Part 10 (1/2)
”Phonograph records?”
”Gossip?”
”Newsfilm?”
”Who's the heavyweight champ?”
”We lick those Commies in Burma yet?”
”Step back! Watch that man. Maybe he's your replacement.”
”Replacement. Ha-ha. That's good.”
All types of men. All ages. In torn, tattered clothing, mostly. In rags. Even if a man seemed more well-groomed than the rest, on closer examination Temple could see the careful st.i.tching, the patches, the fades and stains. No one seemed to mind.
”Hey, bud. What do you hear about rotation? They pa.s.sed any laws yet?”
”I been here ten years. When do _I_ get rotated?”
”Ain't that something? Dad Jenks came here with the first s.h.i.+p. Don't you talk about rotation. Ask Dad.”
”Better not mention that word to Dad Jenks. He sees red.”
”This whole d.a.m.n planet is red.”
”Want a guided tour of nowhere, men? Step right up.”
Arkalion grinned. ”They seem so well-adjusted,” he said, then shuddered against the cold and followed Temple, with the others, through the crowd.
They were inoculated against nameless diseases. (Watch for the needle with the hook.)
They were told again they had arrived on the planet Mars. (No kidding?)
Led to a drab underground city, dimly lit, dank, noisome with mold and mildew. (Quick, the chlorophyll.)
a.s.signed bunks in a dormitory, with four men to a room. (Be it ever so humble--bah!)
Told to keep things clean and a.s.signed temporarily to a garbage pickup detail. (For this I left Sheboygan?)
Read to from the Declaration of Independence, the Const.i.tution and Public Law 1182 (concerned with the Nowhere Journey, it told them nothing they did not already know).
Given as complete a battery of tests, mental, emotional and physical, as Temple ever knew existed. (Cripes, man! How the h.e.l.l should I know what the cube root of -5 is? I never finished high school!)
Subjected to an exhaustive, overlong, and at times meaningless personal interview. (No, doc, honest. I never knew I had a--uh--anxiety neurosis. Is it dangerous?)
”How do you do, Temple? Sit down.”
”Thank you.”
”Thought you'd like to know that while your overall test score is not uncanny, it's decidedly high.”