And then he decided that they weren't going to get away with it. His
despair was giving way to a burning rage. He was trapped, and he
knew it, and the very helplessness infuriated him. He had never been
on a ship before, he knew nothing about controls, or lifeboats, or
navigation, but he knew a little about engines. Properly treated, they
would drive a space ship. Improperly treated, they could explode.
He knew it would mean his life, and he didn't care any more. He started
back through the cabin to the hatchway at the rear. It was closed. He
fell upon it savagely, struggling to throw it open.
"That won't do any good," a voice said behind him. "It's locked."
He whirled, staring at the black-haired girl as if she were a ghost.
And then he began kicking at the hatch again. "I'll break it open,
then," he snarled, "and if you don't like it, that's too bad--"
"Stop it!" The girl was upon him now, wrenching at his wrist. "Stop
it, you silly fool, and listen to me for a minute--"
"I listened to you before, and you sold me out." He struggled to break
away from her. "I don't know where you were hiding, but you sold me
out. It was a great act, but it's over now, and now you can go with
me--"
Then she said: "The ship will touch on Titan for an hour or more. You
can leave it then, if you like."
His jaw sagged, and he stared at her, the fear and bitterness and
despair giving way to confusion. "On--Titan?"
"That's what I said. You didn't think you'd be awake and able to
move about now if the ship were headed out, did you? You'd be under
deep-sleep for two weeks. Use your head."
He gaped at her. His thinking began tumbling down around his ears, and
he grasped at it wildly. "But it's going out--"
"Oh, yes. It's going out--from Titan. With a full load. Men and women
aboard, voluntarily aboard. Men and women just like you."
"Then it is true. We grow old and start to die, and they take us to
the Center and make us new again, so we can be shanghaied aboard ships
and driven out to the stars, whether we like it or not. What's the
matter--is the government afraid of us? Or is it just greedy to hand
the people Centauri on a silver platter?"
"I said you could get off on Titan if you want," the girl snapped.
"Sure," he sneered. "I believe you. Anything you say now, I believe
it. Go ahead, say something more. Say something about the rest of the
suckers that are coming through now, the ones who think they can have a
new life without a price-tag on it. How about them? Can they get off on
Titan too?"
"You've got it wrong, Griffin," the girl said sadly. "You've got it
backwards. Right facts, wrong conclusion. Your cause and effect are
backwards."
"I don't get you." Griffin's voice was leaden.
"You weren't made new again so you could be placed on this ship. You
were placed on this ship because you'd been made new again."
Griffin stared at her. "You mean because I'm different now? Because
there's something wrong with me?"