received the full realisation of death, the body ignored it and continued to pump out its believe in the future. To the body, the idea that there could be no future was impossible. You could convey other ideas to the body and it would put them into practice—but how could it express the final shutting-off, the close-down?
Death? Oh, no, merely a transformation from one state to another.
Clovis shivered and Fastina looked surprised.
He got up. “I must contact Yoluf.”
“How will you stop Take if he decides to leave?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try force if I have to.” What other way was there of restraining his enemy in a world without police, military or even weapons?
four We Are Here!
Yoluf was a tall, slim man in middle age. He had very fair hair and a pale, anaemic face, pale blue eyes and, in contrast to the rest, very full red lips that looked painted.
Yoluf sat at his complex control board surrounded by monitor screens. He was wearing a high-collared orange shirt and black tights. He sat back in his chair and spread his long hands in apology.
“No trace yet, Clovis.” His voice was extraordinarily high-pitched.
“You’ve mentioned that his reflexes are abnormally quick?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I gave them all the information you gave me. We need a passport system like the old days—banning them was one of your laws wasn’t it Clovis? I’ve always been against that ban. To hell with the freedom of the individual—how am I supposed to run an information centre without a decent system?”
Clovis smiled a little. “You’re a frustrated bureaucrat.”
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without them, Clovis,” Yoluf wagged a finger. “It was your civil servants who helped turn over the State from its old restrictive form into its present one... But this friend of yours hasn’t been noticed in any of my sectors. There are no strange ships in orbit. He could be hiding out on the Moon perhaps—I haven’t had all reports from there yet.”
Clovis sighed. “If others hadn’t seen him I’d begin to think I was imagining him. But I’m sure he’s on Earth. Have you checked all ships on the fields?”
“It’s hard—they come and go. Mainly shuttles, of course, but since the big news came out a lot more people have been arriving from the outer planets to spend as much time on Earth as possible.”
“I see. You can’t blame them. Have all passenger ships been checked—was his name on any list?”
“Tace was the nearest we could find, and he turned out to be an ex-inspector of Mines coming home out of a job. That decision of yours to wind up the government and almost all its departments didn’t meet with everyone’s approval you know—not in my branch of the service in particular.”
“We said people could continue with their work if they wanted to.”
“It’s not the same, Clovis. Not the same. Where’s yesterday’s smooth-running machine? Bits—bits without links or a motor.” He sighed. “Now if the machine were running again, it wouldn’t take us more than a few minutes to find friend Take.”
He turned as a light blinked above a monitor and a face appeared on the screen. The colours were in bad register and the man’s face was a dirty green.
“This will be from the Moon,” Yoluf said pointing at the screen. “See that colour—we can’t get a mechanic to fix it. I’m telling you, Clovis, your decision will result in chaos—anarchy—within the next couple of years. There won’t be anyone alive by the time that galaxy— ” The signal buzzed and Yoluf flicked a switch on his panel. “Yes?”
The man on the screen was already talking. “—no information regarding the man Take. No one of his description or name has landed here, though we haven’t checked below surface yet. Some of the old mine pits , are deep enough to hide a ship.”
Yoluf said belligerently, “Then keep trying,” and he broke contact well before the message could get to
Death? Oh, no, merely a transformation from one state to another.
Clovis shivered and Fastina looked surprised.
He got up. “I must contact Yoluf.”
“How will you stop Take if he decides to leave?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try force if I have to.” What other way was there of restraining his enemy in a world without police, military or even weapons?
four We Are Here!
Yoluf was a tall, slim man in middle age. He had very fair hair and a pale, anaemic face, pale blue eyes and, in contrast to the rest, very full red lips that looked painted.
Yoluf sat at his complex control board surrounded by monitor screens. He was wearing a high-collared orange shirt and black tights. He sat back in his chair and spread his long hands in apology.
“No trace yet, Clovis.” His voice was extraordinarily high-pitched.
“You’ve mentioned that his reflexes are abnormally quick?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I gave them all the information you gave me. We need a passport system like the old days—banning them was one of your laws wasn’t it Clovis? I’ve always been against that ban. To hell with the freedom of the individual—how am I supposed to run an information centre without a decent system?”
Clovis smiled a little. “You’re a frustrated bureaucrat.”
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without them, Clovis,” Yoluf wagged a finger. “It was your civil servants who helped turn over the State from its old restrictive form into its present one... But this friend of yours hasn’t been noticed in any of my sectors. There are no strange ships in orbit. He could be hiding out on the Moon perhaps—I haven’t had all reports from there yet.”
Clovis sighed. “If others hadn’t seen him I’d begin to think I was imagining him. But I’m sure he’s on Earth. Have you checked all ships on the fields?”
“It’s hard—they come and go. Mainly shuttles, of course, but since the big news came out a lot more people have been arriving from the outer planets to spend as much time on Earth as possible.”
“I see. You can’t blame them. Have all passenger ships been checked—was his name on any list?”
“Tace was the nearest we could find, and he turned out to be an ex-inspector of Mines coming home out of a job. That decision of yours to wind up the government and almost all its departments didn’t meet with everyone’s approval you know—not in my branch of the service in particular.”
“We said people could continue with their work if they wanted to.”
“It’s not the same, Clovis. Not the same. Where’s yesterday’s smooth-running machine? Bits—bits without links or a motor.” He sighed. “Now if the machine were running again, it wouldn’t take us more than a few minutes to find friend Take.”
He turned as a light blinked above a monitor and a face appeared on the screen. The colours were in bad register and the man’s face was a dirty green.
“This will be from the Moon,” Yoluf said pointing at the screen. “See that colour—we can’t get a mechanic to fix it. I’m telling you, Clovis, your decision will result in chaos—anarchy—within the next couple of years. There won’t be anyone alive by the time that galaxy— ” The signal buzzed and Yoluf flicked a switch on his panel. “Yes?”
The man on the screen was already talking. “—no information regarding the man Take. No one of his description or name has landed here, though we haven’t checked below surface yet. Some of the old mine pits , are deep enough to hide a ship.”
Yoluf said belligerently, “Then keep trying,” and he broke contact well before the message could get to
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