She said it as though it were totally inconceivable that anyone beyond
the Walls should seek to enter voluntarily. Maybe it was inconceivable.
"Curiosity," Danton said. He managed to smile at each of them in turn.
"There have been so many rumors growing old, becoming legends and
myths. I came in to find out for myself."
"You do not expect to escape?"
Danton shrugged. "I don't care one way or the other. I had hoped to
remain here." He waited. He thought. Finally he added, "I had hoped to
become one of you."
"What?" one of the men said in a whisper.
The man on Rhone's right said, "A curious type. Obviously he has
insight. One might almost think--"
The woman said, "We can speculate later, if we have to, Weisser. Right
now we are interested in facts. Facts!"
She kept looking into Danton's eyes. Her own eyes had a curious green
quality. She was beautiful, of course, physically. No one had ever
denied the physical beauty of the Oligarchs. Hereditary physical beauty
was important to them. They developed it by selective breeding and--no
one had figured out by what other means.
There was the indication of an edge to the woman's voice now. "Three of
our ships vanished. Do you know anything about those ships, soldier?"
Danton smiled. "Yes," he said, and paused for perhaps five seconds. "We
destroyed them."
The silence then was longer than five seconds. It was very long. It
lengthened until it was painfully heavy. The woman's voice was a
whisper. "How could the rabble do that? It isn't true, of course. It
couldn't be true."
"You'll never find the ships," Danton said. "There aren't any ships
now. We blew them to pieces. Our scientists did it. I don't know where
the scientists and their secret laboratories are. I don't know too much
about the inner workings of the revolt. But I know some things you
might find very valuable."
"But, Weisser, it is impossible, isn't it?"
"Of course. The man is obviously lying. They couldn't possibly have
evolved any such weapon. They couldn't even have developed the concept
of revolt. Their cultural patterns, their attitudes and hereditary
capabilities are set. They can't change."
"Then how do we classify this soldier?"
"Why bother? Some sort of crazy deviant. We put him under the Scanners
now, then dispose of him. His body has some value."
The woman said, "There still remains the question of what happened to
our ships."
Danton thought: the Oligarch Council operates on a strictly top-down
principle. Who is the extreme top? The woman, Rhone? Or the man,
Weisser? One of them certainly. That might be important to know.
Danton dipped into the small supply packet at his waist, lifted a
food-capsule to his mouth. He looked first at Weisser, then at the
woman. "I can tell you a lot. And if you don't find out what is
happening out there very soon, you'll be destroyed. Like those ships.
I'll bargain with you. Let me remain here, enjoy certain privileges
I've thought about often when I was crawling around out there in the
mud. Show me what you have here, let me understand. For that, I'll give
you valuable information you need to survive."