* * * * *
Gil Patton and Brant showed their official cards to the Watcher behind
the desk. Gil's civilian investigative status gained him immediate
entrance, but there was some discussion concerning Brant's right to
attend. The matter was finally cleared up to the Watcher's satisfaction
when Brant explained that Benton of the Sensory Com Center had arranged
for him to attend.
The two men were ushered into a large chamber, at one end of which
was an enormous metal desk almost the width of the room. Eight men
were seated behind it. Brant recognized the leader of the Watchers and
several other officials of the city. He and Gil took seats to one side
of the room near the desk.
"They're going to reexamine some of the Rebels that have been captured
recently," Gil said. "Should be amusing."
Brant nodded.
At a signal, a Watcher opened a door at one side of the room. A young
girl and a man and woman, were led into the room. They were led to a
spot to stand directly in front of the examiners.
"You are Rebels. Is that true?" barked the leader of the Watchers, who
was conducting the examination.
None of the three answered.
"You have been planning to destroy the city of Dreamtown?" the man
asked.
Again no one protested. He looked up.
"You deny these charges?" He paused and then directed his attention to
the girl before him.
"Your name!"
"Nancy Corbett," the girl said.
"Perhaps you will tell us why your people are being so foolish."
Nancy smiled at the man, and spoke quietly. "We don't believe we are
being foolish."
The man laughed aloud and the others joined him. Brant turned to Gil.
"She's not bad looking."
"Do your Rebels really believe you can destroy us?"
"We don't want to destroy you," Nancy replied. "We have no intentions
of doing that. We believe you are making many mistakes here in
Dreamtown and we believe things must be changed," she said.
"And how do you intend to do that?"
Nancy didn't answer.
The man stood up quickly and leaned across the desk. "Then you admit
you are trying to destroy the way of life we have built up here," he
shouted.
"No!" the man next to Nancy answered suddenly. "We've told you. We feel
it is wrong and must be changed."
"We want things back the way they were before you came," the woman said.
"What do you mean?" the man roared again.
"We want to read books and we want to hear the old music again. We want
to raise our children the way they should be raised."
"When we win we are going to rebuild the schools," Nancy said quickly.
"Silence!" the man thundered.
A man at the end of the desk rose.
"Didn't you always have enough to eat when you lived in Dreamtown?" he
asked.
Again no one answered.
"Didn't you have enough to do for entertainment?" He looked from face
to face before him.
"Didn't you enjoy yourselves here?" he asked.
Nancy stepped forward. "That's just it! Here all we were able to do,
all we were allowed to do, was enjoy ourselves. But only in your ways.
Some of us felt there were better ways to enjoy ourselves than with
parties and festivals and sensation pills."
"What ways?" the man asked quietly.
The man next to Nancy spoke. "We wanted time to think. Some of us
wanted to paint or write books."
"We wanted to be with our children," the woman said.
"Surely you realize by now," the man continued from behind the desk,
"how insignificant these things are in comparison to the progress we've
made in Dreamtown. Paintings done by hand cannot equal our paintings
that are done mechanically. And as for books. One must be alone to read
books and we believe that people should be together and share with one
another."
"That's just it," Nancy said. "Reading a book _is_ sharing something!
You share an experience with the man who wrote the book. You tell
people about it, they read it, you discuss it. That's sharing."
Another man at the desk spoke. "You talk of experience. With our
sensation pills you gain much greater and more vivid experience than
you ever could from a book."
"But it's not real that way," Nancy said softly. "It's not natural
either."
The leader of the Watchers resumed the examination, which consisted
of the same questions and the same accusations repeated over and over
again. The three Rebels stood awaiting whatever it was that to be done
to them, helpless to answer the charges, since there seemed to be no
way for them to make themselves understood.
"What will they do with them?" Brant asked.
"Psychwash them probably. It's simple and there's never any trouble
afterward." Gil answered.
The leader stood up and addressed the three individuals before him.
"We have decided that you are to be sent to the psych laboratories!"
The Rebel woman instinctively raised her hand to her mouth in fear.
Nancy and the other man stiffened but their glances remained steady.
"We will give you a day to think about what is to happen to you. If, in
that time, you decide to come to us with information concerning your
Rebel groups--their whereabouts, their plans and so on, you may do so.
Otherwise our plans for you will be carried out!"
He sat down. "Let me remind you that the fate of those who have been
psychwashed is not very pleasant. They no longer think. They move when
they are told to move. They do only what they are told to do. They
don't read books and they don't paint pictures. They--."
"They are not very different from the rest of the people in Dreamtown,
are they?" Nancy interrupted.
"Take them out of here!" the man screamed.
Nancy's remark created angry excitement among the examiners and as they
discussed it among themselves Brant and Gil watched the three people
being led swiftly from the room.
* * * * *
The city lay like a great carnival ground in the wilderness,
illuminating the dark night. Dan and Professor Corbett lay on the
ground, hidden behind the scrubby growth of bushes a few hundred yards
from the wall of the city.
Dan looked at his watch and the luminous dial told him it was ten
o'clock. The raid was scheduled for 10:20.
"I think we got all the patrols, Alan," Dan whispered, "but I warned
the men to be careful anyway. We didn't have enough guns for everybody,
but once we're in the city we can get them from the Watchers and from
their arsenal."
Professor Corbett leaned toward Dan. "Let's go over the plan once
more," he said.
Dan shifted his position. "We have thirty people down at the West End
gate. They're coming in three minutes after we start. Bill and Ed
will open this gate and at the same time Joe will dynamite the drug
warehouses."
"Three of our men," the Professor said, "will head for the South
gate as soon as we're in, and three others will open the East gate.
If the surprise is great enough, they shouldn't have too hard a time
overcoming the Watchers at the gates. They'll be too confused to know
what hit them."
"Mike," Dan said, "will barricade the Watcher's barracks at 10:18, and
then wait until he is joined by the group from the West. That will only
take a few minutes and, once there, the group will split. Part will
keep the Watcher's under control and the rest will invade the Detention
Plant."
"Mike can pass out guns from the Watcher's arsenal to our people
in the Plant and direct them to the Playground. I'll head for the
Playground as soon as we're in," the Professor continued, "and we'll
take over there."
"You'll have the most men, Alan," Dan said. "I'm taking eight men and
heading for the Council Building. We'll grab the Council and bring them
to the Playground. Check, Alan?"
"Check!"
"It's 10:16. Pass the word along to watch for the first sign of the
gates opening," Dan directed.
Silence fell as each man in Dan's group waited while the remaining
minutes passed. Every eye was fixed on the city gates. 10:19. 10:20.
"Let's go!" Dan yelled at the top of his voice and leaped to his
feet. The gigantic gates began to swing outward as the forty five men
in Dan's group sprang to their feet and raced, shouting, toward the
opening gate.
"This way!" a voice called shrilly.
"It's Ed!" Dan called to Professor Corbett who was running by his side.
They reached Ed as the rest of the group entered the gate. Shots were
being exchanged between the Rebels and the Watchers now.
"Where's Bill?" Dan yelled above the noise.
"They shot him," Ed answered. "Come on!"
Suddenly, a series of terrific explosions filled the night with
screaming sound. The earth shook under their feet.
"The warehouses are gone!" Dan yelled. "I'm heading for the Council!"
The eight men Dan had selected raced after him down the empty street
of the city. The sound of firing, announcing the entry of the group at
the East gate, met their ears.
As Dan's men careened around a corner they saw two Watchers sprinting
toward them. One of the Rebels dropped to his knee, fired twice, and
the two Watchers froze, in the typical macabre positions produced by a
hypno-ray gun.
The group parted and made separate approaches to the Council Building.
Dan and four others stopped as they came in sight of the building. A
group of Watchers stood, guns ready, peering up and down the deserted
street.
"Let's go!" Dan yelled, and the Rebels sprang forward, dodging in
and out of doorways for protection. The other Rebels appeared at
the opposite end of the street. The Watchers, seeing themselves
outnumbered, suddenly turned and fled up the steps of the Council
Building.
"Stop!" Dan shouted. He fired a warning shot and the fleeing Watchers
halted.
"They'll serve as shields," Dan muttered. "No telling what we'll run
into inside."
The Rebels moved forward, with the Watchers preceding them at gunpoint.
Inside, the hall was silent and they walked cautiously, alert for any
sudden action.
"Don't turn around," Dan ordered the men in front of him. "Lead us to
the quarters of the Council."
The tense group continued through halls and rooms resplendently
furnished and decorated. They stopped several yards from a steel door
which faced them across a high ceilinged room.
"Go on!" Dan ordered.
"That's the Council's private apartment," one of the Watchers snapped.
"Open it!"
"No one's ever opened it. No one's ever been inside," the man answered.
Dan turned to one of his men. "Try to open that door, but be ready for
anything!"
After some minutes, the man turned back to the group.
"There doesn't seem to be any way to get it open, Dan," the man said.
"Then we'll blast it open!"
But it was soon evident that their blasts had no effect on the massive
structure. One of the Watchers sneered, when suddenly, without warning,
the door slid aside into the wall.
"Keep an eye on them," Dan cautioned his men.
He moved cautiously as he neared the open door. There was no sound
from within and so far as he could tell the room was empty. He stepped
inside.
"Good evening!" a voice greeted him.
Dan started, and his eyes quickly searched the room for the source of
the voice that had delivered this unusual greeting.
"Over here," the voice said. A grotesquely fat man wearing a red robe,
heavy with gold brocade rose from a reclining chair and smiled at Dan.
"We've just--," Dan began but the fat man interrupted him.
"I know! I've been expecting you for some time now. Have some grapes?"
the man asked, indicating a bronze container on the table. "Or some
wine?" he asked, proferring a silver decanter that stood beside the
bronze dish of grapes.
"Where are the other members of the Council?" Dan demanded.