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diff --git a/59010-0.txt b/59010-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f5419f --- /dev/null +++ b/59010-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1256 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59010 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + + Dreamtown U. S. A. + + BY LEO P. KELLEY + + _Here is another look at the America of tomorrow--by a + Wilkes College sophomore, winner of the 3rd prize in IF's + College Science Fiction Contest.... An America in which + there is no more school, no more art, no more enterprise, + no more intellectual pursuit--a nation of hedonists. + And in such a land, how could there be malcontents?_ + + [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from + Worlds of If Science Fiction, February 1955. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that + the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + +The girl's body was small, slender, and perfectly proportioned. Her +hair had been dyed platinum and was drawn back from her face by a mesh +net which sparkled with red jewels. She stood in the middle of the +room, head tilted back, eyes closed, moving in time to the music coming +from an invisible transmitter. Her hands glided sinuously up and down +either side of her body. She seemed oblivious to the people circling +the room enjoying Gil Patton's party. It was only when she heard +Brant's voice that she opened her eyes. + +"Lisa, you go for that stuff, I see," Brant called to her, referring +to the music being piped into the room from one of Dreamtown's many +Sensory Communications Centers. + +"It's really out of this world, Brant, way out, all out!" Lisa replied. +She came over and sat on the arm of the chair in which Brant sprawled. + +"You can feel it way down here," she said, and placed her hand on the +pit of her stomach. + +"Wonder how we ever got kicks out of that old stuff that you couldn't +_feel_?" Brant asked as he placed his arm about Lisa's waist. "Just +_hearing_ music doesn't give you any glow." + +Brant slid farther down in the chair and stretched his legs out before +him. The bluish light in the room glinted from the highly polished +surface of his knee length boots. He wore loose-fitting yellow trousers +and a black suede shirt split open almost to the waist, revealing his +chest. + +"Have you tried one of Gil's new pebbles?" he asked Lisa. + +"No, what's new about them?" she asked. She wriggled into Brant's lap +and rubbed her cheek against his chest. + +"They're slaughter. Instead of just getting a deeper feeling from real +experiences, you can sit back and imagine something--anything--and you +can feel the sensations of your fantasy. You can feel all that way down +here, too," he said, touching, in repetition of Lisa's gesture, the pit +of her stomach. + +"Get me one, Brant. Let's see what goes." + +Brant lifted Lisa to her feet and rose from the chair. His boots +clicked against the green metal floor as he pushed his way through +the crowd of merry makers toward a transparent glass bubble which was +suspended from the ceiling by a silver chain. He pushed back the +dispenser on the bubble and a cylindrical pill rolled out onto his +hand. He carried it back to where Lisa sat swaying to the music which +continued to fill the room. + +"Here child. This will really give you a dream," he said as he handed +her the pill. + +Brant watched Lisa sink into the half coma that the sensation pills +produced. He leaned over and kissed her shoulder. Then he straightened +and moved across the room to where Gil Patton stood in front of a +glass wall which afforded a panoramic view of the entire city. + +"Good party, Gil," Brant said to his host. + +"I hoped it wouldn't be sad. Anything clicking?" + +Brant pointed to Lisa. "She is. Been trying your new pebbles." + +"How's the Assistant Director of Sensory Communications doing these +days?" Gil asked as they walked across the room to a plastic table on +which rested bowls of red, green, and yellow liquors. + +"Right and light. We've got a new show scheduled to go on the +Distributor Cable in about another month. Runs twenty minutes two times +a day. Morning and night. A serial about the Council." + +Gil turned to Brant with a drink in his hand. "Thought nobody knew +anything about the Council except that they run Dreamtown." + +"No one does know very much about them. No one's ever seen them +actually. But we've heard rumors that the Rebels have been influencing +some of our citizens and word has come down to build this show for +morale purposes." + +"Why, that's crazy. Who'd want to go back to the way it was before? +Those Rebels are out of their heads!" + +Brant smiled. "Right man. But there are still some of them operating +in the less populated areas. The Watchers brought in seven men and a +woman last week from somewhere south of here. They found books in their +hideout and even some paintings that one of the Rebels claimed to have +done by hand." + +Gil whistled through his teeth. "You'd think they'd get with it and +come back here. What are they getting out of this rebellion?" + +Brant reached over and touched Gil's arm. + +"Just between us, friend. Before they psychwashed these Rebels they +found out that they had been plotting with other Rebel groups to +overthrow Dreamtown. The Council has every available Watcher on their +trail." + +"Couldn't ever happen, Brant. They don't have anything to fight with. +Books. Pictures. They'll wise up and come over to us. Wait and see." + +Brant shrugged. "They forget we're living in 2054 and the Big War's +been over for nearly seventy years. They still think the old way was +pretty good. But Gil, boy, we're getting serious. Let's stack it! The +Watchers will get them. It's not our problem." + + * * * * * + +The girl was gazing through one of the windows in the small farmhouse +kitchen. A wild flower was pinned in her long, auburn hair and it +matched, almost perfectly, the blue of her eyes. Even in slacks she +was, not beautiful, but a wonderfully pretty girl of twenty four or +five. + +"I wonder when he'll be back, Dad. It's been almost two days and I--I'm +worried." + +"He had a long trip to make, Nancy. Longer than usual because he had +to make a detour around Dreamtown in order to get down to Ben's group. +It's all of forty miles south of here. Don't you worry. He'll be back +soon." + +The girl came away from the window and kissed Professor Alan Corbett +on the forehead. "You're wonderful, Dad. So calm and sensible about +things. I get scared though when I think of Dan going so close to +Dreamtown. The Watchers patrol for miles around the city and they'd +know Dan was a Rebel in a minute because of his clothes." + +"Dan won't get caught, Nancy. You get busy now and make some coffee and +stop worrying," Professor Corbett smiled. "And afterward we'll play a +little gin rummy if you feel like it." + +Nancy got up from the table and put the coffee pot on the stove. Her +father turned back to the book lying open on the table before him. + +"This is such a treasure, Nancy. I wonder if you fully realize it." It +was a copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare. "There are +only five copies of this still in existence to my knowledge; although +there is a man in Ben's group who has been copying it by hand on paper +they've stolen from Dreamtown. Only five copies. There might be more, +but we haven't been able to find them." + +Nancy poured steaming coffee into her father's cup and then into her +own. She sat across from him at the table and watched as he lovingly +examined the book in his hands. + +"Listen to this, Nancy." + +Nancy listened to Professor Corbett's quiet voice. + + "Is she kind as she is fair? + For Beauty lives with kindness. + Love doth to her eyes repair + To help him of his blindness, + And, being helped, inhabits there." + +"It's beautiful, Dad." + +Nancy watched her father as his eyes scanned the rest of the page. "You +love books, don't you?" she asked softly. + +Her father looked up and took off his glasses. "Yes, Nancy, I guess +I do. Teaching in the University was the greatest thing in my life +because I was able to spend so much time with books. And, you know, in +a way, they weren't just books, they were like old friends. Socrates, +Aristotle, Chaucer, Shakespeare--all the others. Every time I picked +up one of those books it was like meeting old friends. And you never +really get tired of old friends, you know. As the years go by they +become dearer to you and you learn to appreciate their true value." +Professor Corbett smiled a little sadly. "Nancy, it almost broke my +heart when the Council abolished the schools and colleges and burned +the books. That was the reason I joined the Rebels ever so long ago. +And, of course, there were many others who felt as I did." + +Nancy sipped the hot coffee and watched her father drift into his +reverie about the old days before there had been a Council or Watchers +and when Dreamtown had really been just what the name implied. A dream +city of books and learning and hard working men and women trying to put +a civilization back on its feet after the disastrous Big War. Nancy +thought of the kind of dreams that were dreamed in the city now. Dreams +of pleasure and sensation. Empty dreams. Vapid dreams. + +"Do you know what the Council set up in place of the schools, Nancy? +They built the biggest and brightest and most terrible playgrounds in +the world. Children were taught to fight and to play; and the ones who +fought hardest, regardless of rules, were considered the champions +in each playground. They didn't bother to learn anything; they just +played...." His voice trailed off. + +Nancy and her father drank their coffee in silence, each of them alone +with their thoughts. Professor Corbett was back in his University +classroom filled with the smell of chalk and the musty odor of books, +and Nancy was out in the dark night somewhere with Dan, making the +perilous journey to Ben's Rebel group. + +A sudden sound on the porch shocked both of them back to reality. +Professor Corbett quickly dropped his book into a drawer of the table, +rose and walked past Nancy who stared at the door with a mixture of +hope and fear on her face. A soft knock sounded and, after a moment's +hesitation, Nancy's father unbolted and opened the door. + +A tall young man wearing an old pair of blue jeans and a shirt from +which most of the buttons were missing stood in the doorway. + +"Dan!" Nancy shouted and ran across the room and into his arms. + +His huge frame almost filled the doorway, as he bowed, his blonde head +to murmur reassurances to Nancy, who cried with relief at having him +safely back. + +"I'm alright, darling,--but I'm afraid I've got bad news," Dan said. He +released Nancy, keeping one of her hands in his. When the three of them +were seated Dan spoke. + +"The Watchers must have gotten Ben and the others. The place was a +shambles. Everything was destroyed. They probably took the group to +Dreamtown. If they did, you know what that means." + +"Psychwashing," Professor Corbett muttered. He dropped his head in his +hands. "Then you couldn't get the books?" he asked sadly. + +"No. They had been burned. And so had Ben's paintings. We can't +wait any longer, Alan. We've got to organize and we've got to raid +Dreamtown. We can't go on like this anymore!" + +Nancy tightened her grip on Dan's hand as Professor Corbett raised his +head and nodded. "You're right, Dan," he said. "We can't afford to wait +any longer." + + * * * * * + +With a slight hum the large video panel in the ceiling of Brant's +apartment clicked on automatically. To the accompaniment of shrill +laughter in the background, the announcer told Brant and the other +viewers that they were about to witness the next installment in the +adventures of "The Pretty People." Brant stretched in his bed and +groaned from the effects of the party the night before. He watched +through half closed eyes as The Pretty People in their harlequin +costumes chased each other about a meadow filled with artificial +flowers. In spite of his discomfort Brant chuckled when Mannequina, +with a violent blow, knocked Manequin from a large toadstool on which +he had been seated. He laughed again as he watched Manequin roll down a +hill and land in a giant mud puddle at the bottom. + +Brant eased himself out of bed and walked unsteadily to the cubicle in +one corner of the room, stepped in, and closed the plastic door behind +him. He rubbed his eyes and stretched as the soothing vigoro-senso rays +removed the last traces of the discomfort brought on by too much liquor +and too many sensation pills. + +Back in his room he switched on the dimensional theater set and watched +the wall light up before him. Brant finished dressing to the sounds of +laughter coming from The Pretty People on the ceiling video and the +sighs and pleadings of two lovers in the dimensional theater set. + +On his way to the door Brant selected one of the milder sensation pills +from the bowl on the low table, swallowed it, and passed through the +sliding door panel into the street. + +He glanced at the gigantic clock which was suspended over the city like +a cloud in the sky by thin steel cables. Each numeral on the huge face +of the clock was composed of a man and a woman locked in an ardent +embrace. + +Brant and several other people boarded one of the moving platforms as +it stopped before them. The city sped by in a vari-colored blur. At the +main Sensory Communications Building Brant got off. The building loomed +massive before him, its rose plastic exterior warm looking in the +sunlight. Brant, with another glance skyward at the clock, went inside. + +He walked briskly down the jade hall and entered an office labeled +Assistant Director of Sensory Communications. + +Lisa, seated behind a desk, greeted him. "We've got sun this morning, +Brant. Have a good time last night?" + +"Had a ball, doll! You look great this morning." Brant said. "Benton in +yet?" + +"Waiting for you," Lisa replied. "Told me to send you right in." + +Brant turned and entered the inner office of Axel Benton, Director of +Sensory Communications for Dreamtown. + +Benton looked up and frowned as Brant entered. "The show on the +Council has to go on two weeks earlier," he fairly shouted at Brant. +"The Minister of Entertainment called this morning and he's hot! Says +the Council is having a fit about the increase in activity among the +Rebels; and rumors have been leaking out that they're planning to +destroy Dreamtown. So they want the show on sooner. Also, they want a +half hour show instead of twenty minutes." + +"Nobody cares what the Rebels are doing and it's crazy to think they +could destroy the city. So what's all the rush about?" Brant asked +angrily. + +"I figured you'd talk that way so I arranged a little session for you +this morning that may bring you to your senses, bright boy Brant," +Benton retorted. He barked into the intercom on the desk. + +"Call downstairs and have them send up Jennings, Lisa," Benton ordered. + +A few minutes later the door slid open and Jennings was led in by two +of the Watchers. He was a middle aged man who wore spectacles instead +of the contact lenses which nearly everyone in Dreamtown wore when they +needed glasses. The two Watchers stepped aside. They were young men, +neither looked more than twenty five, with eyes as brittle as glass. +Their black leather pants and jackets fitted tightly and steel cleats +on their heavy boots grated wickedly on the floor with each step they +took. Their hands, in black leather gloves, rested casually on their +hips close to the hypno ray guns fastened to their belts. + +"Jennings," Benton began, "was found to be in possession of a book +titled 'Principles of Human Knowledge' by George Berkeley. And +Jennings, as you know, Brant, was in a strategic control position here +in the Center. He was in charge of show censorship for the whole Com +center. + +"What do you mean, _was_ in charge?" Brant asked. + +"Just that! He is no longer in charge. In fact, he is being taken now +by these Watchers to the psych lab but I wanted you to realize the +seriousness of this thing, Brant, so I had him brought here first." + +"He's going to be psychwashed?" Brant asked. + +"Of course, you fool!" + +"But why? Couldn't you just burn the book and throw him out?" Brant +asked. + +"I wouldn't expect you to understand," Benton sneered. "The book he had +is one of the most dangerous books ever written. It is against every +principle on which Dreamtown is founded and if Lisa hadn't found it in +his office--." + +"Lisa found it?" Brant asked. + +"Yes, and like the smart girl she is, she reported him to the Watchers +right away." Benton motioned to the two Watchers and they stiffened +immediately, seized Jennings who stared silently before him, and half +dragged him from the room. + +"I never would have thought it of Jennings," Brant said softly. + +"That's just it! We can't be too careful," Benton said. + +"Are you sure he was a Rebel?" Brant asked. + +Benton's fist made a crashing sound as he brought it down on the desk. +"Idiot!" he screamed. "What else could he be? No one but a Rebel would +read such trash! Now get out of here, Brant. I want the format for the +Council show finished in two days or you're going to find yourself in +real big trouble! Seeing Jennings should wake you up and start you +moving!" + +Brant rose. "I see what you mean. You'll have the format." + +"Good! We're bringing out a new sensation pill in a few weeks and we'd +like to coincide the opening of this show with the release of the pill. +Big promotion and all that. And, by the way, don't forget the show +schedule for the annual Playground Festival." + +Benton turned back to the work on his desk as Brant left the office. + + * * * * * + +Men and women were crowded into the smoke-filled living room of +Professor Corbett's farmhouse, and conversations were being carried on +in hushed whispers. Nancy stood talking to Dan. Professor Corbett was +near them busily engaged in conversation with two women and a man whose +clothes looked as if they had seen many years of hard wear. + +Dan left Nancy and walked to the center of the room. His voice rang out +vibrant and clear as he called for the attention of the gathered crowd. + +"I believe we are all here now. If everyone will sit down we'll begin +the meeting." + +When everyone was seated Dan nodded to Professor Corbett. + +"You all know by now," Professor Corbett began, "that Ben's group was +discovered and probably destroyed. We've been able to find no trace of +them. Things have been going pretty badly for us, friends, and that is +why we asked you all to make the effort to come here tonight. For many +of you it's been hard; you've come a long way. But we have to make a +stand and we must make that stand together." + +Applause greeted Professor Corbett's introduction and, after hesitating +a moment, he continued. + +"It is likely that Ben and the others were taken to Dreamtown and +psychwashed. In the past few days we have received no word from +Jennings either. It is possible that he has been found out and is +unable to contact us. At any rate, we must operate on that assumption +until we hear from him again.--If we do," he added solemnly. + +Every eye in the group was fixed on Professor Corbett and every ear +strained to hear each word he spoke. + +"The Watchers have been patrolling an increasingly wider area around +Dreamtown, which necessitates moving our outposts farther away. This +will make communications between our groups more difficult, but it is +a necessary maneuver. Another thing. Take your books and music and +paintings and anything else which might give you away, and hide them +in some safe place. It is most important that we preserve what we have +left. It must not fall into the hands of the Watchers." + +A woman in the group spoke. "We can't just keep running and hiding! We +should do something!" + +"That is exactly the reason I asked you here tonight," Professor +Corbett replied. "Dan and I have formulated a plan and we submit it to +you for your consideration, approval, and cooperation. Dan, will you +explain what we have worked out?" + +Dan rose and came to stand beside the Professor. + +"First of all," he began, "we need four volunteers to go into +Dreamtown, get jobs, and wait for the raid. These four people will have +to be in strategic positions on the day we raid the city. Two of them +will open the North gates of the city. One will dynamite the warehouses +where the sensation drugs are stored. And the fourth must in some way +gain control of the Watcher's barracks and arsenal." + +There was excitement on the faces of the people who listened to Dan's +words. They began to see a ray of hope and a course of action, and they +leaned eagerly forward as Dan continued speaking. + +"Our first target when we raid the city, will be the Council Building. +If we can get control of the Council we have the heart of the city in +our hands." + +Two men stood up. "We want to volunteer to go to Dreamtown," they said. +A woman rose and joined them. "If you can use a woman, I'd like to go +too." Two other men volunteered, and there was much excited discussion +in the small room. + +Dan held up his hands and asked for quiet. "Since four men have +volunteered," he said to the woman, "we'd best use them. And now, if +those four men will stay here with me, the rest of you can leave. You +will be notified of details by runner, as in the past." + +The group broke up into smaller groups. Some went into the kitchen, +where Nancy had prepared a lunch for them. Others prepared to leave for +their own outposts. + +Professor Corbett was talking to an elderly man who had been a +scientist in one of Dreamtown's first laboratories. + +"It's a copy of a research project done by a colleague of mine on the +Relativity Theory. An astute paper, I'd say. I've been saving it for +you," Professor Corbett told the scientist. "I have it hidden with most +of my other books up on the hillside by the spring. Wait just a minute +and I'll get it for you." + +"Never mind, Dad," Nancy said. She had been passing and overheard her +father's remark. "I'll get it. You stay here and talk. I know you're +having more fun than you've had in months and I wouldn't see you spoil +it for the world." + +"But--," Professor Corbett tried to protest. + +"Hush, now. Be back in a jiffy," Nancy said as she slipped out the door +into the darkness outside. + +Professor Corbett and the scientist continued talking. Others joined +them and the discussion became heated. It touched on science, art, +literature, and many other topics that had been important and common in +the old days. A few minutes passed and Dan joined the group. + +"Where's Nancy, Alan?" he asked. + +Professor Corbett turned to Dan to explain Nancy's errand when the +sound of a shrill scream from somewhere outside the house caused +everyone to stiffen in fright. + +"It's Nancy!" Dan shouted and sprang for the door. He wrenched it +open and, as he did so, a burst of flame seared out of the blackness, +missing him by inches. Another scream followed the first. + +The people in the room were galvanized into action. Professor Corbett +ran to a chest in a corner of the room. He unlocked it quickly and +handed a ray gun to Dan. He distributed guns to most of the other men. +The guns had been smuggled out of Dreamtown by Jennings and others over +a period of years. Soon men were stationed at every window of the house +firing out into the blackness. + +"It's the Watchers!" a woman shouted. + +"Be careful of your fire," Dan yelled, "they've got Nancy!" + +The firing continued, while Professor Corbett and some of the others +struggled to smother a fire that had been started by a blast from a +Watcher's ray gun. + +"I'm going out after them!" Dan shouted. + +Professor Corbett grabbed for Dan in an effort to stop him, but he was +too late. The Professor left the others to battle the fire and raced +after Dan. + +As he stumbled along in the darkness, he could barely discern Dan's +figure racing in the direction from which the shots had come. There +was no firing now and the hillside was quiet. Dan had stopped, +and Professor Corbett joined him in the darkness. Both men looked +frantically in every direction. + +"There's no trace of them. They got away, Alan. We held them off, but +they've taken Nancy with them!" + +Professor Corbett put his arm around Dan's shoulder. His eyes filled +with tears and he gripped Dan tightly. For a few seconds neither of +them spoke and then Professor Corbett turned to Dan. + +"We'd better go back to the house." + +The two men turned and walked slowly back to the farmhouse where the +others still battled the fire. + + * * * * * + +Lisa and Brant walked down the street toward the Playground. + +"Benton liked your script for the Council show, Brant," Lisa said as +they walked along. + +"It was a hard card to handle, I'll tell you," Brant said. "No one +actually knows anything about the Council. We don't even know how many +members there are. It was hard trying to get enough information to fill +the show time, so I just reworked the old stories about the Council and +added a few new ones." + +Lisa slipped her arm through Brant's. "I'm proud of you, honey. It must +have been good to set Benton hopping like that. What'd you put in it?" + +"Just said the Council was Dreamtown's protector, provider and +producer. Said the same thing twenty times in twenty different ways; +but didn't answer any of the real questions about the Council." + +"No one asks any questions, Brant. Who cares how many men are on the +Council or how they operate? So long as we have our flip food and +parties--who cares? You worry too much." + +Brant laughed and patted Lisa's hand. "You're right. Jennings worried +too much and look what happened to him!" + +They continued down the street, standing aside once as a group of +Watchers in semi-military formation passed them. As they turned a +corner they saw the solid red wall that surrounded the Playground +rising in the distance. + +"Will you be able to get the information you want here, Brant?" Lisa +asked. + +"If they let us in," he replied. + +"I've never been in the Playground before, have you?" Lisa asked. + +"Once. A long time ago when it was first put into operation, but they +say things have changed a lot since then," Brant replied. + +A Watcher halted them as they approached the gate. Brant explained +about coming to gather material for the forthcoming Playground Festival +show and displayed his official Sensory Communications card. The +Watcher directed them to wait and stepped into a booth at one side +of the gate. Brant and Lisa saw him talking to someone on the video +phone. A moment later he returned, unlocked the gate, and motioned them +inside. Once in, they were met by another Watcher who led them down +a long hall to a door at the far end. The silence of the hall was in +direct contrast to the cacophony that met their ears as they stepped +through the door into the Playground. + +Children of both sexes and of every age and size filled the Playground. +Nearly all were shouting at the tops of their voices. Scattered among +the group were men and women dressed in the briefest of costumes. Some +participated in the children's games, but most stood and watched, in +rather stony silence, the activity before them. + +From one of the small buildings within the Playground, a young +man walked toward Lisa and Brant. The Watcher stepped aside as he +approached. + +"I am Kirk Rodson," the man said to Brant and Lisa. "Director of the +Playground. Can I help you?" + +Brant introduced himself and Lisa to the man, and explained their +purpose in coming to the Playground. + +"I see," Rodson said. "There's not much to tell. Children are brought +here immediately after birth and are cared for in our laboratories. +Their instruction in walking and talking is accelerated by specially +trained personnel. As soon as an infant learns to walk he is released +into the Playground with the others for a specified time each day. He +is fed a specially prepared diet. As he grows older, he is left in the +Playground for increasingly longer periods of time in order that he may +adjust to its demands." + +"When do the children leave here?" Brant asked. + +"The program of the Playground is arranged to accommodate children +until they reach the age of eighteen," Rodson answered curtly. + +"What generally becomes of the children then?" Lisa asked. + +"Most of them become ordinary citizens. The best of the male group are +trained as Watchers. The females usually join a breeder group. It is +only the elect, with the highest qualifications, that can fill either +of these positions." + +"Who are those men and women out there with the children?" Brant asked, +staring out into the crowded Playground. + +"They are some of the older ones who work with the children. Those +young men are joining the Watchers when they finish here." + +Brant, Lisa, and Rodson watched as one of the leaders called sharply +to a curly headed boy who had been playing with a pretty raven haired +girl. The boy leaped to his feet at the sound of his name and raced to +where the athletic young man stood. The man pointed to a group of two +boys and a girl who were engaged in a tussle on the ground before him. + +Brant and Lisa repressed their surprise as the boy quickly leaped +into the melee and, by virtue of his superior strength and size, beat +the two boys and the girl until they fled before his brutal blows. +The boy stared after them a moment and then returned to the man whose +directions he had followed. Rodson laughed a short harsh laugh as the +man slapped the boy's face and sent him sprawling in the dust. + +"These children must learn to be constantly on guard. The stronger the +person, the better chance he has for survival," Rodson explained. + +"It's a rather hard way to learn, isn't it?" Lisa asked. + +Rodson stared icily at her for a moment before he answered. "Lessons +learned the hard way are longest remembered," he said. + +As Brant listened to Rodson talk about the Playground, the children, at +shouted commands from their instructors, assembled in a rank and file +in the center of the Playground. + +"Listen!" Rodson ordered. + +One of the briefly clad young women raised her arm. Music resembling a +primitive rhythmical chant filled the air. The children sang as Brant +and Lisa listened. + + _We have fun. + We have sun. + We can fight. + We are right. + The Council leads us. + The Council feeds us. + Days of pleasure. + Full of treasure. + We are free! + We are free!_ + +As the song ended the children were dismissed by a wave of the song +leader's hand, and they raced wildly to the bright red barracks +surrounding the Playground. Several of the younger children were +knocked to the ground in the stampede, but they immediately scrambled +to their feet and joined the racing mob again. + +Brant thanked Kirk Rodson and walked with him to the door where they +parted. The Watcher led them down the silent hall and they were soon +out on the street again. + +"We have nothing to worry about if we train the kids that well," Lisa +remarked. + +"It's kind of hard on them at first, I guess," Brant observed. + +"They get used to it though. And anyway, we need strong people for +Dreamtown with some of those crazy Rebels still running around loose," +Lisa said. + +"We don't have to worry about them. After seeing those kids today, I +don't think we have to worry about anything," Brant said as they walked +down the street away from the Playground. + + * * * * * + +Professor Corbett, in response to a knock, opened the door of the cabin +to which he had moved after the Watcher's attack on his farmhouse and +greeted the man who stood outside. + +"Jim. How are you?" the Professor asked as he motioned the young man to +a chair. + +"I passed your old place on my way here, Professor. It's a good thing +you got out of there. The Watchers must have come back because the +place has been burned to the ground." + +"We figured they'd be back once they knew our location. This cabin is +in bad shape but we were lucky to find it. And it's isolated. Be hard +to find, here in the middle of the woods. But now tell me Jim, what +progress has been made?" + +"We've gotten a lot done in two weeks, Professor. I've just come from +Andy. He and his people have moved up to the summit of Thorny Mountain. +Joe and Ed have been in Dreamtown for almost the whole two weeks and +are working as laborers on the housing project in the West End. Bill +got himself a job as a messenger for the video control office and +Mike is working in the mess hall at the central headquarters of the +Watchers." + +"Fine, fine. That's wonderful," Professor Corbett exclaimed happily. He +hesitated a moment. + +"Mike," Jim said, "overheard one of the Watchers telling about the raid +on your place. He said they've got Nancy in one of the Detention Plants +near the Watcher's headquarters." + +"Is--is she all right, Jim? Could you find out if she's all right?" the +Professor asked hurriedly. + +"As far as we can tell, she's OK. They're holding her for questioning. +They'll probably try to find out as much as they can about our plans +before they--I mean--." Jim hesitated, embarrassed. + +"I know, Jim. Wait a minute. I'll call Dan. He's upstairs taking a +nap. He worked almost all night on the plans for the raid." Professor +Corbett called up the steps to Dan, and within a few minutes he +appeared, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. + +"Jim," Dan said, "have they found Nancy? Is she all right?" + +"She's being held for questioning, Dan," Jim replied. + +Dan turned to Professor Corbett. "Alan, that means we've got to act +fast. What's the report from the others?" + +Jim outlined the progress that had been made since the night of the +raid on the farmhouse. Together with Professor Corbett, they went over +the details of the new outposts of the Rebel groups. They counted up +the number of weapons possessed by each individual group, and checked +and rechecked the positions that each group and each individual was to +hold on the day of the raid. + +Jim told Dan of the positions that the four volunteers had obtained +within Dreamtown, and Dan wrote out detailed instructions for them to +follow on the day of the raid. + +"Get these instructions to Mike and the others within four days," Dan +ordered. "Wednesday of next week." + +"This whole thing," Professor Corbett said, "depends on our ability to +coordinate our actions. If there is one slip anywhere along the line +the whole thing will fall to pieces. Jim, you and the other runners +have an important job on your hands. You've got to get this information +to all the outposts and to the four men in the city by Monday. That +will give everyone a day to prepare before Wednesday." + +Jim took the sheets of paper from Dan, folded them, and placed them in +the inside pocket of his jacket. + +"What are your plans for getting Nancy out?" Jim asked. + +Dan answered him. "In Mike's instructions, I explained that he was to +open the Detention Plant and release Nancy and any of our other people +that might be there. He'll tell them what they're to do. If he hears of +anything happening before that time, we've got to depend on Mike to be +able to save her." + +"But if--," Jim began. + +Professor Corbett held up his hand. + +"We cannot afford to jeopardize the whole plan for anyone's sake." He +looked down at the floor. "Not even for the sake of my daughter." + +Dan placed his hand on the Professor's shoulder. "Nancy wouldn't want +it any other way, Alan," he said. + +"Mike will have to handle any emergency that arises. He's a good man +and we can depend on him," Dan added. + +"With the Playground Festival taking place next Wednesday it should be +easier for us to get control of the city. The Council has sent word +that every adult must attend the ceremonies. We'll have them all in one +place and they'll be easy to control." + +"I'll get going," Jim said. "Got to be in a lot of places between now +and Monday." He stood up and the three men shook hands solemnly. + +"Good luck, Jim," Professor Corbett said. + +Jim laughed. "See you in Dreamtown, Professor!" + + * * * * * + +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. + +The man repressed a laugh. "There are no other members!" + +"You mean you--!" Dan stopped in utter amazement as the truth began to +become clear to him. + +"Yes," the man replied calmly. + +"But I don't understand. How did you do it?" + +"Very simply. Are you sure you won't have some wine?" The man poured +himself a goblet of wine. "When Dreamtown began to become what it is +today, I saw a perfect opportunity to cash in, so to speak, on a good +thing. The details aren't important. I started small, and after I had +sufficient power, I set up this legend of the Council. It was a simple +thing to dispose of the few who knew the truth. Once that was done, +the secret was easy to keep. I am self sufficient here. There has been +no need to leave my apartments or my gardens. I send my directives, +my orders, my requests, through the transitab or over the intercom. +Food is left in an anteroom adjoining my chambers. Hardly anyone ever +questioned me except in the beginning, and then there were always the +Watchers, so the questioning soon stopped. Now, is there anything else +you would like to know?" + +Dan turned and called to the others and they entered, their guns still +trained on the Watchers. Dan explained what he had heard as they all +listened in amazement. + +"I don't believe it! It's a trick!" one of the Watchers blurted out. + +The little man chuckled. "My boy, the trick is over. He told you the +truth." + +"We're leaving now, and we're taking you with us to the Playground," +Dan said. + +"My wine first," the man said and raised the goblet to his lips. "Yes, +it's all over," he said softly and drained the goblet. + +Instantly the man's body went limp and he slumped to the floor before +the shocked eyes of the others in the room. + +Dan rushed forward and examined the inert form on the floor. "He's +dead! We'll have to leave him here. Lock the Watchers in that closet +and let's go. We've got to get to the Playground." + + * * * * * + +They raced down the steps of the Council Building and headed toward +the Playground. Occasionally they met a citizen of Dreamtown who fled +before them in fear or merely stared in stupefied amazement. + +The Playground gates were open and there were Rebels surrounding its +walls, their guns trained on captured groups of Watchers who stood +sullenly, staring for the most part, at the ground. A cheer went +up from the Rebels as they saw Dan and the others approaching. The +courtyard of the Playground was dotted with Rebels guarding the great +crowd that filled the stands which had been erected for the Festival. + +In the center of the courtyard was a platform on which stood Professor +Corbett and some of the other Rebels. Dan yelled in delight as he +recognized Nancy standing beside her father. + +In a great bound he was on the platform and Nancy was in his arms. + +When he released her, he spoke quietly to Professor Corbett. + +"Everything all right?" he asked. + +"Yes. We lost some men, but everything went according to plan." + +Dan turned to the shouting, fearful crowd before him in the stands. He +raised his gun and fired three successive shots into the night air. The +crowd quieted. + +"We intend no harm," Dan began, "most of you have heard of us. They +called us Rebels. We were. We once lived in Dreamtown. After the Big +War we tried to build a new civilization, one founded in truth and +dignity. At that time we all wanted the same thing. Then some people +came and offered us toys instead of truth. Many of us took the toys. +After the horrors of the Big War we wanted peace and contentment and +pleasure. But we made a terrible mistake. We took these toys hoping +they would give us the thing we looked for, and as years went by we +forgot what we had set out to do. But some of us didn't forget. Some +of us remembered. And we fled from Dreamtown, because the Council and +the Watchers told us we were wrong to want those things. The Council no +longer exists. There isn't time to explain it all to you now. You will +be informed quickly and completely as soon as we are able to arrange +it. One more thing. We do not come as conquerors, but as friends. We +came back because we believed in Dreamtown, and wanted to rebuild the +life many of you may remember. It will be difficult at first. But time +will teach us many things. Each of us has something to give the other. +Go home now, and tomorrow we will begin again to find the dreams we +first dreamed when we built Dreamtown." + + * * * * * + +The people sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then a cheer, lonely +and overloud in the silence, went up from a man in the crowd. A woman +ran from the crowd and seized a child from the group standing huddled +to one side of the Playground square. The woman was followed by two +other women who did the same thing, and soon the silence was broken by +the loud and excited talking of the great crowd of people. + +"So much will have to be taught to these people," Professor Corbett +whispered as he watched the people file out of the Playground. + +Dan held Nancy in his arms as he spoke. "We must teach them to hold +elections instead of blindly following self-appointed leaders." + +"We'll build schools and publishing houses again," Professor Corbett +said happily. + +"And baseball diamonds and football fields." + +"There's such a long way to go." + +"We'll begin tomorrow." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dreamtown, U.S.A., by Leo P. Kelley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59010 *** |