Richard Stockham

“ It's like a family letting their home decay all around them, and living in smaller and smaller rooms of it, until at last the rooms are all gone, and since they can't find another home, they all die in the ruins of the last room."
"I can't face dying," Mary said quietly, "squeezed in with all these people, in this tomb they've made around the seas. I want to have the open sky and the quiet away from those awful pounding pumps when I die. I want the spread of the Earth all around and the clean air. I want to be a real part of the Earth again." ”

“ The soft voice of the commander flowed into his mind like a voice from outer space:
"You will tell us your method of going into the macrocosm. The equations, the type ship, its propellent, where the ship is hidden."
Thorus felt enveloped in a void.
The voice of the commander droned on. "All we need is a clue. We'll work out the rest."
Life and feeling and thought were surging back into Thorus now. Strength filled his muscles again. Sight came into his eyes. Again he sat straight and stiff on the chair. ”

“ We read all the great literature of Earth. We watched the great plays and pictures and the paintings and listened to the music. Sometimes our thoughts were hateful. There was self-pity and hysteria. There were times when one or two of us would withdraw almost to the point of death. Then Captain McClelland would knock us out with the shock gun.
"Slowly, over the years, our minds gradually merged into one mind. We thought and created and lived as if we were one person. There grew to be complete and perfect cooperation. And from this cooperation came some great works. ”

“ GLEAMING suns and galaxies streaked past yet he seemed within himself to be hanging motionless in an infinite sea of blackness while he knew that the speed of him cracked through the barrier of time and space; knew that it was a speed beyond any conceived by the mind of man. On into forgetfulness, escape beyond his memory, faster and farther away than his mind, so far away that even earth would disappear in his thought. ”

“ Twenty-three was silent.
The Superfather pulled out a pack of cards. "Before we leave this room, you'll be a different man. If you tell us,"—he waggled the cards in his right hand—"this'll be your new life. You'll have dreams of outdoing every man on the machine lines and fix your body so you'll have the capacity to do it. You will do it. You'll become a Superfather. You'll burn to excel them. You'll push on up, become a Superfather-plus. You'll work with ideas, ways of increasing efficiency, pushing the workmen faster and faster. ”

“ The woman looked up at the man. "You've got to Michael!"
"Two thousand years. From one end of the galaxy to the other. Not one grain of dust we can live on. Just Earth. And it's burned to a cinder."
A note of hysteria stabbed into the radio voice. "Are you all right? Stand by! We're sending a rescue ship."
"They've got a right to know what we've found," said the woman. "They sent us out. They've waited so long—."
He stared into space. "It's hopeless. If we'd found another planet they could live on, they'd do the same as they've done here." ”

“ There was a faint, enigmatic smile on Caroline Gordon's face. The cords on Crowley's neck stood out through the tan and wrinkled wrapping-paper skin.
By God, thought Halter, they're all sane except the captain. And they've got to do it. They've got to come out on their own steam or die in that control room.
"I'm waiting," he said. "Is your work going to die and you with it?"
"We'll leave all the records," said the captain, his thumb poised over the button on the arm of his chair. "That's enough."
Halter ignored him. "Each of you can help. You've only done part of the work." ”

“ During the terrible burning of the Earth back in the wars of its antiquity, the city was built as a place of life for those who yet lived. But those people were not aware that the Earth would come alive again and they made the city so that no death could enter it from without and no life could escape from within. And they turned away from the Earth and lived only with the city so that it became their universe—to all but a very few of us. ”

“ Earth rocked and heaved, like an animal in convulsions. Volcanos exploded, shot out their flaming, poisonous refuse. Oceans were monsters writhing and rolling in their troughs, reaching onto the land, as though to pull it beneath them. And the land itself split wide and snapped shut great, yawning jaws. There was a wild rushing about among all the people, a madness, as though frantic motion would save them. They looked up off the convulsed earth with panic stricken eyes, their voices raised in agony.
Thorus' voice sounded, "The time for the death of the Authority has come. ”

“ And there're a lot of us contributing ideas and effort. If all of us who're working for Earth were to leave it and go out into space, the ones who have to fight wars would make the Earth as barren as the Moon. This is our place in the Universe and it's got to be saved."
"We've adjusted to the control room of this ship and to each other," said McClelland flatly. "Our work's done."
"Let's put it like this, Captain. Maybe your work's done. Maybe you're not interested in what happens to Earth." Halter turned to the others. "But what you've done adds up to a search for answers here on Earth. ”

“ But the dream machine in which you lie has been changed by our agents inside the city. The last card you dropped into it is different from the others. These changes have been made so your dream will become a reality. Your mind will be transmitted to us here among the hills and under the trees and by the ocean. And a new body, that we have grown, artificially, from all the elements, a body like the one you will leave behind, will be waiting for you. You need not be afraid."
Twenty-three felt himself moving forward. Sight and hearing and sensation, without a body. ”

“ If it were shown to the people there'd be mass hysteria."
"But even if we'd found another habitable planet, getting to it would involve just what we've shown you. Maybe only a tenth of the people who left Earth, or a hundredth, would ever reach a destination out in space."
"We couldn't tolerate such a possibility," said the President gravely. "We'd have to find a way around it."
The pumps throbbed like giant hearts all through the stillness in the council chambers. The faces along the line of desks were smoothing out; the terror in them was fading away. ”

“ Now I demand you give up this insane idea of going into the atoms. You've got to come with me."
"I've told you I can't escape with you out into the macrocosm. It's not my way!"
"The word 'escape' doesn't apply," he snapped, "to what I'm doing. You're escaping. You'll creep into the microcosm and sit there like a seed that won't grow. You can't fight the Authority from the microcosm. That way is utter passivity and death. My way is fighting back. I'm going into hyper-space. My ship and I'll become so huge and powerful I'll throw suns around like snowballs. ”

“ He must escape from the universe, must flee from the horror that filled him at the desolation he had wrought. Straight out into space, out into the forever, where earth would cease to exist, where he and his remorse would be lost. ”

“ Each of you, except Captain McClelland, has made a contribution to Earth and Man. You're needed here, not in the emptiness of space."
He saw the eyes of the five watching him intently; saw a tiny flicker of surprise and interest on their faces.
"You're destroying Earth," said the captain, his voice rising, "with your wars and your quarrels. We've all of us found peace. We're going to keep it."
alter ignored the captain and looked at the five.
"There are many of us on Earth, who are fighting a war without blood, to save mankind. We've made progress. ”

“ There was a turning to the President again and hands thrusting him forward to within one step of Michael and Mary, who were standing there close together, as though attached.
Haltingly he said, "Go. Please go. Out onto the Earth—to die. You will die. The Earth is dead out there. You'll never see the city or your people again." ”

“ We knew that there must be freedom beyond the walls, if we could get through. But the walls were thick and high and without a flaw, making a sky over us. We worked for five hundred years on a machine to get us through the wall. Now a few of us have succeeded and more will follow us to the freedom out here in the good land. There is room for everyone here, there are no boundaries and no ceilings and no walls anywhere. And you may join us some time in the near future, if you wish."
Twenty-three sighed in his sleep. ”

“ In the macrocosm. Thorus destroying! Destroying! The next instant her inner sight swung back to where Thorus' ship, the shining metal ball, had leapt up off the mountain of earth; leapt, in the fraction of a second, through the blue earth covering into black, outer space. Her inner sight saw the metal ball inflating, a cosmic balloon, flashing like the sun, then seeming to fill the space between all the suns! ”

“ The Superfather held his eyes on Twenty-three but spoke to the woman. "Thank God you were strong. It was commendable of you to call us."
"I don't know what made me look at his dreams," she cried. "Maybe it was when I asked him if he'd taken the prescribed dreams and he didn't answer.... Anyway, I tested his machine. It was insane!"
"Dreams made by some twisted mind," the Superfather said. "Remember. They've no real existence. Nothing lives or moves outside the city. There were old myths but they've been dead for countless generations." ”

“ They saw and heard chemical analyses, were aware of this ocean of blackness and clouds of white through which man might move, and must ever move, because he could live only upon this floating dust speck that was Earth. ”

“ The captain started toward his chair, his hand reaching for the button on its arm.
Lieutenant Brady stumbled forward, blocking his way.
Halter could only watch, thinking, It's up to them. They've got to do it now!
He saw the captain draw his shock gun; saw light flare at its muzzle; saw Lieutenant Brady crumple like a collapsing skeleton.
Crowley reached forward, grasping McClelland's shoulder. The gun swung toward him. A stream of light squirted into his middle. Crowley fell forward, pulling the captain down with him. ”

“ There was the sound of heavy breathing that mixed with the throbbing of the pumps. The President held tightly to the edges of his desk to quiet his trembling.
"There—there've been changes," he said, "since you've been out in space. There isn't a person on Earth who's seen a violent death for hundreds of years."
Michael faced him, frowning. "I don't follow you."
"Dying violently happened so seldom on Earth that, after a long time, the sight of it began to drive some people mad. And then one day a man was struck by one of the ground cars and everyone who saw it went insane. ”

“ Which means, will they work when they're applied to Man? Will people read the novels? Will they catch the meaning of the poetry? Will the spaceships really work as they're supposed to? Will the psychological theory really promote cooperation? Is there supreme health in this marvelous diet?"
He gave them a moment to think and then continued. "But if you continue to follow the commands of the captain, you'll be dead before you're out of the Earth's atmosphere. You'll never know. Maybe Man will prove that your great works are only dreams.... ”

“ But suddenly, he became aware of Aria's thought within him, crying out. "Destroyer! Murderer! In moments you've set humanity back a hundred thousand years. You're worse than the Authority. There'll never be any peace for you or for the earth or even the universe after what you've done. Other Authorities will come and you'll have to destroy them and others and others. Destruction for you forever, on and on, until you fill the universe with it...."
In his mind, Thorus saw her among the falling snowflakes and the drops of cool water and the green, growing atoms ”

“ I can remember in school, reading in the history books, how the whole Earth was overcrowded and how the food and water had to be rationed and then how the laws were passed forbidding birth and after that how the people died and there weren't any more babies born, until at last there was plenty of what the Earth had to give, for everyone. And then the news was broken to everyone about the culturing of the scar tissue, and there were a few dissenters but they were soon conditioned out of their dissension and the population was stabilized. ”

“ I'll find the secret of life in inner space and I'll return and release our people from the Authority. And you? You'll never really understand anything. You'll be a wild comet, yes, but I'll be a raindrop in a deep well, learning patience. I'll be a true healer. ”

“ And when you're on your own you're supposed to follow that way of life whether you're asleep or awake. That's what the dream machine is for. I'm sure you're aware of all this?"
"Yes," said Twenty-three. "Yes."
"Now we Superfathers never have to use the dream machines. We're so filled with the way of life they advocate and it's become such an integral part of us, we simply are what our prescribed dreams are. And the more successful a person is in the city, the less he has to use the dream machine. Now you have to use it every other night. That's entirely too much for a man of your potential. ”