin patches. The patrolman +had flared instantly, never really knowing what had hit him. Smoke and +heavy odors filled the corridor as Nelson slid out into the open. The +patrol depots were fireproof, but the area Nelson had blasted would be +far to hot to pass through for the rest of the night.</p> + +<p>Nelson toned down the volume of his beamer and fired at a fence post. +The tough plastic burst into splinters with a sudden explosion. A +snapping wire whipped to within inches of Nelson's face but he didn't +have to think about it. He was running up the hillside a short while +later—he had lost track of time as such—hoping that Glynnis would +use her gun if any patrolmen were following him.</p> + +<p>He reached the hilltop in darkness, afraid to use his flashlight. +Suddenly, he stumbled; was falling over something soft, like an animal +or a man. Cursing low and involuntarily, he managed to roll over so +that he fell on his back. He saw the form, a patch of irregular +blackness in the darkness around him and knew it for a body. He got to +his feet glancing around, not knowing what this meant. He bent over +the form, keeping the furnace beam's muzzle only a few inches from +it, but too far back to be grabbed suddenly. He couldn't see the man's +clothing very plainly but he could tell it was a patrolman's uniform. +Nelson reached down to feel for a heartbeat and drew his hand away +sticky with what he knew must be blood. Nelson was shaken for a +moment; but he put aside the strange kinship he so often felt for +patrolmen because they were also wakers and drew back, peering round +into the darkness, pretty certain that he knew what had happened to +this patrolman.</p> + +<p>He pushed himself erect and turned to see Glynnis, a dark figure but +obviously her, standing near a clump of trees a few feet off.</p> + +<p>"You move quiet as a cat," he said. "You do this?"</p> + +<p>"Uh-huh." She came forward and stared down at the corpse. Nelson was +glad he couldn't see her face in the darkness. "There were two of +them. They split up and I followed after this one and came up behind +him. I slit his throat. Then I went and got the other one the same +way."</p> + +<p>And it had been so simple, thought Nelson. He handed Glynnis the extra +pack. "Take this." She accepted it wordlessly and slipped her arms +into the straps. "Oh," he added, as an afterthought. "Let me show you +something." He reached into the pack and drew out a knife. A good one +with a long plasteel blade that would not chip or corrode like hers. +He handed it to her and imagined her smiling face in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't feel like metal," she said, after she had taken the knife +from its scabbard.</p> + +<p>"It isn't. It's a kind of plastic, stronger than most metals. Do you +like it?" He was wasting time, he knew, and he cursed himself for it. +But it didn't matter.</p> + +<p>"It's real nice," she answered.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you like it," he said, taking her elbow in his hand. "We'd +better go now. They'll be after us."</p> + +<p>They ran most of the night, although it wasn't always running. Nelson +picked a lot of terrain that was too uneven or too thickly covered +with growth for running. They kept to rocks and creekbeds as much as +they could, and they stopped only a few hours before dawn to get a few +hours sleep they were too exhausted to postpone any longer.</p> + +<p>When Nelson awoke the sun was a little higher than he had wanted it to +be. He got to his feet and scanned the morning sky but saw nothing to +indicate sky patrol robots. He felt uneasy about not having made more +territory; but the way had been erratic and uneven. A thorough search +pattern could find him easily; the further away he got from the depot +the better chance he stood of not being discovered by a robot. He +wondered, briefly, just how many would be called out, but there was no +reason to wonder. Three patrolmen dead meant a lot of searching to +find the killers. He and Glynnis couldn't waste much time.</p> + +<p>He nudged the still sleeping girl with his foot to wake her. She awoke +suddenly, her hand darting toward her new knife and a low but +startled cry came from her.</p> + +<p>"Quiet." He had dug two cans out of his pack and handed one to her. +"We overslept. Eat in a hurry."</p> + +<p>She opened her breakfast. "We'll be traveling most of the day?" she +asked. When he nodded, "yes," she said, "I can take it."</p> + +<p>"I know you can; but they'll have a search out for us by now and a +thorough one. If we hadn't met when we had they'd have picked you up +for sure after I raided that depot—if I could have pulled it off +alone."</p> + +<p>She smiled.</p> + +<p>"You ever see an air robot?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"I hope you never do. They'll fly out a search pattern, and they have +equipment that can detect a human being. They can send back signals to +tell where we are if they spot us. Our only hope is to get away before +the search pattern gets this far. If we can get far enough away, we +stand a better chance, because they'll have to spread out more thinly. +We'll have to run for a long time, but eventually they'll give up. +Until then—Well—" He let it hang. But Glynnis caught on.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The rest of the day they traveled, stopping only briefly to eat and +once during the afternoon when they came to a small river. Nelson's +admiration for Glynnis increased. She responded intelligently to his +commands, and learned quickly. She was strong and athletic, with the +reflexes of an animal.</p> + +<p>They made good time. When darkness came Nelson estimated they had made +almost fifty miles since the raid, even over rough terrain. He hoped +that that would be enough. He was tired, and though the girl attempted +to hide her own fatigue, her attempts were becoming more and more +exaggerated. He searched out a camp site.</p> + +<p>He found one on a hill, overlooking a river. There was protection from +the wind. The moon was up and there was plenty of light from it; but +Nelson didn't think the searchers would be out at night.</p> + +<p>After they had eaten, Nelson leaned back against the thick bole of a +tree and found himself studying the girl. Her features were even +enough, but she was not a classically beautiful girl. Nor an +unattractive one. It was her eyes, he decided. She was staring off +into the sky and forest. Her eyes were large, dark, enigmatic eyes +that expressed much; expressed it eloquently. But he had the feeling +there was much in the girl that those eyes hid. Her body was lean, but +whether from exercise or undernourishment he couldn't be sure. Her +figure was full, for all the leanness, and ample. She was strong, +though she hardly looked muscular. She had been toughened by her +environment. Edna had not been as tough as Glynnis.</p> + +<p>With sudden embarrassment, he realized he had been comparing Glynnis +and Edna frequently. He didn't want to do that—but he couldn't help +himself.</p> + +<p>"Something wrong?" Glynnis asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>She was returning his stare. "No," he said. "I was ... looking at +you." For a long moment, neither spoke. Then he said, "We'll be +together for a long time."</p> + +<p>"I know. We'll have to be."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad I found you. I lost my wife to the patrol some time back."</p> + +<p>"I've never been anyone's wife before. There was Frank, but I was +never really what you could call his wife, exactly."</p> + +<p>"Many people ever stay with your folks?"</p> + +<p>"Not many. Frank only stayed a few days. I liked him. I wanted to go +with him."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you?"</p> + +<p>She broke off a blade of grass and slowly began tearing it into +strips, intently gazing at it. "He just left suddenly without taking +me. I guess he thought I was just a stupid brat. That was maybe two or +three years ago." Her voice sounded as if she were smiling a little. +Nelson thought that strange.</p> + +<p>"You ever think much about the sleepers?" he asked suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes. I wonder what it's like in their dreams."</p> + +<p>"They like it in their dreams. Those dreams are built for them. They +get along happily in their world, grateful for it. That's the word, +grateful." He listened for a moment to nightsounds. "But they're +helpless. If anything happens, they're asleep and unable to act. If +they wake up, they're in a world they don't know how to live in."</p> + +<p>"If you were a sleeper, what kind of world would you want to dream +about?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want to be a sleeper."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but if you were. Would you live in a castle?"</p> + +<p>He thought on it for the first time. "I don't know," he said finally. +"I don't think so. I think I'd travel. Go out to the stars. There's a +whole universe out there. Men went out there; they're still out there. +I guess they've forgotten us."</p> + +<p>"You think they'll ever come back?"</p> + +<p>"Some day I think somebody from out there will come back and land on +Earth to see what it's like. Maybe they'll try to invade us. We'd be +pretty helpless with most of us asleep in our pipe-dream utopias."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't like to be caught and put in a dream," she said. "But I'd +like to live in a castle." Nelson gazed at her. She had never known a +commune, he realized. If she had, she would have bred when told to and +then docilely filed away to her coffin. But she had never been +indoctrinated. If she went into the dreams, it would be against her +will. But he had to admit that he had some reservations....</p> + +<p>He moved close to her.</p> + +<p>"Maybe some day we can live in a castle. Or go into space to some +planet where men live in castles." He stared at the stars. "Out there +they must be like gods," he said and his voice sounded strange, even +to him.</p> + +<p>He looked down at Glynnis. The moonlight was full on her face; she +looked fit to be a goddess to those gods, he thought. She was staring +off and around at the wilderness; she was saying, "Out here there's +trees. And air. I like to look at the trees." He reached over and +pulled her face around to him and kissed her. She was startled, but +returned the kiss warmly.</p> + +<p>She pulled away just far enough to look into his face. She was +smiling. "I think I like you better than I did Frank," she said.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Nelson lay awake for a few moments, trying to identify the noise. It +was a low humming sound off in the distance. He could feel Glynnis, +breathing evenly with sleep beside him. The sky was just beginning to +color with sunrise in the east. As quietly as possible, Nelson eased +himself erect, still trying to place the noise. He placed it, and +realized that he had not really wanted to identify it.</p> + +<p>"Quiet," he said as he roused the girl. She opened her eyes wide, and +stared at him, confused and uncomprehending.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Hear that noise?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said after a second.</p> + +<p>"One of their search machines. Probably they've adopted a loose search +pattern, or maybe we left some kind of sign somewhere. It's not coming +closer, but we'd better get out of here."</p> + +<p>They ate hastily, in the awakening light of sunrise. They ran away +from the sound of the machine, and it lessened in the distance.</p> + +<p>It was the middle of the morning when they heard it again. Nelson +judged it to be roughly a mile away and to the west. He waited a +minute, listening. It seemed to be describing a search pattern curve +that swung in front of their path. He decided to double back and +around to miss it.</p> + +<p>The undergrowth was thick in this part of the forest. They made their +way through the bushes and waist-high grasses, being as careful as +possible not to leave too many signs of their passing. Glynnis' shorts +and thin blouse weren't much protection against the thorns or the +recoiling limbs of bushes but she didn't complain. Gradually the +forest became mostly trees again. They found a path some animal had +made and followed it.</p> + +<p>When they came to the clearing, Nelson almost didn't see the thing in +the air. He heard Glynnis gasp behind him, and with a start, glanced +around. She was staring at something in front of them, and in the air. +He looked where she was staring and saw the air robot hovering near +the edge of the clearing. It was about two feet long, slender, +metallic and smooth. Nelson knew though that it was alert and that +receptors built into its skin were registering their presence. It +hovered about ten feet above the ground, some twenty feet from them, +making no noise. Sky robots made noise only when they were moving at +a fairly good speed. They had fled the noise of one only to be trapped +in the silence of another.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Glynnis was shouting, "It's one of them!" Nelson turned to +see her level her gun, and before he could stop her a white hot +streamer lashed out at the robot and engulfed it.</p> + +<p>"No," he shouted, too late. The machine took the blast turning cherry +red and bobbing lightly in the air for a moment before energy +compensators and stabilizers adjusted to the effects of the blast. The +machine turned back to its lustrous silver color and there was a low +hum as it righted itself gracefully then swung around, into the center +of the clearing to get a better focus on them.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't even have a mark on it," Glynnis said, in a low tone, +moving closer to Nelson and laying one hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"No. But don't worry; it can't hurt us. We've got to figure some way +to get out of here and leave it behind." He turned and gently guided +her toward the trees. When they were in the dubious shelter of the +trees, Nelson stopped and tried to figure a way out. He could see the +machine hanging in the center of the clearing on invisible lines of +force, turning slightly to find them in the dense growth, then, with +one end pointed at them, bobbing slightly with the low breeze.</p> + +<p>"What's it doing?" Glynnis asked. There was superstitious awe in her +voice that annoyed Nelson.</p> + +<p>"Sending a signal to the patrol. We don't have much time before they +get here."</p> + +<p>"But if the machine can't be shot down what can we do?"</p> + +<p>"Hand me your gun." He took her gun and pointed to a vernier control +set into the side of the weapon. "This is the intensity control; it's +on low." He turned it up. "Now it's on full."</p> + +<p>"Will that stop the machine?"</p> + +<p>"Not by itself. But if we both move in, blasting together, again and +again we might do it some damage."</p> + +<p>"All right," she said, taking the gun.</p> + +<p>Nelson led the way into the clearing. The machine moved back a little +and bobbed to keep them in alignment. Nelson felt the dryness of his +throat as he raised his gun to aim at the incurious machine. "All +set?" he asked. From the corner of his eye he could see that Glynnis +had raised her gun and was sighting.</p> + +<p>"All set," she answered.</p> + +<p>"O.K." Nelson fired. His blast hit the robot head on. It was absorbed, +but almost as soon as it had died down, Glynnis fired. Nelson fired +again, catching the machine in an almost steady stream of white hot +energy. The machine suddenly caught on to what they were doing. It +tried to escape their range by going up, but they followed it. By this +time the compensators were already beginning to fail. Haywire +instruments jerked the machine back down and then side to side, then +into a tree trunk, blindly. It rebounded and dipped low, almost +touching the ground before it curved back up. Some of Glynnis' shots +were missing, but Nelson made every shot count, even while the robot +was darting about wildly.</p> + +<p>The machine was glowing cherry red, now, some twelve feet off the +ground, unable to rise further, one end pointed sharply upward. +Something inside it began screaming, loudly, shrilly, with a vibration +that hurt Nelson's teeth. Nelson was firing mechanically. The +machine's loud screaming stopped suddenly. Nelson checked his fire. +Glynnis fired once more, missing as the machine suddenly dropped about +a foot. For perhaps a second the machine remained motionless. Then it +died without sound, and fell to the ground, landing with a dull noise +and setting fire to the grass under and around it.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image_003.jpg" width="300" height="460" alt="Illustration" /> +</div> + +<p>For that matter, they had started a major forest fire with their +blastings. The trees across the clearing from them were already +roaring with flames. Nelson didn't wait to check on the machine. He +grabbed Glynnis and pulled her around toward the way they had come. +She stumbled, staring back at the machine.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" he said, in agitation. She came to life, mechanically, and +let him propel her along. The wind was away from them, but the fire +growing. They ran madly until they had to stop and fall exhausted to +the ground. When he could breathe again without torturing his lungs, +Nelson looked back and saw the smoke from the fire in the distance +behind them. They were safe from the fire, but their escape was cut +off by it. It would, he knew with dull certainty, attract attention.</p> + +<p>When he had rested as long as he dared, he said, "We'd better get +going."</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure I can," she said.</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got to. If we stay here, we'll be caught."</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>They did not pause to eat. It was about midday when they encountered +the robot and they walked well into the afternoon, their only purpose +being to put as much distance between them and the place where they +had shot the robot down as possible. Nelson found himself moving +numbly, blindly uncaring of anything by making progress forward. He +listened to the humming of an approaching robot for a long while +before it registered on his consciousness.</p> + +<p>He whirled, drawing his gun, momentarily giving way to the panic that +had been threatening to engulf him all afternoon. He saw the machine, +high above the trees behind them, safely out of range, he knew. +Bitterly, he fought down the urge to fire the gun anyway. It took a +tremendous exertion of will to make his arm return the gun to its +holster.</p> + +<p>"What can we do?" asked Glynnis, a slight quaver in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Not a thing," said Nelson; then, almost in a rage he cried it. "Not +one damned thing!"</p> + +<p>They both turned back the way they had been going and ran, hoping to +find some cover with which to duck the machine. Nelson converted his +rage and fear into a strength he had never known he could call upon. +He ran on, and Glynnis behind him. And he knew that she, like he, ran +despite the rawness in her throat and lungs and cramping of her legs. +The only thing he could think of was that he wanted to enter a +mausoleum not as a prisoner, but as the head of an army.</p> + +<p>He ran blindly, hearing nothing but the machine and his own rasping +breath. Then suddenly, he was stumbling over the edge of an +embankment, flailing his arms and twisting himself around so that he +managed to land on his back. It hurt and the wind went out of him. He +was sliding and rolling. Somehow he managed to stop himself. He lay +painfully coughing and trying to get his breath. Below him he could +see the wild rushing of a river at the base of the sheer embankment. +He looked back up. Glynnis had one leg over the edge but had not +fallen. Nelson crawled his way back up the slope.</p> + +<p>They were trapped by the river. It must be another part of the same +river they had spent the night by, thought Nelson. But where it had +been calm and shallow, it was now a raging torrential river where +brown, churning waters ran between high, difficult to climb cliffs.</p> + +<p>There was no need for either of them to speak. They began looking for +a place to cross the river. All the time they searched they could hear +the machine behind them, above them, humming safely out of their +range.</p> + +<p>The sun was low in the sky when they heard the second humming. The +humming grew until it was a throbbing that covered the weaker sound of +the robot and chilled Nelson.</p> + +<p>"The patrol," he said, pushing the girl toward the forest. "Back into +the trees. We're going to have to fight it out with them."</p> + +<p>They ran into the trees. The throbbing stopped and behind them, Nelson +could hear the sounds made by men thrashing through the undergrowth. +His palms were wet; he wiped them on his shirt front. The impending +contact with the patrol gave him a calmness as always, and he picked +out a thicket where he believed he could make some sort of stand.</p> + +<p>He reached the thicket with Glynnis behind him. Her gun was out. He +signed to her to lower the intensity of the gun; she caught on. He +watched her face. It was like a mask.</p> + +<p>Nelson listened to the sounds of the approaching patrolmen. Five or +six, he decided. Plus a guard back at the flier. He'd figure on eight, +in all, he decided. Then the first one showed behind some bushes.</p> + +<p>Nelson touched Glynnis' arm in a signal to wait. The patrolman looked +around, searching too intensely to find anything. He was young. Nelson +didn't think he would uncover their whereabouts and for a moment +debated letting him pass.</p> + +<p>But he didn't want to be surrounded. He pulled his gun up and sighted +carefully before squeezing the trigger. In the tenth of a second +before the patrolman burst into flames, the blast produced a blast +circle that grew to the size of a basketball in his midsection. The +patrolman fell without screaming.</p> + +<p>The others were there now. Most of them were young and two rushed +forward at the sight of their companion's death, to die like heroes. +The others wisely sought cover. Nelson decided that the thicket wasn't +as safe as he'd hoped. One of the patrolmen was doing a good job with +an energizer, coming closer with each shot, before Nelson finally saw +where he was, and fired at him. Nelson saw the trunk of a large fallen +tree and pointed to it for Glynnis' benefit. She nodded.</p> + +<p>There was cover most of the way. Nelson went first, crouching low to +the ground and running with the ease of a cat. He made the log and +began firing to cover Glynnis. He saw her coming, out of the corner of +his eye, then concentrated on covering her with firepower. Suddenly +the girl let out a startled yell and he saw her sprawl to the ground, +tripping over a root. He called her name and without thinking leaped +to his feet to run to help her. He was halfway there when the +patrolman came into range. Nelson realized what he had done. Glynnis +was already on her feet and running. Cursing himself, Nelson jerked +his gun around, but it was too late. An energizer blast exploded the +ground beneath him and he felt himself hurtling over backwards. He +could only see blackness and the bright, quick, flashing of pin-point +light in it. Then, he was falling, spinning....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Patrol Cadet Wallace Sherman watched the man on the table with mixed +feelings; on the one hand, there was pity for a man whose condition +was hopeless, and on the other there were the misgivings that come +with guarding a criminal. Perhaps it was Sherman's youth that caused +him to emphasize those misgivings and move his hand toward his sidearm +when the man stirred.</p> + +<p>But the man on the table only stirred a little and groaned. Sherman +was not sure whether or not the man was coming to. He shouldn't be, +Sherman knew. He took a couple of steps forward and starred at the +man's face.</p> + +<p>The man was breathing normally. His head moved slightly but his eyes +were still closed. His face was the palest, softest looking face +Sherman had ever seen. It was the face of a man who had never known +sunlight, Sherman thought somberly; or at least had not known it in +many years. He wondered, vaguely just what kind of life the man +dreamed he had. As he was watching the man's face, Sherman saw his +lips move and heard him utter something he could not make out. He bent +closer to hear better.</p> + +<p>"Glynnis"—the man on the table was saying.</p> + +<p>"Is he waking up?" Sherman heard a voice asking.</p> + +<p>A little embarrassed, Sherman turned around and saw Blomgard standing +in the doorway, "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. No. At least I don't think so. He +said something; a word. <i>Glynnis</i>, I think. Sounds like a girl's +name."</p> + +<p>Dr. Blomgard came into the room and walked over to the table on which +his patient was stretched out. He removed the clipboard from its hook +and looked through the sheaf of papers fastened to it. After a few +seconds, he said, "Ah, yes. Glynnis. Part of his dream."</p> + +<p>"Doctor—," Sherman heard himself saying, then caught himself.</p> + +<p>"What, cadet," Blomgard asked, turning around. He was a big man, +gray-haired, his hair an unruly mop. His eyes were dark and piercing, +but they were softened by the thickness of the white brows over them.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, sir—"</p> + +<p>"I assure you, that no question will be considered out of place, if +that's what is worrying you."</p> + +<p>"Well, doctor," Sherman said with some difficulty, "I was wondering if +all this is worth it. I mean a special reserve with the artificial +life-dreams for these people. Is it worth the expense and effort?"</p> + +<p>Blomgard regarded the question a moment before answering. "Well, that +depends on things. We have a fairly dynamic, expanding civilization. +This man was born out of step; a natural born rebel. We've reached the +stage where, with a little effort on their own part, most people can +sooner or later find exactly what they want. There are, of course, +exceptions. They can't help being the way they are, but they are that +way. It isn't his fault that he would think nothing of blowing up any +civilization he found himself living in. This is the solution."</p> + +<p>"A drug-induced dream state? Is that a solution?"</p> + +<p>"It's a pretty good one. We provide him with a completely fictitious, +a totally unreal world in which he will be happy."</p> + +<p>"How can anyone be happy like that? I prefer reality."</p> + +<p>Blomgard smiled. "Yes, to a larger extent than he does, you do. Or you +like what you think of as reality." He picked up the clipboard again +and studied the papers on it. "His dream world is one that is designed +for his happiness. In it, he sees everyone else as inhabiting the +dream-coffin. And he pictures himself as a rugged individualist, going +about trying to destroy such a civilization. And of course, he is +practically a lone wolf. Not completely, for he would not be happy +that way. The man is an underdog."</p> + +<p>"I guess it's best," Sherman said.</p> + +<p>"It is," the doctor replied, seriously. "We have no right to take his +life; nor do have the right to destroy his personality, however much +that personality may be offensive to us. And since most inhabitable +planets are, unfortunately, inhabited before we ever get to them, we +have more urgent colonies to establish where we can find room. No, +this is best. We give him a dream based exactly on his psychological +needs; a compensation, so to speak, for the real life we take away +from him. For most people only have the right to pursue happiness. In +return for a normal life, we've given him a guaranteed happiness."</p> + +<p>The doctor let that sink in for a while; but Sherman still had a +strong wish that he had pulled some other duty. Perhaps on one of the +new outposts, like Deneb.</p> + +<p>The doctor glanced at his watch. "Well, the repairs are done with and +they should have the nutrient refreshed by now. Let's wheel him on +back."</p> + +<p>A little gratefully, Sherman moved over to the table.</p> + +<p>"You'll be all right, soon enough," the doctor said to the unconscious +man on the table. "This interruption will be neatly explained away and +remain as merely a memory of a slightly unpleasant moment after things +get back to normal. That'll convince you of the reality of your +world—if you ever need convincing."</p> + +<p>Sherman saw the sleeping man stir slightly and heard him utter sounds +again.</p> + +<p>"Wheel him out," Blomgard said.</p> + +<p>Gratefully, Sherman turned the table around and wheeled it out the +door.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>From far off, Nelson heard Glynnis calling to him. "Are you all right, +Hal?" he heard. "Can you hear me, Hal?"</p> + +<p>"I can hear you," he managed to say. He opened his eyes. He saw his +gun a few dozen feet away on the ground.</p> + +<p>"I thought they had you, sure," Glynnis said quietly. "I got the two +of them. Don't ask me how I did it, but I got them."</p> + +<p>He sat up, feeling dizzy from having hit the ground with such force. +"I don't guess I was much help," he said weakly. "You sure did a fine +job." His head ached, but the remembered the fight and being thrown by +the impact of the blast. And something else—something distant and +alien, like a dream, from the deepest part of his mind. It pestered +him a moment, just out of reach of his consciousness, then he shrugged +it off as unimportant. He looked around and saw the charred bodies of +the patrolmen. "You did a fine job," he told Glynnis, meaning it.</p> + +<p>"Can you fly a patrol ship?"</p> + +<p>"Huh?"</p> + +<p>"We've got one now," Glynnis said. "I shot the guard they left with +it, too. Had to."</p> + +<p>"I see," he said, marveling at the girl. "I can fly one. I haven't +since I was in the commune, though. As long as it's in good +condition."</p> + +<p>"I guess it is. I didn't hit it with any shots."</p> + +<p>"We can go anywhere in the world with that ship," he said getting to +his feet. "It doesn't need fuel; it can fly forever. You know what +that means Glynnis? We can raise an army, if we want to."</p> + +<p>"And we can get into the mausoleums and wake everybody up?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Come on," he said and started toward the flier. But Glynnis +grabbed his arm and stopped him. "What is it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"What's it like to live in a world where everyone's awake?" she asked +him.</p> + +<p>"Why ... I don't know, I've never lived in one."</p> + +<p>"Then why do you want to wake everyone up?"</p> + +<p>"It's wrong the way they are now."</p> + +<p>Glynnis scowled and Nelson could tell that she was struggling with +strange concepts. He felt sympathy for her, knowing how she felt.</p> + +<p>"What I mean," she asked finally, "is why is it wrong? What's the +reason?"</p> + +<p>"Because they can do better. We can save them and show them that; I +can lead them back where they belong."</p> + +<p>"I see," Glynnis said gravely accepting his words. "All right."</p> + +<p>Nelson smiled at her. She looked up at him and smiled back. The patrol +ship was waiting for them, not far off.</p> + +<p>Together, they marched off to save the world.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Happy Man, by Gerald Wilburn Page + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAPPY MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 30705-h.htm or 30705-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/7/0/30705/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Happy Man + +Author: Gerald Wilburn Page + +Illustrator: George Schelling + +Release Date: December 18, 2009 [EBook #30705] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAPPY MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction March 1963. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + + THE HAPPY MAN + + + More's "Utopia" was isolated-- + cut off--from the dreary world outside. + All Utopias are.... + + + by GERALD W. PAGE + + + ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SCHELLING + + * * * * * + + + + +Nelson saw the girl at the same time she saw him. He had just rounded +an outcropping of rock about ten miles from the East Coast Mausoleum. +They were facing each other, poised defensively, eyes alertly on each +other, about twenty feet apart. She was blond and lean with the +conditioning of outdoor life, almost to the point of thinness. And +although not really beautiful, she was attractive and young, probably +not yet twenty. Her features were even and smooth, her hair wild about +her face. She wore a light blouse and faded brown shorts made from a +coarse homespun material. Nelson had not expected to run into anyone +and apparently, neither had she. They stood staring at each other for +a long time; how long, Nelson was unable to decide, later. + +A little foolishly, Nelson realized that something would have to be +done by one of them. "I'm Hal Nelson," he said. It had been a long +time since he had last spoken; his voice sounded strange in the +wilderness. The girl moved tensely, but did not come any closer to +him. Her eyes stayed fixed on him and he knew that her ears were +straining for any sound that might warn her of a trap. + +Nelson started to take a step, then checked himself, cursing himself +for his eager blundering. The girl stepped back once, quickly, like an +animal uncertain if it had been threatened. Nelson stepped back, +slowly, and spoke again. "I'm a waker, like you. You can tell by my +rags." It was true enough, but the girl only frowned. Her alertness +did not relax. + +"I've been one for ten or twelve years. I escaped from a Commune in +Tannerville when I was in my senior year. They never even got me into +one of the coffins. As I said, I'm a waker." He spoke slowly, gently +and he hoped soothingly. "You don't have to be afraid of me. Now tell +me who you are." + +The girl pushed a lock of almost yellow hair from her eyes with the +back of her hand, but it was her only show of carelessness. She was +strong and light. She was considerably smaller than he and could +probably handle herself as well as he in this country. The landscape +was thick with bushes, conifers and rocks. She would have no trouble +in getting away from him if he scared her; and he would scare her with +almost any sudden movement. It had been too long for Nelson to keep +track of when he had been accompanied by others and he hungered for +companionship; especially for a woman. The patrol that had captured +Sammy and Jeanne and the old man, Gardner, had also gotten Edna and +almost had gotten him. The fact that the girl was alone now more than +likely meant that she had no one either. They needed each other. +Nelson did not want to scare her off. + +So he sat down on the ground with his back to a large rock and +rummaged in his pack to find a can. + +"You hungry?" he asked looking up at her. He couldn't be sure at the +distance, but he thought that her eyes were brown. Brown, and huge; +like a colt's. He held the can out where she could see it. She +repeated the gesture of a while ago to brush back that same lock of +almost yellow hair, but there was a change in her face which he could +see even twenty feet away, and another, more subtle change about her +which he had to sense. "You're hungry, all right, aren't you?" he +said. He almost tossed her the can, but realized in time that she +would run. He considered for a moment and then held it out to her. She +focused her eyes on the can and for a moment Nelson might have been +able to reach her before she turned and ran; but he had better sense +than to try. + +Instead, he watched the play of conflicting desires about the girl's +face and body. He could see the uncertainty and indecision in the +girl's nearly imperceptible movement. But she did not come. + +Well, at least she didn't run, either; and Nelson could claim to +having broken ahead some in stirring up any indecision at all. He +found the can's release and pressed it with his thumb. There was a +hiss as the seal came loose and an odor of cooked food as the contents +sizzled with warmth. Nelson looked up at the girl and smiled. + +It could have been wishful thinking, but it seemed to him that she was +a step or two closer than she had been before he had taken his eyes +off her to open the can. He couldn't be sure. He smelled the food for +her benefit and told her, "It's pork and beans." He held it out to her +again. "I stole it from a patrol warehouse a few weeks back. It sure +does smell good, doesn't it? You like the smell of that, don't you?" +But she still wasn't convinced that this wasn't a patrol stunt to get +hands on her and haul her back to a mausoleum. He couldn't blame her. +He slowly pushed himself to his feet and walked to a spot about ten +feet from where he had been, and still about twenty feet from her, and +put the can carefully on the ground. He went back and seated himself +against the same rock to wait for her to make up her mind. + + * * * * * + +It didn't take long. Without taking her eyes from him, she moved like +an animal to the food and stooped slowly, keeping alert for any sudden +move on his part, and picked up the food. She stood up, and stepped +back a couple of steps. + +She ate with her fingers, dipping them in and extracting hot food, +with no apparent concern for the heat. She pushed the food into her +mouth and licked her fingers carefully of clinging food. She ate +rapidly, as if for the first time in weeks. And she kept her eyes, all +the time, on Nelson. + +Nelson didn't care, now; he wouldn't have jumped her, or done anything +to scare her at all, even if her guard were to be let down for a +moment. + +He let her finish her meal, then smiled at her when she looked at him. +She still held the empty can, and she was wiping her mouth with her +free hand. She stared at him for almost half a minute before he said +slowly, "You like that food. Don't you?" She said nothing. She looked +at him and at the can she held. He knew what was going on in her mind +and he believed that he was winning. "You know we'll both be needing +someone out here, don't you?" But her answer was an uncertain +expression on her face as she stared at him. + +"Loners don't last too long out here. Being alone gets to you sooner +or later," he said. "You go mad or you get careless and the patrol +gets you." + +The girl opened her mouth and glanced around quickly, then back at +Nelson. She bent over, still watching Nelson all the time, and put the +can down. Then she stepped backwards, toward the edge of the clearing, +feeling the way with her feet and a hand held back to tell her if she +were backing into a tree or rock. When she was almost to the edge of +the clearing, almost to the trees, she stopped and stared at him. +There were shadows now; it was almost night, and night came quickly in +this country. Nelson could not see her face as she looked at him. She +turned suddenly and ran into the trees. He made no effort to stop her +or call her back; any such effort would have been futile and for his +purposes, disastrous. No such effort was necessary. + +He spent the night sheltered between some boulders and awoke the next +morning rested by an undisturbed sleep. + +He found a small creek near by and washed his face to awaken himself. +It was a clear morning, with a warm sun and a cool wafting breeze. He +felt good; he felt alive and ready for whatever the day had to offer. +And he felt ready for breakfast. + +He found another can of pork and beans in his pack and opened it. It +was, he noted, almost the last. His supplies were getting low. He +considered the situation as he slowly ate his breakfast. + +Of course there was only one thing to do. He supposed that he could +have gotten by simply by hunting his food, but hunting was at best +seasonal and required that he keep more or less to a specific area; +agriculture was about the same, only worse. A farm meant a smaller +area than a hunting preserve and it also meant sticking to it more. It +meant buildings to store food against winter. It meant inevitable--and +almost certainly prompt--capture by a patrol. No, all things +considered, there was only one answer and he knew the answer from long +experience. Find a patrol warehouse and steal your food there. + +The question of course, was where and when. There was a patrol station +near where Nelson now was, and that was the natural target. He had a +few furnace beam guns--three, to be exact--and since the patrol could +detect the residue from a furnace beamer a mile away even at low +force, the only safe thing to use one on was the patrol. And to be +frank, he rather enjoyed his brushes with the patrol. Like him, they +were wakers--people who had never known the electronic dreams which +were fed to all but a few of Earth's peoples. People who had never +lain asleep in nutrient baths from their seventeenth birthday living +an unreal world built to their own standards. Of the billions on +earth, only a few hundred were wakers. Most of those were patrol, of +course, but a few were rebels. + +That was he, and also the girl he had seen yesterday. And it had been +Edna and Sammy and Jeanne and Gardner; and maybe a dozen other people +he had known since he had escaped from the Commune, when he had been +just a kid--but when he had seen the danger. + +For the past two and a half centuries or so, almost everyone raised on +Earth had been raised in a commune, never knowing his or her parents. +They had been raised, they had been indoctrinated and they had mated +in the communes--and then gone into Sleep. More than likely, Nelson's +parents were there still, dreaming in their trance, having long ago +forgotten each other and their son, for those were things of a harsher +world over which one could have no control. In Sleep one dreamed of a +world that suited the dreamer. It was artificial. Oh, yes, it was a +highly personalized utopia--one that ironed out the conflicts by +simply not allowing them. But it was artificial. And Nelson knew that +as long as the universe itself was not artificial nothing artificial +could long stand against it. That was why he had escaped the commune +without letting them get him into the nutrient bath in which the +dreamers lived out their useless lives. His existence gave the lie to +the pseudo-utopia he was dedicated to overthrowing. The called it +individualism, but Nelson called it spineless. + + * * * * * + +Above him was sky stretching light blue to the horizons--and beyond +the blueness of stars. He felt a pang of longing as he looked up +trying to see stars in the day sky. That was where he should be, out +there with the pioneers, the men who were carving out the universe to +make room for a dynamic mankind that had long ago forgotten the +Sleepers of the home world. But no, he decided. Out there he would not +be giving so much to mankind as he was here and now. However decadent +these people were, he knew that they were men. Nelson knew that +somehow he had to overthrow the Sleepers. + +Before something happened while they lay helpless in their coffins, +dreaming dreams that would go on and on until reality became harsh +enough to put them down. + +What if the spacefarers should return? What if some alien life form +should grow up around some other solar type star, develop space +travel, go searching for inhabitable worlds--solar type worlds--and +discover Earth with it's sleeping, unaware populace? could dreams +defend against that? + +Nelson shuddered with the knowledge that he had his work cut out for +him, and awoke to his own hunger. He fished out a can and started to +open it before he remembered, and fished out another can as well. He +pressed the release on both and the tops flew off, releasing the odor +of cooking food. + +He leaned over and set one can on a flat rock that was just inside his +reach, then scooted back about a foot and using his fingers, scooped +up a mouthful of his own breakfast. Half turning his head, he caught +sight of her out of the corner of his eye, about fifteen feet away, +tense and expectant but ready to spring away if she thought it was +necessary. He turned back and concentrated on eating his own +breakfast. + +"This sure is good after all night," he said, after a few minutes, +making a show of gulping down a chunk of stew beef, and sucking the +gravy from his fingers. He did not look back. + +"My name is Glynnis," he heard abruptly. He sensed the uncertainty in +her voice, and the--distant--hint of belligerence, but even so he +could tell it was a soft voice, musical and clear--if he could judge +after not having heard a woman's voice in so long. + +"Glynnis," he said slowly. "That's a pretty name. Mine's Hal Nelson. +Like I told you last night." + +"I haven't forgotten. Is that for me?" She meant the food, of course. +Hal Nelson looked around. She was still standing by the tree. She was +trying to seem at ease and making an awkward show of it. + +"Yes," he told her. She took a step closer and stopped, looking at +him. He turned back to his own eating. "No need to be scared, Glynnis, +I won't hurt you." He became uncomfortably aware that she had not +spoken his name yet and he wanted her to very much. + +"No." Then a brief pause before she said, "I'm not used to anybody." + +"It isn't good to be alone out here with the animals and food so hard +to come by--and the patrol searching for wakers. You ever have any +brush with the patrol?" + +She had come up and was eating now; her answer came between eager +mouthfuls. "I seen them once. They didn't know I saw them--or they +would have caught me and taken me back with them." + +"Where're you from? What are you doing out here?" + +For a moment he thought she had not heard him. She was busy eating, +apparently having classified him as a friend. Finally, she said, "My +folks were out here. They were farmers for a while. I was born out +here and we moved around a lot until my daddy got tired of moving. So +we built a farm. He built it in a place in a valley off there"--She +vaguely indicated south--"And they planted some grain and potatoes and +tried to round up some kind of livestock. We had mostly goats. But the +patrol found us." + +Nelson nodded, bitterly, he knew what had happened. Her father had +gone on as long as he could until at last, broken and uncaring he had +made one last ditch stand. More than likely he had half wanted to give +up anyway, and had not only because of the conflict of his family and +saving face. "You were the only one who got away?" he asked. + +"Uh-huh. They took the others." She spoke without emotion, peering +into her food can to see if there was any left. "I was out in the +field but I saw them coming. I hid down low behind some tall grain and +got to the forest before they could find me." She examined the can +again, then decided it was empty and put it down. + +"Do you know what they do to people they take?" Nelson asked. + +"Yes." + +"Your daddy tell you? What did he say?" + +"He said they take you back to the Mausoleum and put you to sleep in a +coffin." She looked up at him, her face open, as if that was all there +was to it. Nelson decided that she was as guileless as he had expected +her to be, and reflected absently on that factor for a moment. + +A light breeze was up and the air was full of the scents of the +forest. Nelson liked the pungent smell of the pines and rich odor of +chokeberries and bushes; and the mustiness that could be found in +thickly overgrown places where the ground had become covered with a +brown carpet of fallen pine needles. Some days he would search places +in the forest until he found one or another brush or tree whose leaves +or berries he would crush in his fingers simply so that he could savor +the fragrance of them. But not this morning. + +He rose to his feet and reached over to pick up Glynnis' discarded +food container. She drew away from him, bracing herself as if to leap +and run. He stopped himself and froze where he stood for a moment, +then drew back. + +"I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "We can't stay here, because if +you stay somewhere they find you. We can't leave the containers here, +either, because if they find them it might give them a clue in +tracking us." + +She looked ashamed, so he reached over, ready to draw back his hand if +she acted as if she were scared. She tugged at her lower lip with her +teeth and stared at him with eyes that were wide but she did not +spring to her feet. Somehow Nelson knew that the girl was acutely +aware of how much she needed help out here. Suddenly, her right hand +darted out and for a split second Nelson feared he had lost after all. +But she reached over for the discarded can, picked it up and handed it +to him. He reacted a little slowly, but he smiled and took the +container. Their hands touched briefly and the girl drew hers away, +immediately looking ashamed for so doing. Nelson continued to smile at +her, and rather stiffly, she answered with a smile of her own. He put +the container into the knapsack with the others and then slipped into +the armstraps. Glynnis helped him. + + * * * * * + +They walked for an hour, that first day together, neither speaking. +Glynnis stayed close by his side and Nelson could feel her proximity +to him. He felt good in a way he had not felt in along time. When the +silence was finally broken, it was Nelson who broke it. They were +topping a small hill in a section of wilderness that was not as +heavily wooded as most and the sunlight was warm against Nelson's +face. He had been thinking the matter over off and on all morning, and +now he asked, "Have you ever raided a patrol depot?" + +"No," she answered, a trace of apprehension in her voice. + +They topped the hill and began moving down the other side. "Sometimes +it's a pushover, when nobody is there. Other times it's mortal hell. +The patrol is always anxious to get their hands on wakers, so they try +to keep an eye out for them at the depots. That means a fight unless +we're very lucky. If the depot we pick is too heavily manned--" + +"What do you mean, 'Depot we pick'?" + +"We need more food. We either shoot some, raise some, or steal some." + +"Oh," she said, but there was apprehension in her voice. + +"We don't have any choice. We'll wait until almost dark. If the depot +is guarded by too many men, or for some reason an extra number is +there for the night, then we're in trouble unless we play our cards +just right. You just do as I tell you and we'll be all right." He +reached back and fumbled with the side pouch on his pack. "You know +how to use one of these? Here, catch." He tossed her in his spare +furnace beamer. + +She almost missed it. She caught it awkwardly and held it gingerly +with both hands, looking first at the gun and then him. Then, still +gingerly, but with a certain willingness, she took the gun by the grip +and pointed it to the ground, her eyes shut hard. Then, suddenly, her +expression changed and she glanced up at him, worriedly. + +"Oh, you said they could tell if we fired one of these." + +"Don't worry," Nelson said. "The safety is on. Let me show you." He +took the gun and explained to her how to use it. "Now then," he +concluded. "When we get to the depot you stay outside the alarm +system. I'll go in, leaving you to guard. Try not to use this unless +you have to, but if it is necessary, don't hesitate. If you fire it, +I'll know. My job will be to slip past the alarm and get inside to the +food. If you fire, that'll be a signal that you've been discovered by +the guards and we have to get out of there." + +"Won't this give us away the same as shooting game?" + +"Sure, but we get more food this way and maybe some other stuff. +Especially reloads for the furnace guns. And, if we're lucky, we can +ground the patrol. One more thing, Glynnis," he added. "Are you sure +you can kill a man?" + +"Is it hard?" she asked innocently. Nelson was rattled only for a +second. + +"No, it isn't hard, except that he'll probably be trying to kill you, +too." + +"I've hunted some game with this." She held up her hunting knife so +that the blade caught the sunlight. She had kept it clean and sharp. +Nelson could see, but there were places where the blade had been +chipped. + +"Well, maybe there won't be any need to kill anyone at all," he said, +a little more hastily than he intended. "I guess you'll do fine, +Glynnis, I'll feel a lot safer knowing you're out there." He would +feel as he had felt when Edna had gone with him on raids. + + * * * * * + +Toward evening they came to the depot Nelson had picked out. They were +on a high although gently sloping hill, among the trees that crested +it, looking down at the depot about a quarter of a mile away. There +was still enough light to see by, but the sky was darkening for night. +For the past two or three hours, Nelson had been repeatedly drilling +Glynnis over her part. It was simple, really, and she knew it +backwards, but she patiently recited her role when he asked her, +whether out of regard for his leadership or an instinctive realization +of his pre-raid state of nerves, he did not know. He made her recite +it again, one last time. She spoke in low tones, just above a whisper. +Around them the gathering of dusk had quieted the world. He waited for +it to get a little darker, then he touched her shoulder and clasped it +for a second before beginning his way to the depot. + +[Illustration] + +He kept close to the bushes as far down as he could and crouched low +over the ground the rest of the way even though he knew it was too +dark for ordinary optics to pick him up. He had an absorber in his +pack that would take care of most of the various radiations and +detectors he would come into contact with, and for the most part, +unless the alarms were being intently watched, he didn't expect to be +noticed on the control board. And you couldn't watch a board like that +day after day with maximum efficiency. Not when the alarms were set +off only by an occasional animal or falling tree limb. Mostly he had +to keep watch for direct contact alarms and traps; he was an +accomplished thief and an experienced burglar. At last he found +himself at the fence surrounding the depot. + +In a clump of bushes a few feet from the fence he hid the containers; +it saved him the job of having to bury them, and they would be +deadweight now, anyway. Then he turned his attention on the fence. + +He took a small plastic box out of his pack and pressed a panel in its +center with his thumb. Silently, smoothly, two long thin rods shot out +from each end of the box until they were each about a foot long. There +was a groove on the box and Nelson fitted it to the lower strand of +the fence wire. He let go of the gadget and it balanced of its own +accord, its antenna vibrating until they blurred, then ceasing to +vibrate as the gadget balanced. Nelson went down on his back and +pulled on gloves. He grabbed the fence wire and lifted it so that he +could slide under. When he was inside he picked the gadget off the +wire by one antenna and shut it off. The antennae pulled back inside. +Gardner had made this gadget; Gardner had been handy with things like +this. And there would be no other when Nelson lost this. He didn't +want to leave it where it could be found or where he might have to +abandon it to save his neck in an emergency. + +He turned to the problem of getting across the open field. He had +little fear of being picked up by radiation detectors, thanks to his +absorber. But direct contact could give him away. But most of those +had to be buried. That meant that he could keep close to the bushes +and not have to worry. The roots of the bushes fouled up the detection +instruments if they got to them. He made his way, judging each step +before he took it and at last stood by the door. + +It was dark by then. He could see the stars in the clear darkness of +the sky. They seemed somehow brighter than they had before. Nelson +fished through his pack until he felt the familiar shape of the gadget +he wanted. It was smaller, more compact than the one he had used to +get over the fence; but it was more complex. He felt along the door +frame for the alarm trip and found it. He placed the gadget there and +switched it on. There was a short, low, buzzing sound as the gadget +did its job and Nelson glanced around nervously, in fear it had been +heard. The door's lock clunked back and Nelson released air from his +lungs. He pushed the door open and found himself in darkness. + +He was in a corridor with doors facing off from it. He could see light +coming under two of the doors, meaning patrolmen behind them. He moved +cautiously by the two doors, almost opposite each other, to a door at +the end of the corridor. He grasped the handle and opened the door, +realizing too late that the door should have been locked. + +But by that time the door was open. His hand darted to his holstered +furnace beamer and unlocked the safety. It was almost pitch dark in +the room but he heard the room's occupant turning over on the bunk and +mumble low, incoherently, in his sleep. Nelson waited a minute but +the man didn't wake up. + +Nelson closed the door. + +He tried another door; this time, one that was locked. He had no +trouble forcing the lock pattern; less than a minute later he was +inside, with the door shut behind him. He took out a flashlight. + +This was the storeroom, all right. It was piled with boxes mostly +unopened. Nelson read the labels on the boxes and opened those which +contained food he needed and supplies. He found another pack in an +opened box in one corner and began outfitting it like his own. Or as +nearly like his own as possible; he know that he could never duplicate +or replace the gadgets Gardner had designed, and in a way he was +bitter about it. He found the ammunition stores and took as many +capsules for the furnace beamers as he could carry. He went to the +door but slipped the furnace beamer out of his holster before opening +the door. + +The corridor was still dark. He stepped into it, alert for any sound +or movement that might mean danger or herald discovery. His +nervousness had given way to cool, detached determination. He almost +made it to the door before he heard the footsteps. + + * * * * * + +His reaction was unconscious and reflexive. He turned, leveling his +gun. He had passed the two doors light had shown under. One of them +was opening and Nelson saw the shadow of the man who had opened it; +then the man. The man saw Nelson at about the same time and stood +gaping at him. Without realizing that he had fired, Nelson felt the +recoil of the gun; the roar of the beam against the close walls hurt +his ears, parts of the wall blistered and buckled, other parts of it +charred black, some parts vaporizing in thin patches. The patrolman +had flared instantly, never really knowing what had hit him. Smoke and +heavy odors filled the corridor as Nelson slid out into the open. The +patrol depots were fireproof, but the area Nelson had blasted would be +far to hot to pass through for the rest of the night. + +Nelson toned down the volume of his beamer and fired at a fence post. +The tough plastic burst into splinters with a sudden explosion. A +snapping wire whipped to within inches of Nelson's face but he didn't +have to think about it. He was running up the hillside a short while +later--he had lost track of time as such--hoping that Glynnis would +use her gun if any patrolmen were following him. + +He reached the hilltop in darkness, afraid to use his flashlight. +Suddenly, he stumbled; was falling over something soft, like an animal +or a man. Cursing low and involuntarily, he managed to roll over so +that he fell on his back. He saw the form, a patch of irregular +blackness in the darkness around him and knew it for a body. He got to +his feet glancing around, not knowing what this meant. He bent over +the form, keeping the furnace beam's muzzle only a few inches from +it, but too far back to be grabbed suddenly. He couldn't see the man's +clothing very plainly but he could tell it was a patrolman's uniform. +Nelson reached down to feel for a heartbeat and drew his hand away +sticky with what he knew must be blood. Nelson was shaken for a +moment; but he put aside the strange kinship he so often felt for +patrolmen because they were also wakers and drew back, peering round +into the darkness, pretty certain that he knew what had happened to +this patrolman. + +He pushed himself erect and turned to see Glynnis, a dark figure but +obviously her, standing near a clump of trees a few feet off. + +"You move quiet as a cat," he said. "You do this?" + +"Uh-huh." She came forward and stared down at the corpse. Nelson was +glad he couldn't see her face in the darkness. "There were two of +them. They split up and I followed after this one and came up behind +him. I slit his throat. Then I went and got the other one the same +way." + +And it had been so simple, thought Nelson. He handed Glynnis the extra +pack. "Take this." She accepted it wordlessly and slipped her arms +into the straps. "Oh," he added, as an afterthought. "Let me show you +something." He reached into the pack and drew out a knife. A good one +with a long plasteel blade that would not chip or corrode like hers. +He handed it to her and imagined her smiling face in the darkness. + +"It doesn't feel like metal," she said, after she had taken the knife +from its scabbard. + +"It isn't. It's a kind of plastic, stronger than most metals. Do you +like it?" He was wasting time, he knew, and he cursed himself for it. +But it didn't matter. + +"It's real nice," she answered. + +"I'm glad you like it," he said, taking her elbow in his hand. "We'd +better go now. They'll be after us." + +They ran most of the night, although it wasn't always running. Nelson +picked a lot of terrain that was too uneven or too thickly covered +with growth for running. They kept to rocks and creekbeds as much as +they could, and they stopped only a few hours before dawn to get a few +hours sleep they were too exhausted to postpone any longer. + +When Nelson awoke the sun was a little higher than he had wanted it to +be. He got to his feet and scanned the morning sky but saw nothing to +indicate sky patrol robots. He felt uneasy about not having made more +territory; but the way had been erratic and uneven. A thorough search +pattern could find him easily; the further away he got from the depot +the better chance he stood of not being discovered by a robot. He +wondered, briefly, just how many would be called out, but there was no +reason to wonder. Three patrolmen dead meant a lot of searching to +find the killers. He and Glynnis couldn't waste much time. + +He nudged the still sleeping girl with his foot to wake her. She awoke +suddenly, her hand darting toward her new knife and a low but +startled cry came from her. + +"Quiet." He had dug two cans out of his pack and handed one to her. +"We overslept. Eat in a hurry." + +She opened her breakfast. "We'll be traveling most of the day?" she +asked. When he nodded, "yes," she said, "I can take it." + +"I know you can; but they'll have a search out for us by now and a +thorough one. If we hadn't met when we had they'd have picked you up +for sure after I raided that depot--if I could have pulled it off +alone." + +She smiled. + +"You ever see an air robot?" he asked. + +"No." + +"I hope you never do. They'll fly out a search pattern, and they have +equipment that can detect a human being. They can send back signals to +tell where we are if they spot us. Our only hope is to get away before +the search pattern gets this far. If we can get far enough away, we +stand a better chance, because they'll have to spread out more thinly. +We'll have to run for a long time, but eventually they'll give up. +Until then--Well--" He let it hang. But Glynnis caught on. + + * * * * * + +The rest of the day they traveled, stopping only briefly to eat and +once during the afternoon when they came to a small river. Nelson's +admiration for Glynnis increased. She responded intelligently to his +commands, and learned quickly. She was strong and athletic, with the +reflexes of an animal. + +They made good time. When darkness came Nelson estimated they had made +almost fifty miles since the raid, even over rough terrain. He hoped +that that would be enough. He was tired, and though the girl attempted +to hide her own fatigue, her attempts were becoming more and more +exaggerated. He searched out a camp site. + +He found one on a hill, overlooking a river. There was protection from +the wind. The moon was up and there was plenty of light from it; but +Nelson didn't think the searchers would be out at night. + +After they had eaten, Nelson leaned back against the thick bole of a +tree and found himself studying the girl. Her features were even +enough, but she was not a classically beautiful girl. Nor an +unattractive one. It was her eyes, he decided. She was staring off +into the sky and forest. Her eyes were large, dark, enigmatic eyes +that expressed much; expressed it eloquently. But he had the feeling +there was much in the girl that those eyes hid. Her body was lean, but +whether from exercise or undernourishment he couldn't be sure. Her +figure was full, for all the leanness, and ample. She was strong, +though she hardly looked muscular. She had been toughened by her +environment. Edna had not been as tough as Glynnis. + +With sudden embarrassment, he realized he had been comparing Glynnis +and Edna frequently. He didn't want to do that--but he couldn't help +himself. + +"Something wrong?" Glynnis asked anxiously. + +She was returning his stare. "No," he said. "I was ... looking at +you." For a long moment, neither spoke. Then he said, "We'll be +together for a long time." + +"I know. We'll have to be." + +"I'm glad I found you. I lost my wife to the patrol some time back." + +"I've never been anyone's wife before. There was Frank, but I was +never really what you could call his wife, exactly." + +"Many people ever stay with your folks?" + +"Not many. Frank only stayed a few days. I liked him. I wanted to go +with him." + +"Why didn't you?" + +She broke off a blade of grass and slowly began tearing it into +strips, intently gazing at it. "He just left suddenly without taking +me. I guess he thought I was just a stupid brat. That was maybe two or +three years ago." Her voice sounded as if she were smiling a little. +Nelson thought that strange. + +"You ever think much about the sleepers?" he asked suddenly. + +"Sometimes. I wonder what it's like in their dreams." + +"They like it in their dreams. Those dreams are built for them. They +get along happily in their world, grateful for it. That's the word, +grateful." He listened for a moment to nightsounds. "But they're +helpless. If anything happens, they're asleep and unable to act. If +they wake up, they're in a world they don't know how to live in." + +"If you were a sleeper, what kind of world would you want to dream +about?" + +"I don't want to be a sleeper." + +"Yes, but if you were. Would you live in a castle?" + +He thought on it for the first time. "I don't know," he said finally. +"I don't think so. I think I'd travel. Go out to the stars. There's a +whole universe out there. Men went out there; they're still out there. +I guess they've forgotten us." + +"You think they'll ever come back?" + +"Some day I think somebody from out there will come back and land on +Earth to see what it's like. Maybe they'll try to invade us. We'd be +pretty helpless with most of us asleep in our pipe-dream utopias." + +"I wouldn't like to be caught and put in a dream," she said. "But I'd +like to live in a castle." Nelson gazed at her. She had never known a +commune, he realized. If she had, she would have bred when told to and +then docilely filed away to her coffin. But she had never been +indoctrinated. If she went into the dreams, it would be against her +will. But he had to admit that he had some reservations.... + +He moved close to her. + +"Maybe some day we can live in a castle. Or go into space to some +planet where men live in castles." He stared at the stars. "Out there +they must be like gods," he said and his voice sounded strange, even +to him. + +He looked down at Glynnis. The moonlight was full on her face; she +looked fit to be a goddess to those gods, he thought. She was staring +off and around at the wilderness; she was saying, "Out here there's +trees. And air. I like to look at the trees." He reached over and +pulled her face around to him and kissed her. She was startled, but +returned the kiss warmly. + +She pulled away just far enough to look into his face. She was +smiling. "I think I like you better than I did Frank," she said. + + * * * * * + +Nelson lay awake for a few moments, trying to identify the noise. It +was a low humming sound off in the distance. He could feel Glynnis, +breathing evenly with sleep beside him. The sky was just beginning to +color with sunrise in the east. As quietly as possible, Nelson eased +himself erect, still trying to place the noise. He placed it, and +realized that he had not really wanted to identify it. + +"Quiet," he said as he roused the girl. She opened her eyes wide, and +stared at him, confused and uncomprehending. + +"What's wrong?" + +"Hear that noise?" + +"Yes," she said after a second. + +"One of their search machines. Probably they've adopted a loose search +pattern, or maybe we left some kind of sign somewhere. It's not coming +closer, but we'd better get out of here." + +They ate hastily, in the awakening light of sunrise. They ran away +from the sound of the machine, and it lessened in the distance. + +It was the middle of the morning when they heard it again. Nelson +judged it to be roughly a mile away and to the west. He waited a +minute, listening. It seemed to be describing a search pattern curve +that swung in front of their path. He decided to double back and +around to miss it. + +The undergrowth was thick in this part of the forest. They made their +way through the bushes and waist-high grasses, being as careful as +possible not to leave too many signs of their passing. Glynnis' shorts +and thin blouse weren't much protection against the thorns or the +recoiling limbs of bushes but she didn't complain. Gradually the +forest became mostly trees again. They found a path some animal had +made and followed it. + +When they came to the clearing, Nelson almost didn't see the thing in +the air. He heard Glynnis gasp behind him, and with a start, glanced +around. She was staring at something in front of them, and in the air. +He looked where she was staring and saw the air robot hovering near +the edge of the clearing. It was about two feet long, slender, +metallic and smooth. Nelson knew though that it was alert and that +receptors built into its skin were registering their presence. It +hovered about ten feet above the ground, some twenty feet from them, +making no noise. Sky robots made noise only when they were moving at +a fairly good speed. They had fled the noise of one only to be trapped +in the silence of another. + +Suddenly, Glynnis was shouting, "It's one of them!" Nelson turned to +see her level her gun, and before he could stop her a white hot +streamer lashed out at the robot and engulfed it. + +"No," he shouted, too late. The machine took the blast turning cherry +red and bobbing lightly in the air for a moment before energy +compensators and stabilizers adjusted to the effects of the blast. The +machine turned back to its lustrous silver color and there was a low +hum as it righted itself gracefully then swung around, into the center +of the clearing to get a better focus on them. + +"It doesn't even have a mark on it," Glynnis said, in a low tone, +moving closer to Nelson and laying one hand on his shoulder. + +"No. But don't worry; it can't hurt us. We've got to figure some way +to get out of here and leave it behind." He turned and gently guided +her toward the trees. When they were in the dubious shelter of the +trees, Nelson stopped and tried to figure a way out. He could see the +machine hanging in the center of the clearing on invisible lines of +force, turning slightly to find them in the dense growth, then, with +one end pointed at them, bobbing slightly with the low breeze. + +"What's it doing?" Glynnis asked. There was superstitious awe in her +voice that annoyed Nelson. + +"Sending a signal to the patrol. We don't have much time before they +get here." + +"But if the machine can't be shot down what can we do?" + +"Hand me your gun." He took her gun and pointed to a vernier control +set into the side of the weapon. "This is the intensity control; it's +on low." He turned it up. "Now it's on full." + +"Will that stop the machine?" + +"Not by itself. But if we both move in, blasting together, again and +again we might do it some damage." + +"All right," she said, taking the gun. + +Nelson led the way into the clearing. The machine moved back a little +and bobbed to keep them in alignment. Nelson felt the dryness of his +throat as he raised his gun to aim at the incurious machine. "All +set?" he asked. From the corner of his eye he could see that Glynnis +had raised her gun and was sighting. + +"All set," she answered. + +"O.K." Nelson fired. His blast hit the robot head on. It was absorbed, +but almost as soon as it had died down, Glynnis fired. Nelson fired +again, catching the machine in an almost steady stream of white hot +energy. The machine suddenly caught on to what they were doing. It +tried to escape their range by going up, but they followed it. By this +time the compensators were already beginning to fail. Haywire +instruments jerked the machine back down and then side to side, then +into a tree trunk, blindly. It rebounded and dipped low, almost +touching the ground before it curved back up. Some of Glynnis' shots +were missing, but Nelson made every shot count, even while the robot +was darting about wildly. + +The machine was glowing cherry red, now, some twelve feet off the +ground, unable to rise further, one end pointed sharply upward. +Something inside it began screaming, loudly, shrilly, with a vibration +that hurt Nelson's teeth. Nelson was firing mechanically. The +machine's loud screaming stopped suddenly. Nelson checked his fire. +Glynnis fired once more, missing as the machine suddenly dropped about +a foot. For perhaps a second the machine remained motionless. Then it +died without sound, and fell to the ground, landing with a dull noise +and setting fire to the grass under and around it. + +[Illustration] + +For that matter, they had started a major forest fire with their +blastings. The trees across the clearing from them were already +roaring with flames. Nelson didn't wait to check on the machine. He +grabbed Glynnis and pulled her around toward the way they had come. +She stumbled, staring back at the machine. + +"Come on!" he said, in agitation. She came to life, mechanically, and +let him propel her along. The wind was away from them, but the fire +growing. They ran madly until they had to stop and fall exhausted to +the ground. When he could breathe again without torturing his lungs, +Nelson looked back and saw the smoke from the fire in the distance +behind them. They were safe from the fire, but their escape was cut +off by it. It would, he knew with dull certainty, attract attention. + +When he had rested as long as he dared, he said, "We'd better get +going." + +"I'm not sure I can," she said. + +"Well, you've got to. If we stay here, we'll be caught." + + * * * * * + +They did not pause to eat. It was about midday when they encountered +the robot and they walked well into the afternoon, their only purpose +being to put as much distance between them and the place where they +had shot the robot down as possible. Nelson found himself moving +numbly, blindly uncaring of anything by making progress forward. He +listened to the humming of an approaching robot for a long while +before it registered on his consciousness. + +He whirled, drawing his gun, momentarily giving way to the panic that +had been threatening to engulf him all afternoon. He saw the machine, +high above the trees behind them, safely out of range, he knew. +Bitterly, he fought down the urge to fire the gun anyway. It took a +tremendous exertion of will to make his arm return the gun to its +holster. + +"What can we do?" asked Glynnis, a slight quaver in her voice. + +"Not a thing," said Nelson; then, almost in a rage he cried it. "Not +one damned thing!" + +They both turned back the way they had been going and ran, hoping to +find some cover with which to duck the machine. Nelson converted his +rage and fear into a strength he had never known he could call upon. +He ran on, and Glynnis behind him. And he knew that she, like he, ran +despite the rawness in her throat and lungs and cramping of her legs. +The only thing he could think of was that he wanted to enter a +mausoleum not as a prisoner, but as the head of an army. + +He ran blindly, hearing nothing but the machine and his own rasping +breath. Then suddenly, he was stumbling over the edge of an +embankment, flailing his arms and twisting himself around so that he +managed to land on his back. It hurt and the wind went out of him. He +was sliding and rolling. Somehow he managed to stop himself. He lay +painfully coughing and trying to get his breath. Below him he could +see the wild rushing of a river at the base of the sheer embankment. +He looked back up. Glynnis had one leg over the edge but had not +fallen. Nelson crawled his way back up the slope. + +They were trapped by the river. It must be another part of the same +river they had spent the night by, thought Nelson. But where it had +been calm and shallow, it was now a raging torrential river where +brown, churning waters ran between high, difficult to climb cliffs. + +There was no need for either of them to speak. They began looking for +a place to cross the river. All the time they searched they could hear +the machine behind them, above them, humming safely out of their +range. + +The sun was low in the sky when they heard the second humming. The +humming grew until it was a throbbing that covered the weaker sound of +the robot and chilled Nelson. + +"The patrol," he said, pushing the girl toward the forest. "Back into +the trees. We're going to have to fight it out with them." + +They ran into the trees. The throbbing stopped and behind them, Nelson +could hear the sounds made by men thrashing through the undergrowth. +His palms were wet; he wiped them on his shirt front. The impending +contact with the patrol gave him a calmness as always, and he picked +out a thicket where he believed he could make some sort of stand. + +He reached the thicket with Glynnis behind him. Her gun was out. He +signed to her to lower the intensity of the gun; she caught on. He +watched her face. It was like a mask. + +Nelson listened to the sounds of the approaching patrolmen. Five or +six, he decided. Plus a guard back at the flier. He'd figure on eight, +in all, he decided. Then the first one showed behind some bushes. + +Nelson touched Glynnis' arm in a signal to wait. The patrolman looked +around, searching too intensely to find anything. He was young. Nelson +didn't think he would uncover their whereabouts and for a moment +debated letting him pass. + +But he didn't want to be surrounded. He pulled his gun up and sighted +carefully before squeezing the trigger. In the tenth of a second +before the patrolman burst into flames, the blast produced a blast +circle that grew to the size of a basketball in his midsection. The +patrolman fell without screaming. + +The others were there now. Most of them were young and two rushed +forward at the sight of their companion's death, to die like heroes. +The others wisely sought cover. Nelson decided that the thicket wasn't +as safe as he'd hoped. One of the patrolmen was doing a good job with +an energizer, coming closer with each shot, before Nelson finally saw +where he was, and fired at him. Nelson saw the trunk of a large fallen +tree and pointed to it for Glynnis' benefit. She nodded. + +There was cover most of the way. Nelson went first, crouching low to +the ground and running with the ease of a cat. He made the log and +began firing to cover Glynnis. He saw her coming, out of the corner of +his eye, then concentrated on covering her with firepower. Suddenly +the girl let out a startled yell and he saw her sprawl to the ground, +tripping over a root. He called her name and without thinking leaped +to his feet to run to help her. He was halfway there when the +patrolman came into range. Nelson realized what he had done. Glynnis +was already on her feet and running. Cursing himself, Nelson jerked +his gun around, but it was too late. An energizer blast exploded the +ground beneath him and he felt himself hurtling over backwards. He +could only see blackness and the bright, quick, flashing of pin-point +light in it. Then, he was falling, spinning.... + + * * * * * + +Patrol Cadet Wallace Sherman watched the man on the table with mixed +feelings; on the one hand, there was pity for a man whose condition +was hopeless, and on the other there were the misgivings that come +with guarding a criminal. Perhaps it was Sherman's youth that caused +him to emphasize those misgivings and move his hand toward his sidearm +when the man stirred. + +But the man on the table only stirred a little and groaned. Sherman +was not sure whether or not the man was coming to. He shouldn't be, +Sherman knew. He took a couple of steps forward and starred at the +man's face. + +The man was breathing normally. His head moved slightly but his eyes +were still closed. His face was the palest, softest looking face +Sherman had ever seen. It was the face of a man who had never known +sunlight, Sherman thought somberly; or at least had not known it in +many years. He wondered, vaguely just what kind of life the man +dreamed he had. As he was watching the man's face, Sherman saw his +lips move and heard him utter something he could not make out. He bent +closer to hear better. + +"Glynnis"--the man on the table was saying. + +"Is he waking up?" Sherman heard a voice asking. + +A little embarrassed, Sherman turned around and saw Blomgard standing +in the doorway, "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. No. At least I don't think so. He +said something; a word. _Glynnis_, I think. Sounds like a girl's +name." + +Dr. Blomgard came into the room and walked over to the table on which +his patient was stretched out. He removed the clipboard from its hook +and looked through the sheaf of papers fastened to it. After a few +seconds, he said, "Ah, yes. Glynnis. Part of his dream." + +"Doctor--," Sherman heard himself saying, then caught himself. + +"What, cadet," Blomgard asked, turning around. He was a big man, +gray-haired, his hair an unruly mop. His eyes were dark and piercing, +but they were softened by the thickness of the white brows over them. + +"Nothing, sir--" + +"I assure you, that no question will be considered out of place, if +that's what is worrying you." + +"Well, doctor," Sherman said with some difficulty, "I was wondering if +all this is worth it. I mean a special reserve with the artificial +life-dreams for these people. Is it worth the expense and effort?" + +Blomgard regarded the question a moment before answering. "Well, that +depends on things. We have a fairly dynamic, expanding civilization. +This man was born out of step; a natural born rebel. We've reached the +stage where, with a little effort on their own part, most people can +sooner or later find exactly what they want. There are, of course, +exceptions. They can't help being the way they are, but they are that +way. It isn't his fault that he would think nothing of blowing up any +civilization he found himself living in. This is the solution." + +"A drug-induced dream state? Is that a solution?" + +"It's a pretty good one. We provide him with a completely fictitious, +a totally unreal world in which he will be happy." + +"How can anyone be happy like that? I prefer reality." + +Blomgard smiled. "Yes, to a larger extent than he does, you do. Or you +like what you think of as reality." He picked up the clipboard again +and studied the papers on it. "His dream world is one that is designed +for his happiness. In it, he sees everyone else as inhabiting the +dream-coffin. And he pictures himself as a rugged individualist, going +about trying to destroy such a civilization. And of course, he is +practically a lone wolf. Not completely, for he would not be happy +that way. The man is an underdog." + +"I guess it's best," Sherman said. + +"It is," the doctor replied, seriously. "We have no right to take his +life; nor do have the right to destroy his personality, however much +that personality may be offensive to us. And since most inhabitable +planets are, unfortunately, inhabited before we ever get to them, we +have more urgent colonies to establish where we can find room. No, +this is best. We give him a dream based exactly on his psychological +needs; a compensation, so to speak, for the real life we take away +from him. For most people only have the right to pursue happiness. In +return for a normal life, we've given him a guaranteed happiness." + +The doctor let that sink in for a while; but Sherman still had a +strong wish that he had pulled some other duty. Perhaps on one of the +new outposts, like Deneb. + +The doctor glanced at his watch. "Well, the repairs are done with and +they should have the nutrient refreshed by now. Let's wheel him on +back." + +A little gratefully, Sherman moved over to the table. + +"You'll be all right, soon enough," the doctor said to the unconscious +man on the table. "This interruption will be neatly explained away and +remain as merely a memory of a slightly unpleasant moment after things +get back to normal. That'll convince you of the reality of your +world--if you ever need convincing." + +Sherman saw the sleeping man stir slightly and heard him utter sounds +again. + +"Wheel him out," Blomgard said. + +Gratefully, Sherman turned the table around and wheeled it out the +door. + + * * * * * + +From far off, Nelson heard Glynnis calling to him. "Are you all right, +Hal?" he heard. "Can you hear me, Hal?" + +"I can hear you," he managed to say. He opened his eyes. He saw his +gun a few dozen feet away on the ground. + +"I thought they had you, sure," Glynnis said quietly. "I got the two +of them. Don't ask me how I did it, but I got them." + +He sat up, feeling dizzy from having hit the ground with such force. +"I don't guess I was much help," he said weakly. "You sure did a fine +job." His head ached, but the remembered the fight and being thrown by +the impact of the blast. And something else--something distant and +alien, like a dream, from the deepest part of his mind. It pestered +him a moment, just out of reach of his consciousness, then he shrugged +it off as unimportant. He looked around and saw the charred bodies of +the patrolmen. "You did a fine job," he told Glynnis, meaning it. + +"Can you fly a patrol ship?" + +"Huh?" + +"We've got one now," Glynnis said. "I shot the guard they left with +it, too. Had to." + +"I see," he said, marveling at the girl. "I can fly one. I haven't +since I was in the commune, though. As long as it's in good +condition." + +"I guess it is. I didn't hit it with any shots." + +"We can go anywhere in the world with that ship," he said getting to +his feet. "It doesn't need fuel; it can fly forever. You know what +that means Glynnis? We can raise an army, if we want to." + +"And we can get into the mausoleums and wake everybody up?" + +"Yes. Come on," he said and started toward the flier. But Glynnis +grabbed his arm and stopped him. "What is it?" he asked. + +"What's it like to live in a world where everyone's awake?" she asked +him. + +"Why ... I don't know, I've never lived in one." + +"Then why do you want to wake everyone up?" + +"It's wrong the way they are now." + +Glynnis scowled and Nelson could tell that she was struggling with +strange concepts. He felt sympathy for her, knowing how she felt. + +"What I mean," she asked finally, "is why is it wrong? What's the +reason?" + +"Because they can do better. We can save them and show them that; I +can lead them back where they belong." + +"I see," Glynnis said gravely accepting his words. "All right." + +Nelson smiled at her. She looked up at him and smiled back. The patrol +ship was waiting for them, not far off. + +Together, they marched off to save the world. + + * * * * * + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Happy Man, by Gerald Wilburn Page + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAPPY MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 30705.txt or 30705.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/7/0/30705/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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