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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a27427e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51257 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51257) diff --git a/old/51257-h.zip b/old/51257-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f2623cf..0000000 --- a/old/51257-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51257-h/51257-h.htm b/old/51257-h/51257-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 33089b7..0000000 --- a/old/51257-h/51257-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1135 +0,0 @@ -<!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=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Furious Rose, by Dean Evans. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Furious Rose, by Dean Evans - -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/license - - -Title: The Furious Rose - -Author: Dean Evans - -Release Date: February 21, 2016 [EBook #51257] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FURIOUS ROSE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="362" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>The Furious Rose</h1> - -<p>By DEAN EVANS</p> - -<p>Illustrated by THORNE</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Science Fiction January 1952.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="175" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">This world was a setup for any man who wanted to get<br /> -along—provided one had enough victims to toss to the wolves!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The Master Clock on the black desk in the office of <i>Federal -Executions</i> made a quiet blipping sound. Immediately the lights lowered -to Emote Neutral. Long, probing shadow fingers snaked here and there -across the floor, and a silence that should have been restful—and -wasn't—descended on the place.</p> - -<p>Tony Radek leaned back in his chair and frowned. One-fifteen in the -morning. At one-fifteen in the morning no man, no matter who, should be -going to his Neg-Emote. Why not hang a man instead? Or electrocute him? -Or gas him the way they used to back in the old days? In those old days -his grandfather used to talk about, where twelve ordinary citizens said -the word that peeled the life off a man like skinning an onion.</p> - -<p>He sighed softly and folded his hands across a tiny paunch that was -just beginning to show. Tony Radek was getting old. He was a "safe" -now. That meant he needn't worry about the war any longer. He was -a nice, mild, peaceable gentleman who stayed at home and thought -beautiful thoughts about the younger men out in space. A man his age -didn't feel anger and hate and retribution and lust and treachery any -more. He was just a little old fat guy. He was the Federal Executioner.</p> - -<p>He frowned again and leaned forward and touched a nacre button on the -desk top. That lit up the screen on his left. Not the Master Screen, -which was the one on his right. This was the other, the one that could -tell him what was going on outside the office, outside in <i>Portal -Waiting</i>, where certain peculiar ghouls who derived a measure of -excitement from the executions were allowed by the gracious State to -hang out.</p> - -<p>He stared at the screen. His frown deepened. <i>Portal Waiting</i> should be -bare and vacant at this hour, but it wasn't. This was the third night -in a row that it wasn't. There was a girl out there. A quiet girl, a -girl who looked about as ghoulish as one of the nice red ritual roses -over in the cooler built into the wall.</p> - -<p><i>Damn the dame, why didn't she go home?</i> Tony Radek's upper lip lifted -a little, showing small angry teeth.</p> - -<p>At once the Emote Neutral lights in the office flickered wildly. Tony -pulled his eyes from the screen and glared up at the lights. That's -progress for you. Let a man go on one little momentary emotional -binge, like this, and right away spies in the joint start screaming. -In a moment now, the one on his right—the Master Screen—would blink -into life and old hell-hips himself would start poking around asking -questions. Just see if it didn't.</p> - -<p>He turned his head to the right, stared at the Master Screen and waited.</p> - -<p>The screen blazed into life. A narrow-faced man with washed-away eyes -that looked as though they'd seen sin and hadn't liked it peered -angrily over toward Tony behind the desk.</p> - -<p>"<i>Mr.</i> Radek!" he had a thin, thin voice that sounded like a sheet of -paper slitting down the middle. "What's going on down there? Can't you -control your own office? Or maybe you'd like to be back in Training?" -The eyes squinted sharply.</p> - -<p>Tony worked up an innocent look. He spread his hands on the black -surface of the desk, smiled, and said mildly: "Out of your mind. My -lights have been as steady as old Emote Neutral herself. Probably that -blonde you got Central Direction kidded into thinking you need as an -assistant—probably you sneaked up on her when she was in Personal Lok -and...."</p> - -<p>"What?" The Master Screen trembled a little and the narrow-faced man's -eyes seemed to jerk out of registration for a moment. "Look here, -Radek, I've stood just about enough of your insinuations!"</p> - -<p>"Look who's making the lights flicker now," said Tony calmly. He waved -an arm around the office. Emote Neutral was flickering rapidly as -though controlled by an interrupter switch. "Central Direction should -see this," he observed.</p> - -<p>He stared briefly at the contorted face on the screen. That face was -working convulsively now, getting red like the ritual roses over in the -cooler.</p> - -<p>He snorted disgustedly, reached forward and touched the matswitch which -threw the Master Screen into visi-lok. At once the screen darkened and -all sound left the office.</p> - -<p>That was more like it. Let old hell-hips up in Supplies and Control -stew if he wanted, there wasn't anything in the Constitution—not even -the old Constitution—that said a man had to sit and look at him.</p> - -<p>"<i>Central Direction to Radek!</i>" a hard voice rapped out of the -alternate speaker over in the corner.</p> - -<p>Tony Radek jerked, spun around. He swallowed quickly, said nervously: -"Yes, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Radek, you're violating Ordinance Six, Code 325, Division of Security! -Unlock that visi-screen at once!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir." Tony's hand flew to the matswitch, pulled it. "Sorry. Elbow -must have hit it accidentally. Didn't know it was locked...."</p> - -<p>"Radek, there's a war on. That visi-lok must be used only in emergency. -You know that."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. Like I said...."</p> - -<p>"I heard. In the future, be a little more careful. And, Radek—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Ready Cell Two. Execution at one-twenty-seven. John Edward Haley. -Convicted of mass interference of morale, City of Greater New Denver, -as outlined under Congressional Act of April 12, 2250. Decision -rendered equally on all three Final Master Machines."</p> - -<p>"No appeal?" asked Tony very softly.</p> - -<p>"No appeal. And, Radek—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir?"</p> - -<p>"The condemned is married. Check with Supplies and Control for bill of -divorcement. His wife is a young woman, will have to marry again in the -morning as outlined under Congressional Act of May 28, 2211. Got that?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p>The Master Screen went dead. Tony blinked. Bill of divorcement. Will -have to marry again in the morning as outlined under Congressional Act. -By God, that's progress for you! He sat staring at the Master Screen -for a long time.</p> - -<p>Then he sighed, punched the button on Supplies and Control.</p> - -<p>"Hell-hips!" he growled. "Snap it up. Execution at one-twenty-seven. -Bill of divorcement."</p> - -<p>The narrow face peered sourly out at him from the Master Screen. It -didn't have much emotion in it now. It was almost blank, like the face -of a humanoid robot somebody'd left something out of.</p> - -<p>"Been hittin' the bottle again, huh?" said Tony.</p> - -<p>"My name is Clacker, <i>Mr.</i> Radek. Arthur Jared Clacker. Kindly keep -that in mind when you address me."</p> - -<p>"Sure, sure. Nice name. Lovely name. Sounds like a stone-boat going -over ground glass. Whip up that bill of divorcement."</p> - -<p>"It's ready, <i>Mr.</i> Radek. <i>Been</i> ready for the last half hour. -I suggest that if there were a little of my own well known and -demonstrated efficiency in <i>your</i> office, perhaps Executions would -be something to be proud of. Instead of what it is. Instead of the -foul-smelling, sloppily run, lice-infested...."</p> - -<p>Tony's hand reached out for the button on Supplies and Control. "Watch -those lights," he said tiredly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He got up from the desk, stretched a little and went across the office -to the cooler in the opposite wall. His feet made no noise; he had that -quiet tread that all cats, a few men and some women achieve. His hand -interrupted the automatic cellgard and a tiny, almost hidden door in -the wall swung wide. He reached up, poked his hand in the cooler, felt -around. A little smile came into his eyes. He took his hand out of the -cooler, got up on tiptoes and looked inside. No roses. Not even one -rose.</p> - -<p>Not even <i>half</i> of a rose.</p> - -<p>Chuckling, he went back to the desk and jabbed a finger at the button -over Supplies and Control.</p> - -<p>"Hell-hips!" he rapped. "Where's all that well known and demonstrated -efficiency I've had to rake out of my ears?"</p> - -<p>The narrow face lit up the Master Screen once more. It looked bored -now. "<i>Mr.</i> Radek, there was something?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Something." Tony's voice dropped, got deadly soft. "How many -weeks since you checked the cooler, boy? There aren't any ritual roses."</p> - -<p>"There—there aren't any?"</p> - -<p>"That's right, Mr. Clacker. Now get away from that screen. I'm -reporting this to Central Direction." His finger jammed down on the -Supplies and Control button. He watched the Master Screen go blank and -grinned. He thought, "Shake a little, Mr. Clacker, shake a little," -because he didn't dare even whisper to himself.</p> - -<p>He sat down at the desk again and thought of something. His finger went -out, touched the button on the screen on the left—the <i>Portal Waiting</i> -screen.</p> - -<p>She was still there, hunched up in one of the chairs like a small child -somebody had left in an interplanet waiting room and then gone away and -forgotten. Tony frowned once more. Damn that dame, she was spoiling his -nights.</p> - -<p>He got up, crossed the office on silent feet, opened the door of -Executions, went down a bare, silent hall. At the levelators he waited -a moment for the platform, took it down, got off again at <i>Portal -Waiting</i>, and crossed to the foyer.</p> - -<p>She was there, just as she'd been on the screen upstairs, only clearer, -more vivid, something witnessed instead of second hand, something with -dimension to it. She was in a big chair that could have accommodated -two like her. She had her legs tucked under her and her brown eyes that -looked up at Tony's approach weren't any larger than two full moons.</p> - -<p>He said, "Are you Mrs. John Haley?"</p> - -<p>The girl nodded. "They—they've got Johnny...."</p> - -<p>"I know." Tony dropped into a chair opposite the girl. "It's late," he -said softly. "You shouldn't be here this time of night, Mrs. Haley."</p> - -<p>The girl thought about that. "You're Mr. Radek, aren't you? In the -Execution Office?"</p> - -<p>"Call me Tony, Mrs. Haley."</p> - -<p>"All right, Tony. Yes, it's late. I hadn't noticed, but I suppose -you're right."</p> - -<p>"You should go home, Mrs. Haley." He stopped, then lied a little. -"They'll let you know. You don't have to worry."</p> - -<p><i>You don't have to worry. They're bringing the guy up now, little -girl, but you don't have to worry. Old hell-hips is getting a ritual -rose now, little girl, but you don't have to worry.</i></p> - -<p>As if he'd deliberately telepathed the thought, the girl said suddenly: -"Tony, is—is it true about the furious roses? I mean, if a man is -found guilty, do they—?"</p> - -<p>"The 'furious' roses, Mrs. Haley?" He smiled. "I see. You mean because -they're so red. Yes, it's true. Ritual roses, we call them, but that's -nothing. Nothing at all. A custom only. A symbol handed down. It means -nothing."</p> - -<p>"I know." The girl nodded again. "When we were children, we always -called them the furious roses because they were a furious red. We -always used to say that if an innocent man was executed, the furious -red rose would right away turn white, Tony. To show they'd been wrong -about him."</p> - -<p>He shrugged. "Bedtime stories, Mrs. Haley."</p> - -<p>"Not—not that it means anything to me, Tony. They'll find Johnny -innocent, of course. All three machines. The final machines."</p> - -<p><i>Innocent? Oh, sure.</i></p> - -<p>"A man," said Tony with a vague motion of his hands. "What's the -difference what man a woman has? In the morning there's always -another—and another name. What's the difference?" He smiled a small -toy smile with eyes half closed so the girl couldn't look too closely -into them.</p> - -<p>But it was all right, she hadn't heard. At least she wasn't balling -those big eyes of hers at him. She was looking down into her folded -hands.</p> - -<p>He continued, "There's a war on, Mrs. Haley. It seems there's always a -war on, somehow. And everybody—you, me, the guy down the street who -skins ships for a living—we all have to remember that. And yet some -of us don't. Some of us go off on a tangent and try to sell out our -country and then there's hell to pay. And if we're found guilty, we get -the execution. The Neg-Emote."</p> - -<p>The girl's lips began to tremble. She looked up. "Does it hurt, Tony? I -mean...."</p> - -<p>"Physically? No, of course not." A corner of his mouth curled. "We're -humane nowadays, hadn't you heard? We just strap a man in a chair and -press a button and down comes a metal hood over him. We press some more -buttons and pull a switch or two, and that's that. No feeling, nothing. -The man's as good as new except he has no emotions any more. No -emotions whatever except personal physical pain, such as he'd need in -case somebody stepped on his toe or jabbed him with a pin. The State -wants us to protect ourselves, you see. It wouldn't want us getting -hurt because we don't feel anything."</p> - -<p>He stopped because it was getting harder to continue. "We used to call -it 'stripping,' but that was long ago before the humane boys decided -the term was a little cruel. Now it's just Neg-Emoting. But the same -thing. Just a fancy title."</p> - -<p>Her big eyes were suddenly eating into his. "What do they do with them, -Tony?"</p> - -<p>He shrugged again. "Send 'em off to Training. Some can be taught this, -some that, but a living death nevertheless. What else can a traitor -expect?"</p> - -<p>The girl began to tremble all over. "Not Johnny! They can't do that to -Johnny! He's innocent, Tony—he didn't do anything! Tony, tell them -that! Tell them to let him go...."</p> - -<p>He put his teeth together hard. What do you say to a woman who sits -across from you, waiting the long, long wait? What do you say to a -woman like this when you see the terror—and something else—in eyes -like hers?</p> - -<p>"You like the guy, Mrs. Haley?" he asked gently. "That's old-fashioned -as hell, you know. We all learn that way back in primaries."</p> - -<p>But the woman wasn't listening again, wasn't caring what he'd said. -She began to whisper very softly:</p> - -<p>"In the nights I used to be frightened. I used to lie there asleep -and dream of the ships coming down and spraying the house with the -burn-waves. And I could hear the roaring thunder of the jets and -the house would start to shake and I'd try to yell, but I couldn't. -Something inside would be choking me. And just when the burn-waves -would be coming hot through the window and licking at the walls inside -the room, I'd scream myself awake and jump up in bed and the sweat -would be pouring off me."</p> - -<p>Tony stared, incredulous, into the big balls of fright that her eyes -had become.</p> - -<p>"And then the lights would come on again, and there would be Johnny -lying next to me smiling a little, and his curly hair would be all -tousled from sleep, and he'd say to me, 'Baby, you've been dreaming -again. Don't you know I'm here? Don't you know I'll always be here? -Don't you know that, Baby?' And then it would be all right, and the -roaring jets would be only the dawn shift going out on Security Patrol. -And then I could go back to sleep again."</p> - -<p>She stopped. <i>Portal Waiting</i> had become a gray ghost of a thing with -nothing living in it, only the clouds of memory like smoke veils -swirling, drifting here and there, soon gone.</p> - -<p>And then: "They'll let him go, Tony. He's innocent, you know. They have -to let him go."</p> - -<p>He didn't look at her. He got up from his chair, put his hands rigidly -at his sides. Then he did look, just once, and very hard.</p> - -<p>"Get out of here!" he growled.</p> - -<p>"No, Tony."</p> - -<p>He took a deep breath, turned, went across the foyer to the levelators. -As he passed under the huge Master Screen, her voice came again, but -quite thin:</p> - -<p>"You'll let me know, Tony? You'll let me know as soon as you get word?"</p> - -<p>He didn't answer, didn't look back, didn't do anything except -keep going to the levelators. He went upstairs, found the door of -Executions, opened it, went through, let it slam shut.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Things started to happen. The Master Clock over on the black desk made -a quiet blipping sound and the Emote Neutral lights went out. At once -the office was flooded with Amber Official, the working lights. Then -the Master Screen glowed and a narrow-faced man with washed-away eyes -looked out at him.</p> - -<p>"Condemned is waiting, <i>Mr.</i> Radek," the narrow-faced man said acidly. -"Cell Two is getting dusty waiting for you, <i>Mr.</i> Radek. Very dusty."</p> - -<p>Tony looked up. His heart wasn't in it, but he said it anyhow: "Go -chase your blonde some more, hell-hips."</p> - -<p>He went over to the desk, banged the Supplies and Control button, held -it down. Master Screen darkened. He looked at the small square of white -paper on the black desk top.</p> - -<p>A bill of divorcement. Like that. So in the morning the kid downstairs -could go out and get herself another mate and then she could go back to -bed again and dream some more about the roaring jets and the burn-waves.</p> - -<p>He reached up and wiped at his forehead. She didn't have to see it -happen. Nothing in the Constitution—old or new—stated she had to see -it happen. He looked down at the matswitch that controlled the visi-lok -on the Master Screen. He clamped his teeth together and his hand went -out and flipped the switch. The office went dead.</p> - -<p>Maybe nobody'd notice. Maybe he'd have time to slip into Cell Two and -get it over with before anybody noticed. He started across the room on -fast, silent feet.</p> - -<p>"<i>Radek!</i>" the alternate speaker over in the corner blasted out. He -froze solid. "Radek, don't move! Stand where you are!"</p> - -<p>Don't move? He couldn't have moved if he'd had jets on. And then the -hard voice went on again: "Central Command to Supplies and Control. Use -Emergency visi-relay. Unlock the Master Screen! This is Command 419, -Regulation Four. Signed, Countersigned."</p> - -<p>Almost at once the Master Screen flickered into life and a hard, -severe-looking face appeared there. "Radek, turn around! Face the -screen!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir." Tony turned.</p> - -<p>"Second violation, Radek. Why?"</p> - -<p>Tony forced a blank face. He lifted his shoulders, said: "I was over -here on my way to Cell Two for the Execution. How could I—"</p> - -<p>"That will be all, Radek! Clear your desk. Prepare for judgment on -final machines."</p> - -<p>Tony swallowed. He didn't move because he couldn't move.</p> - -<p>"Well, Radek?"</p> - -<p>He fought his face clean, kept his hands rigid at his sides. Sweat was -rolling down his back, but that was all right; Central Command couldn't -be expected to see sweat roll down a man's back under his clothing, -though a lot of people thought so.</p> - -<p>"A suggestion, sir," he said at last.</p> - -<p>"What?" Hard eyes bored into his own.</p> - -<p>He let a little anxious look creep over his face. Not a guilty -look—he hoped—but the kind of anxious look a worried but innocent man -might have in a spot like this.</p> - -<p>He said quickly: "About that visi-lok. I suggest it might have gone -into lock by itself. You see, it's one of the old-fashioned kind, the -type they used to have that worked with solenoids. We've had trouble -with them before."</p> - -<p>That brought a little silence. The hard eyes in the screen said at -last: "Central Command to Supplies and Control. Is the visi-lok in -Executions controlled by a solenoid? Was it never changed to relay?"</p> - -<p>Tony gulped. He looked into the Master Screen, but he remained frozen -to the floor, hardly breathing. And then a very thin voice answered -nervously:</p> - -<p>"I—I believe that's correct, sir. I believe Executions does have the -old-fashioned solenoid. It seems there hasn't been time to change it. -I've been intending to...."</p> - -<p>The voice was cut off. The hard eyes came back to Tony. "Decision!" the -hard voice said.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Exonerated, Radek! Carry on with Execution in Cell Two." The screen -went blank.</p> - -<p>Tony shuddered. A close one. A damned close one. That was the war for -you. Even a man's breaths are counted. He went on shaky feet over to -the cooler, reached in, got out a ritual rose, left the office end -shuffled down the hall to Cell Two.</p> - -<p>John Edward Haley. The condemned. A thin man, Tony thought. Well, sure, -there aren't many fat men any more. Not in ordinary circumstances, that -is.</p> - -<p>The man was sitting tensely in the chair. There was no one else in the -cell, which was as it should be, of course. Witnesses, yes—the Master -Screen up on the wall—but not here, not visible.</p> - -<p>Tony went across the Cell. "John Edward Haley," he said.</p> - -<p>The man moved a nervous tongue over dry lips.</p> - -<p>"John Edward Haley, you have been sentenced for Execution. Now hear -these final words of the State as directed by Presidential order from -Responsibility Official in the City of Greater New Denver, this night."</p> - -<p>He took two small steps toward the man in the chair. He held out the -red rose, put it in the hand of the other. Then he stepped back two -steps until his toes were just touching a small plaque built into the -floor. He looked down, read from the plaque:</p> - -<p>"The giving of this rose. A symbol for the red of the blood of your -brothers that you have let by treason and/or treachery. A symbol that -as the rose is red, so are the unclean acts of your own hand, of your -own mind. The State has so spoken."</p> - -<p>He looked up. A nice way to kiss a guy off. Might as well tell him he -bit his brother's finger, too, when he was a kid.</p> - -<p>"Have you anything to say?" he asked.</p> - -<p>The man's nervous tongue worked again. He said quickly:</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Look, guy, just one thing. Just one favor. I don't give a damn -what happens to me. Sure, I'm guilty. So you caught me, and so I take -it. So what? A guy expects that. But the wife...."</p> - -<p>Tony's teeth came together hard.</p> - -<p>"... But the wife, see? She's down in <i>Portal Waiting</i>. Been there for -three nights now. I don't want her to witness this. I don't want her -to look into that Master Screen down there and see it. That's all I'm -asking, guy, and it ain't much. Just a flick of a switch is all I'm -asking. It ain't much. It ain't, is it?"</p> - -<p><i>It ain't, hey? By God!</i></p> - -<p>"When the hood comes down, she'll see it. She's bound to," the thin -man went on fast. "She'll see the flash in the Screen and she'll know -it's me, and she's never done anything to deserve that. That's all I'm -asking, guy. That's all I'm asking."</p> - -<p>The silence in the cell was a thick thing. Tony could feel the sweat -rolling down his back again. But a different kind of a sweat now—not -a sweat for himself, a sweat for somebody else. Just one finger touch -on that visi-lok matswitch would do it. Just one finger, and the small -woman downstairs in <i>Portal Waiting</i> wouldn't know, would have one more -instant of waiting, of hoping against hope. Of suspense. Of breathing -in the air we all breathe in, of being alive, sentient; and knowing -that her man, the thin fellow with the tousled, curly hair, was still -sentient, too.</p> - -<p>"Well, guy?"</p> - -<p>Tony wet his lips. "Sorry, Haley. Petition refused." The hood came -down. The Master Screen up on the wall blazed into life.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tony sat at his black desk with his hands folded, fingers laced. That's -Executions for you. And this is war. There's a war on. Don't forget -that. He looked down at his hands, sighed. Then he reached out and -touched the Supplies and Control button.</p> - -<p>"Hell-hips!" he growled.</p> - -<p>He looked at the screen. It wasn't hell-hips. It was a blonde. Not -a young blonde, a scarecrow blonde. An old wretched piece of living -mechanism like himself.</p> - -<p>"Where's Clacker?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Clacker is no longer with us, Mr. Radek."</p> - -<p>"Huh? What happened to him?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Clacker has been taken to the three Final Machines for trial and -judgment. I am now taking over here. My name is Hortense. G. Welker -Hortense."</p> - -<p>Tony looked at the blonde. Crude, undisguised lights were coming from -the woman's eyes. Promotion-happy.</p> - -<p>He said at last: "Sorry as hell about that. The solenoid thing, I -suppose. I didn't mean to get the guy in trouble. I sure didn't mean -that."</p> - -<p>"He'd been ordered to change it. It was no one's fault but his own. You -were only doing your duty, I'm sure. And duty comes above everything."</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Yeah, sure. I know." He sighed once more. "Get me an airbrush -and a bottle of white paint."</p> - -<p>"What?"</p> - -<p>"I want an airbrush and a bottle of white paint. I want to paint my -nice little ritual roses. I don't like red any more. I want all white -ones."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Radek...?"</p> - -<p>Tony glared. "Do I get that paint or don't I? Don't just stand there!" -His fist banged down on Supplies and Control button. The Master Screen -went blank, and then flashed into motion again fast. The blonde again. -Nasty now. A chip off the old block. Another hell-hips, but this time -with skirts.</p> - -<p>"Request not granted! This is entirely against regulations, Mr. Radek! -Specifically, against ordinance 1991, of the Code of...."</p> - -<p>"Oh, can it," he growled wearily. "For God's sake, don't give me any -more of that."</p> - -<p>The blonde stiffened. "Well! After all, I'm only doing my duty, Mr. -Radek. As head of Supplies and Control, I have certain well-defined and -inflexible...."</p> - -<p>Tony blacked her out. He held her blacked out till he was sure she -wouldn't come on again. Duty.</p> - -<p>The Master Clock made a quiet blipping noise. Amber Official lights -dimmed and Emote Neutral came on. Long, probing shadow fingers snaked -here and there across the floor, and a stillness that should have been -restful descended eventually on the place.</p> - -<p>"<i>Radek!</i>"</p> - -<p>The hard eyes. The hard voice. Tony looked into the screen. "Yes, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Radek, that woman is still downstairs in <i>Portal Waiting</i>! We can't -have her hanging around all night. Why hasn't she been given her bill -of divorcement and sent home? My God, man, where's your feelings? She's -at least entitled to that."</p> - -<p>"Right away, sir. I was just going."</p> - -<p>He picked up the square of white paper. He pushed back his chair, got -to his feet, went across the office taking those peculiar, quiet little -steps of his.</p> - -<p>Yes, sir. Just going, sir. On my way, sir. Because, sir, as you've -pointed out so clearly, sir, she's at least entitled to that.</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Furious Rose, by Dean Evans - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FURIOUS ROSE *** - -***** This file should be named 51257-h.htm or 51257-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/5/51257/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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/license - - -Title: The Furious Rose - -Author: Dean Evans - -Release Date: February 21, 2016 [EBook #51257] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FURIOUS ROSE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The Furious Rose - - By DEAN EVANS - - Illustrated by THORNE - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Science Fiction January 1952. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - This world was a setup for any man who wanted to get - along--provided one had enough victims to toss to the wolves! - - -The Master Clock on the black desk in the office of _Federal -Executions_ made a quiet blipping sound. Immediately the lights lowered -to Emote Neutral. Long, probing shadow fingers snaked here and there -across the floor, and a silence that should have been restful--and -wasn't--descended on the place. - -Tony Radek leaned back in his chair and frowned. One-fifteen in the -morning. At one-fifteen in the morning no man, no matter who, should be -going to his Neg-Emote. Why not hang a man instead? Or electrocute him? -Or gas him the way they used to back in the old days? In those old days -his grandfather used to talk about, where twelve ordinary citizens said -the word that peeled the life off a man like skinning an onion. - -He sighed softly and folded his hands across a tiny paunch that was -just beginning to show. Tony Radek was getting old. He was a "safe" -now. That meant he needn't worry about the war any longer. He was -a nice, mild, peaceable gentleman who stayed at home and thought -beautiful thoughts about the younger men out in space. A man his age -didn't feel anger and hate and retribution and lust and treachery any -more. He was just a little old fat guy. He was the Federal Executioner. - -He frowned again and leaned forward and touched a nacre button on the -desk top. That lit up the screen on his left. Not the Master Screen, -which was the one on his right. This was the other, the one that could -tell him what was going on outside the office, outside in _Portal -Waiting_, where certain peculiar ghouls who derived a measure of -excitement from the executions were allowed by the gracious State to -hang out. - -He stared at the screen. His frown deepened. _Portal Waiting_ should be -bare and vacant at this hour, but it wasn't. This was the third night -in a row that it wasn't. There was a girl out there. A quiet girl, a -girl who looked about as ghoulish as one of the nice red ritual roses -over in the cooler built into the wall. - -_Damn the dame, why didn't she go home?_ Tony Radek's upper lip lifted -a little, showing small angry teeth. - -At once the Emote Neutral lights in the office flickered wildly. Tony -pulled his eyes from the screen and glared up at the lights. That's -progress for you. Let a man go on one little momentary emotional -binge, like this, and right away spies in the joint start screaming. -In a moment now, the one on his right--the Master Screen--would blink -into life and old hell-hips himself would start poking around asking -questions. Just see if it didn't. - -He turned his head to the right, stared at the Master Screen and waited. - -The screen blazed into life. A narrow-faced man with washed-away eyes -that looked as though they'd seen sin and hadn't liked it peered -angrily over toward Tony behind the desk. - -"_Mr._ Radek!" he had a thin, thin voice that sounded like a sheet of -paper slitting down the middle. "What's going on down there? Can't you -control your own office? Or maybe you'd like to be back in Training?" -The eyes squinted sharply. - -Tony worked up an innocent look. He spread his hands on the black -surface of the desk, smiled, and said mildly: "Out of your mind. My -lights have been as steady as old Emote Neutral herself. Probably that -blonde you got Central Direction kidded into thinking you need as an -assistant--probably you sneaked up on her when she was in Personal Lok -and...." - -"What?" The Master Screen trembled a little and the narrow-faced man's -eyes seemed to jerk out of registration for a moment. "Look here, -Radek, I've stood just about enough of your insinuations!" - -"Look who's making the lights flicker now," said Tony calmly. He waved -an arm around the office. Emote Neutral was flickering rapidly as -though controlled by an interrupter switch. "Central Direction should -see this," he observed. - -He stared briefly at the contorted face on the screen. That face was -working convulsively now, getting red like the ritual roses over in the -cooler. - -He snorted disgustedly, reached forward and touched the matswitch which -threw the Master Screen into visi-lok. At once the screen darkened and -all sound left the office. - -That was more like it. Let old hell-hips up in Supplies and Control -stew if he wanted, there wasn't anything in the Constitution--not even -the old Constitution--that said a man had to sit and look at him. - -"_Central Direction to Radek!_" a hard voice rapped out of the -alternate speaker over in the corner. - -Tony Radek jerked, spun around. He swallowed quickly, said nervously: -"Yes, sir?" - -"Radek, you're violating Ordinance Six, Code 325, Division of Security! -Unlock that visi-screen at once!" - -"Yes, sir." Tony's hand flew to the matswitch, pulled it. "Sorry. Elbow -must have hit it accidentally. Didn't know it was locked...." - -"Radek, there's a war on. That visi-lok must be used only in emergency. -You know that." - -"Yes, sir. Like I said...." - -"I heard. In the future, be a little more careful. And, Radek--" - -"Yes, sir?" - -"Ready Cell Two. Execution at one-twenty-seven. John Edward Haley. -Convicted of mass interference of morale, City of Greater New Denver, -as outlined under Congressional Act of April 12, 2250. Decision -rendered equally on all three Final Master Machines." - -"No appeal?" asked Tony very softly. - -"No appeal. And, Radek--" - -"Yes, sir?" - -"The condemned is married. Check with Supplies and Control for bill of -divorcement. His wife is a young woman, will have to marry again in the -morning as outlined under Congressional Act of May 28, 2211. Got that?" - -"Yes, sir." - -The Master Screen went dead. Tony blinked. Bill of divorcement. Will -have to marry again in the morning as outlined under Congressional Act. -By God, that's progress for you! He sat staring at the Master Screen -for a long time. - -Then he sighed, punched the button on Supplies and Control. - -"Hell-hips!" he growled. "Snap it up. Execution at one-twenty-seven. -Bill of divorcement." - -The narrow face peered sourly out at him from the Master Screen. It -didn't have much emotion in it now. It was almost blank, like the face -of a humanoid robot somebody'd left something out of. - -"Been hittin' the bottle again, huh?" said Tony. - -"My name is Clacker, _Mr._ Radek. Arthur Jared Clacker. Kindly keep -that in mind when you address me." - -"Sure, sure. Nice name. Lovely name. Sounds like a stone-boat going -over ground glass. Whip up that bill of divorcement." - -"It's ready, _Mr._ Radek. _Been_ ready for the last half hour. -I suggest that if there were a little of my own well known and -demonstrated efficiency in _your_ office, perhaps Executions would -be something to be proud of. Instead of what it is. Instead of the -foul-smelling, sloppily run, lice-infested...." - -Tony's hand reached out for the button on Supplies and Control. "Watch -those lights," he said tiredly. - - * * * * * - -He got up from the desk, stretched a little and went across the office -to the cooler in the opposite wall. His feet made no noise; he had that -quiet tread that all cats, a few men and some women achieve. His hand -interrupted the automatic cellgard and a tiny, almost hidden door in -the wall swung wide. He reached up, poked his hand in the cooler, felt -around. A little smile came into his eyes. He took his hand out of the -cooler, got up on tiptoes and looked inside. No roses. Not even one -rose. - -Not even _half_ of a rose. - -Chuckling, he went back to the desk and jabbed a finger at the button -over Supplies and Control. - -"Hell-hips!" he rapped. "Where's all that well known and demonstrated -efficiency I've had to rake out of my ears?" - -The narrow face lit up the Master Screen once more. It looked bored -now. "_Mr._ Radek, there was something?" - -"Yeah. Something." Tony's voice dropped, got deadly soft. "How many -weeks since you checked the cooler, boy? There aren't any ritual roses." - -"There--there aren't any?" - -"That's right, Mr. Clacker. Now get away from that screen. I'm -reporting this to Central Direction." His finger jammed down on the -Supplies and Control button. He watched the Master Screen go blank and -grinned. He thought, "Shake a little, Mr. Clacker, shake a little," -because he didn't dare even whisper to himself. - -He sat down at the desk again and thought of something. His finger went -out, touched the button on the screen on the left--the _Portal Waiting_ -screen. - -She was still there, hunched up in one of the chairs like a small child -somebody had left in an interplanet waiting room and then gone away and -forgotten. Tony frowned once more. Damn that dame, she was spoiling his -nights. - -He got up, crossed the office on silent feet, opened the door of -Executions, went down a bare, silent hall. At the levelators he waited -a moment for the platform, took it down, got off again at _Portal -Waiting_, and crossed to the foyer. - -She was there, just as she'd been on the screen upstairs, only clearer, -more vivid, something witnessed instead of second hand, something with -dimension to it. She was in a big chair that could have accommodated -two like her. She had her legs tucked under her and her brown eyes that -looked up at Tony's approach weren't any larger than two full moons. - -He said, "Are you Mrs. John Haley?" - -The girl nodded. "They--they've got Johnny...." - -"I know." Tony dropped into a chair opposite the girl. "It's late," he -said softly. "You shouldn't be here this time of night, Mrs. Haley." - -The girl thought about that. "You're Mr. Radek, aren't you? In the -Execution Office?" - -"Call me Tony, Mrs. Haley." - -"All right, Tony. Yes, it's late. I hadn't noticed, but I suppose -you're right." - -"You should go home, Mrs. Haley." He stopped, then lied a little. -"They'll let you know. You don't have to worry." - -_You don't have to worry. They're bringing the guy up now, little -girl, but you don't have to worry. Old hell-hips is getting a ritual -rose now, little girl, but you don't have to worry._ - -As if he'd deliberately telepathed the thought, the girl said suddenly: -"Tony, is--is it true about the furious roses? I mean, if a man is -found guilty, do they--?" - -"The 'furious' roses, Mrs. Haley?" He smiled. "I see. You mean because -they're so red. Yes, it's true. Ritual roses, we call them, but that's -nothing. Nothing at all. A custom only. A symbol handed down. It means -nothing." - -"I know." The girl nodded again. "When we were children, we always -called them the furious roses because they were a furious red. We -always used to say that if an innocent man was executed, the furious -red rose would right away turn white, Tony. To show they'd been wrong -about him." - -He shrugged. "Bedtime stories, Mrs. Haley." - -"Not--not that it means anything to me, Tony. They'll find Johnny -innocent, of course. All three machines. The final machines." - -_Innocent? Oh, sure._ - -"A man," said Tony with a vague motion of his hands. "What's the -difference what man a woman has? In the morning there's always -another--and another name. What's the difference?" He smiled a small -toy smile with eyes half closed so the girl couldn't look too closely -into them. - -But it was all right, she hadn't heard. At least she wasn't balling -those big eyes of hers at him. She was looking down into her folded -hands. - -He continued, "There's a war on, Mrs. Haley. It seems there's always a -war on, somehow. And everybody--you, me, the guy down the street who -skins ships for a living--we all have to remember that. And yet some -of us don't. Some of us go off on a tangent and try to sell out our -country and then there's hell to pay. And if we're found guilty, we get -the execution. The Neg-Emote." - -The girl's lips began to tremble. She looked up. "Does it hurt, Tony? I -mean...." - -"Physically? No, of course not." A corner of his mouth curled. "We're -humane nowadays, hadn't you heard? We just strap a man in a chair and -press a button and down comes a metal hood over him. We press some more -buttons and pull a switch or two, and that's that. No feeling, nothing. -The man's as good as new except he has no emotions any more. No -emotions whatever except personal physical pain, such as he'd need in -case somebody stepped on his toe or jabbed him with a pin. The State -wants us to protect ourselves, you see. It wouldn't want us getting -hurt because we don't feel anything." - -He stopped because it was getting harder to continue. "We used to call -it 'stripping,' but that was long ago before the humane boys decided -the term was a little cruel. Now it's just Neg-Emoting. But the same -thing. Just a fancy title." - -Her big eyes were suddenly eating into his. "What do they do with them, -Tony?" - -He shrugged again. "Send 'em off to Training. Some can be taught this, -some that, but a living death nevertheless. What else can a traitor -expect?" - -The girl began to tremble all over. "Not Johnny! They can't do that to -Johnny! He's innocent, Tony--he didn't do anything! Tony, tell them -that! Tell them to let him go...." - -He put his teeth together hard. What do you say to a woman who sits -across from you, waiting the long, long wait? What do you say to a -woman like this when you see the terror--and something else--in eyes -like hers? - -"You like the guy, Mrs. Haley?" he asked gently. "That's old-fashioned -as hell, you know. We all learn that way back in primaries." - -But the woman wasn't listening again, wasn't caring what he'd said. -She began to whisper very softly: - -"In the nights I used to be frightened. I used to lie there asleep -and dream of the ships coming down and spraying the house with the -burn-waves. And I could hear the roaring thunder of the jets and -the house would start to shake and I'd try to yell, but I couldn't. -Something inside would be choking me. And just when the burn-waves -would be coming hot through the window and licking at the walls inside -the room, I'd scream myself awake and jump up in bed and the sweat -would be pouring off me." - -Tony stared, incredulous, into the big balls of fright that her eyes -had become. - -"And then the lights would come on again, and there would be Johnny -lying next to me smiling a little, and his curly hair would be all -tousled from sleep, and he'd say to me, 'Baby, you've been dreaming -again. Don't you know I'm here? Don't you know I'll always be here? -Don't you know that, Baby?' And then it would be all right, and the -roaring jets would be only the dawn shift going out on Security Patrol. -And then I could go back to sleep again." - -She stopped. _Portal Waiting_ had become a gray ghost of a thing with -nothing living in it, only the clouds of memory like smoke veils -swirling, drifting here and there, soon gone. - -And then: "They'll let him go, Tony. He's innocent, you know. They have -to let him go." - -He didn't look at her. He got up from his chair, put his hands rigidly -at his sides. Then he did look, just once, and very hard. - -"Get out of here!" he growled. - -"No, Tony." - -He took a deep breath, turned, went across the foyer to the levelators. -As he passed under the huge Master Screen, her voice came again, but -quite thin: - -"You'll let me know, Tony? You'll let me know as soon as you get word?" - -He didn't answer, didn't look back, didn't do anything except -keep going to the levelators. He went upstairs, found the door of -Executions, opened it, went through, let it slam shut. - - * * * * * - -Things started to happen. The Master Clock over on the black desk made -a quiet blipping sound and the Emote Neutral lights went out. At once -the office was flooded with Amber Official, the working lights. Then -the Master Screen glowed and a narrow-faced man with washed-away eyes -looked out at him. - -"Condemned is waiting, _Mr._ Radek," the narrow-faced man said acidly. -"Cell Two is getting dusty waiting for you, _Mr._ Radek. Very dusty." - -Tony looked up. His heart wasn't in it, but he said it anyhow: "Go -chase your blonde some more, hell-hips." - -He went over to the desk, banged the Supplies and Control button, held -it down. Master Screen darkened. He looked at the small square of white -paper on the black desk top. - -A bill of divorcement. Like that. So in the morning the kid downstairs -could go out and get herself another mate and then she could go back to -bed again and dream some more about the roaring jets and the burn-waves. - -He reached up and wiped at his forehead. She didn't have to see it -happen. Nothing in the Constitution--old or new--stated she had to see -it happen. He looked down at the matswitch that controlled the visi-lok -on the Master Screen. He clamped his teeth together and his hand went -out and flipped the switch. The office went dead. - -Maybe nobody'd notice. Maybe he'd have time to slip into Cell Two and -get it over with before anybody noticed. He started across the room on -fast, silent feet. - -"_Radek!_" the alternate speaker over in the corner blasted out. He -froze solid. "Radek, don't move! Stand where you are!" - -Don't move? He couldn't have moved if he'd had jets on. And then the -hard voice went on again: "Central Command to Supplies and Control. Use -Emergency visi-relay. Unlock the Master Screen! This is Command 419, -Regulation Four. Signed, Countersigned." - -Almost at once the Master Screen flickered into life and a hard, -severe-looking face appeared there. "Radek, turn around! Face the -screen!" - -"Yes, sir." Tony turned. - -"Second violation, Radek. Why?" - -Tony forced a blank face. He lifted his shoulders, said: "I was over -here on my way to Cell Two for the Execution. How could I--" - -"That will be all, Radek! Clear your desk. Prepare for judgment on -final machines." - -Tony swallowed. He didn't move because he couldn't move. - -"Well, Radek?" - -He fought his face clean, kept his hands rigid at his sides. Sweat was -rolling down his back, but that was all right; Central Command couldn't -be expected to see sweat roll down a man's back under his clothing, -though a lot of people thought so. - -"A suggestion, sir," he said at last. - -"What?" Hard eyes bored into his own. - -He let a little anxious look creep over his face. Not a guilty -look--he hoped--but the kind of anxious look a worried but innocent man -might have in a spot like this. - -He said quickly: "About that visi-lok. I suggest it might have gone -into lock by itself. You see, it's one of the old-fashioned kind, the -type they used to have that worked with solenoids. We've had trouble -with them before." - -That brought a little silence. The hard eyes in the screen said at -last: "Central Command to Supplies and Control. Is the visi-lok in -Executions controlled by a solenoid? Was it never changed to relay?" - -Tony gulped. He looked into the Master Screen, but he remained frozen -to the floor, hardly breathing. And then a very thin voice answered -nervously: - -"I--I believe that's correct, sir. I believe Executions does have the -old-fashioned solenoid. It seems there hasn't been time to change it. -I've been intending to...." - -The voice was cut off. The hard eyes came back to Tony. "Decision!" the -hard voice said. - -"Yes, sir?" - -"Exonerated, Radek! Carry on with Execution in Cell Two." The screen -went blank. - -Tony shuddered. A close one. A damned close one. That was the war for -you. Even a man's breaths are counted. He went on shaky feet over to -the cooler, reached in, got out a ritual rose, left the office end -shuffled down the hall to Cell Two. - -John Edward Haley. The condemned. A thin man, Tony thought. Well, sure, -there aren't many fat men any more. Not in ordinary circumstances, that -is. - -The man was sitting tensely in the chair. There was no one else in the -cell, which was as it should be, of course. Witnesses, yes--the Master -Screen up on the wall--but not here, not visible. - -Tony went across the Cell. "John Edward Haley," he said. - -The man moved a nervous tongue over dry lips. - -"John Edward Haley, you have been sentenced for Execution. Now hear -these final words of the State as directed by Presidential order from -Responsibility Official in the City of Greater New Denver, this night." - -He took two small steps toward the man in the chair. He held out the -red rose, put it in the hand of the other. Then he stepped back two -steps until his toes were just touching a small plaque built into the -floor. He looked down, read from the plaque: - -"The giving of this rose. A symbol for the red of the blood of your -brothers that you have let by treason and/or treachery. A symbol that -as the rose is red, so are the unclean acts of your own hand, of your -own mind. The State has so spoken." - -He looked up. A nice way to kiss a guy off. Might as well tell him he -bit his brother's finger, too, when he was a kid. - -"Have you anything to say?" he asked. - -The man's nervous tongue worked again. He said quickly: - -"Yeah. Look, guy, just one thing. Just one favor. I don't give a damn -what happens to me. Sure, I'm guilty. So you caught me, and so I take -it. So what? A guy expects that. But the wife...." - -Tony's teeth came together hard. - -"... But the wife, see? She's down in _Portal Waiting_. Been there for -three nights now. I don't want her to witness this. I don't want her -to look into that Master Screen down there and see it. That's all I'm -asking, guy, and it ain't much. Just a flick of a switch is all I'm -asking. It ain't much. It ain't, is it?" - -_It ain't, hey? By God!_ - -"When the hood comes down, she'll see it. She's bound to," the thin -man went on fast. "She'll see the flash in the Screen and she'll know -it's me, and she's never done anything to deserve that. That's all I'm -asking, guy. That's all I'm asking." - -The silence in the cell was a thick thing. Tony could feel the sweat -rolling down his back again. But a different kind of a sweat now--not -a sweat for himself, a sweat for somebody else. Just one finger touch -on that visi-lok matswitch would do it. Just one finger, and the small -woman downstairs in _Portal Waiting_ wouldn't know, would have one more -instant of waiting, of hoping against hope. Of suspense. Of breathing -in the air we all breathe in, of being alive, sentient; and knowing -that her man, the thin fellow with the tousled, curly hair, was still -sentient, too. - -"Well, guy?" - -Tony wet his lips. "Sorry, Haley. Petition refused." The hood came -down. The Master Screen up on the wall blazed into life. - - * * * * * - -Tony sat at his black desk with his hands folded, fingers laced. That's -Executions for you. And this is war. There's a war on. Don't forget -that. He looked down at his hands, sighed. Then he reached out and -touched the Supplies and Control button. - -"Hell-hips!" he growled. - -He looked at the screen. It wasn't hell-hips. It was a blonde. Not -a young blonde, a scarecrow blonde. An old wretched piece of living -mechanism like himself. - -"Where's Clacker?" he asked. - -"Mr. Clacker is no longer with us, Mr. Radek." - -"Huh? What happened to him?" - -"Mr. Clacker has been taken to the three Final Machines for trial and -judgment. I am now taking over here. My name is Hortense. G. Welker -Hortense." - -Tony looked at the blonde. Crude, undisguised lights were coming from -the woman's eyes. Promotion-happy. - -He said at last: "Sorry as hell about that. The solenoid thing, I -suppose. I didn't mean to get the guy in trouble. I sure didn't mean -that." - -"He'd been ordered to change it. It was no one's fault but his own. You -were only doing your duty, I'm sure. And duty comes above everything." - -"Yeah. Yeah, sure. I know." He sighed once more. "Get me an airbrush -and a bottle of white paint." - -"What?" - -"I want an airbrush and a bottle of white paint. I want to paint my -nice little ritual roses. I don't like red any more. I want all white -ones." - -"Mr. Radek...?" - -Tony glared. "Do I get that paint or don't I? Don't just stand there!" -His fist banged down on Supplies and Control button. The Master Screen -went blank, and then flashed into motion again fast. The blonde again. -Nasty now. A chip off the old block. Another hell-hips, but this time -with skirts. - -"Request not granted! This is entirely against regulations, Mr. Radek! -Specifically, against ordinance 1991, of the Code of...." - -"Oh, can it," he growled wearily. "For God's sake, don't give me any -more of that." - -The blonde stiffened. "Well! After all, I'm only doing my duty, Mr. -Radek. As head of Supplies and Control, I have certain well-defined and -inflexible...." - -Tony blacked her out. He held her blacked out till he was sure she -wouldn't come on again. Duty. - -The Master Clock made a quiet blipping noise. Amber Official lights -dimmed and Emote Neutral came on. Long, probing shadow fingers snaked -here and there across the floor, and a stillness that should have been -restful descended eventually on the place. - -"_Radek!_" - -The hard eyes. The hard voice. Tony looked into the screen. "Yes, sir?" - -"Radek, that woman is still downstairs in _Portal Waiting_! We can't -have her hanging around all night. Why hasn't she been given her bill -of divorcement and sent home? My God, man, where's your feelings? She's -at least entitled to that." - -"Right away, sir. I was just going." - -He picked up the square of white paper. He pushed back his chair, got -to his feet, went across the office taking those peculiar, quiet little -steps of his. - -Yes, sir. Just going, sir. On my way, sir. Because, sir, as you've -pointed out so clearly, sir, she's at least entitled to that. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Furious Rose, by Dean Evans - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FURIOUS ROSE *** - -***** This file should be named 51257.txt or 51257.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/5/51257/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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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