Chapter V

For three days Rick remained in his room without leaving it, except for the brief periods he spent in the restaurant. He wondered how long they would allow the farce to go on, and what would happen to him after it was over.

The fact that Deva Warel was as opposed to the arrangement as he was made it a little easier to bear. But all the humor had gone out of the situation. His heart was sick and empty for all that he had left behind--for the farm, the cattle, even the friends who had refused to help him.

On the fourth day he decided he’d at least have to get out in the open if he was going to preserve his sanity. He left the building and walked out through a large, park-like area enclosed by buildings and masonry walls. He passed occasional couples who were apparently becoming acquainted and “acquiring mutual interests.” For the most part they seemed to exhibit a good deal of enthusiasm about the process.

Then he stopped short. A dozen feet away, seated on the grass with a thick book open in her lap, was Deva Warel.

She looked up as he approached and grinned. “Welcome to the bull pen,” she said. “I wondered when you were going to come down. Guess I must have really scared you, huh?”

“No, I was just taking my time,” he told her. He dropped down beside her on the grass and glanced at the title of the book. _Associative Reflex Circuits of the Memory Package!_

“That’s too deep for you, farmboy,” she said. “Anyway, since we’re here to court, suppose you start courting and get it over with. I’ve heard they have some real cute customs down on the farm.”

“I wouldn’t know about that,” said Rick slowly. “But ordinarily we use courtesy and kindness to the animals. They’re the only creatures below an Agro Sixth Rating, of course.”

She looked at him with an expression of regret in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Or maybe I _did_. I just don’t know!” She turned away again, her expression changing to one of anguish. “You couldn’t know anything about what this means to me. A week ago I hoped and halfplanned to marry a man of my own status--a Mech, First Rating. He’s a genius, and we’ve worked together all our lives.”

“I’m told that’s what you have to expect in return for the benefits of the Machine’s great wisdom. But even an Agro can understand what it means to rebel. I had hopes too--of marrying the woman I loved.”

* * * * *

She looked up quickly, her eyes searching his face. “I didn’t know. That makes us partners in at least one respect, doesn’t it?”

“I guess it does. The question is: What will they do to us for refusing to pair with each other? Will it mean prison, or alteration?”

“I don’t really know. It happens so rarely. I don’t suppose you’d marry me even to escape imprisonment.”

“Not if the future of the whole race depended on it,” Rick said fervently. “An Agro Sixth may not have much to be proud of. But he has a great deal of pride, just the same!”

“I thought so,” said Deva. “That makes the feeling _completely mutual_.”

Abruptly, she got up and moved to a more open spot away from the trees and bushes. She gestured to him to follow her. Irritated, he almost decided to walk back to the building, but his curiosity got the better of him.

“Closer,” she said as he approached. “This place is wired for sound in every bush and pebble. They’re watching us from observation posts on the walls and in the buildings--and they are taking continuous pictures. They’re interested in the progress of our courtship, you see.”

Rick straightened in sudden anger. The whole ordeal was becoming more disgusting by the minute.

“No, be careful!” Deva said. She put her hands up and drew his head closer to her. “Pretend you are whispering endearments in my ear,” she said. “Keep your face down so they can’t get your lips on the film. They won’t be able to read your words then.”

He did as she advised. She turned her face downward, too, and plucked idly at blades of grass as if they were exchanging only words of love and discussing the most blissful of futures.

“We’ve a chance to get away,” Deva said, “if you have the courage to risk it.”

“I’ve already made one try,” Rick told her. “It failed because I didn’t prepare far enough ahead.” He described his desperate, last-minute attempt to get the plane ready.

Deva looked up in surprise, and then quickly lowered her head again. “You’re a bigger boy than I thought,” she said. “Gerald wouldn’t take the chance either. He had that much in common with Barie.”

“Gerald?”

“The man I worked with and loved.”

Rick looked at her. “Where did you want to go?” he asked. “Tell me, Deva.”

“There are ten thousand square miles of open country outside the cities. They aren’t patroled very well, because the Machine doesn’t consider the area a vital factor. You’d be surprised how many have escaped and are living in perfect freedom between the cities. Gerald and I could have joined them if he had possessed the nerve--and had loved me enough.”

“Why did he back down?” Rick asked, knowing in advance what her answer would be.

“He said there was no future for us out there. We were civilized citizens of a great community, and had an obligation to do our part. If that obligation included bowing to the superior wisdom of the Machine our only alternative was to obey. Can you imagine a weak-kneed evasion like that from a man who _knows_ Mech theory and operation. But of course _you_ wouldn’t understand how that knowledge should have made him scorn the Machine. Gerald said he had his work to consider.”

“It hit pretty hard?” said Rick. “Yes--I can see that it did.”

“When he heard I’d been scheduled to pair with an Agro Sixth he acted as if he’d just had a very narrow escape--as if I’d suddenly become unclean. I’d loved him since I was a little girl. But I could have killed him then.”

“You’d take him back, though--if you had the chance?”

Deva nodded. “I’d be fool enough to take him back in a minute if he had the courage to go with me.”

“But he hasn’t,” Rick said, thinking of Barie. “And you haven’t answered my first question. Just what do we do?”

“_We_ can go out there,” Deva said fiercely. “We can help each other escape from the city. After that, we can split up and go our separate ways. I haven’t quite figured out what I’ll do with the rest of my life. But I’d rather be a wilderness outcast than remain chained here, forced to obey every life-denying whim of the Machine.”

“Married to an Agro Sixth, of course.”

Deva nodded. “Married to an Agro Sixth. Do you know what you’ll do? Have you given it serious thought?”

He shook his head, thinking suddenly of all the blank years ahead, without Barie, without home or land or friends. But what Deva said was true. Anything would be better than a life of blind obedience to the whims of the Machine.

“You don’t believe then that the Machine is the infallible god it’s supposed to be?” he asked curiously. “I thought all Mechs bowed to it three times upon arising, and before going to bed.”

Deva’s lips tightened in disgust. “It’s a man-made machine, and only a fool would let it dictate his life for him.”

“There are a good many fools, apparently.”

“Millions of them,” Deva agreed.

“Including Gerald?”

“Including both Gerald and Barie,” said Deva.

Rick started to protest, then grinned. “I think we’ll manage this getaway if it’s physically possible. Just what are your plans?”

“Because you’re an Agro it will be possible for me to get permission to take you out in the city--away from the bull pen. We’ll make several trips, and come back each time. But on the final trip, we’ll just keep going.”

“Is it that easy?”

“There’ll be a search, of course. A search is routine, but it’s never very intensive. After that, however, it’s a long way to the nearest Outlander post and decent food and shelter. You won’t think it’s easy when it’s over.”

“I’m ready to start now,” Rick said, pressing her hand.

She shook her head. “No. Our wisest course is to separate now. Tonight there will be a musical show put on for the benefit of all the gay lovers in the bull pen. You’ll take me to that.”

“Fine. We’ll go on our first tour tomorrow?”

“I’ll see about the arrangements. You’d better pretend to steal a kiss now--just to make it look real.”

Rick complied. After a moment Deva broke away, protesting, with fire in her eyes. “It doesn’t have to be _that_ real, farmer-boy! You’ll behave yourself--or find yourself left here alone.”

Rick grinned. “From what you have just told me, you’d have great difficulty in escaping without me. So I don’t intend to worry.”

* * * * *

Even in the sanctuary of his own apartment Rick forced himself to suppress his excitement over the prospects of immediate escape. From what Deva had said, he was certain that the watch circuits were observing him constantly--here as well as out in the park.

He smiled to himself at the memory of Deva’s name for it. The bull pen. Well, what could be more appropriate? He looked down at the strolling couples walking arm-in-arm, as if the whole revolting spectacle had been entirely their idea. In disgust he turned away again. How could men and women make love at the dictates of a machine? What had happened to the human race, anyway?

At least he had to admire and respect Deva. She had courage enough to rebel against the system, despite her certain knowledge that she would lose her place in the only kind of society she knew. And perhaps the price would be death.

Inevitably, his thoughts went back to Barie. He imagined her in a similar position, facing the same kind of challenge. What if the Machine actually should call her up. It could happen!

He went on to imagine her walking down through the gardens and along the flower-scented paths with some man she’d never even seen before, a love choice selected for her by a mindless machine.

The thoughts made him almost physically ill and sharply increased his bitterness.

That night at the entertainment Deva had reassuring news. She had been granted permission to take Rick on extensive tours of the city to acquaint him with the unfamiliar civilization he would soon be expected to embrace as his own. This orientation preliminary was acceptable as part of their courtship period, since he was an Agro.

“But we’ll have to wait another four or five days,” Deva said. “They want us to become better acquainted in the gardens where there are not too many other distractions. So just be patient,” she said as he frowned wryly. “It won’t embitter you for life to endure my company for a few extra days!”

She’s right, he thought with a grin as he tucked her arm in his. She was going to be real easy to get along with.

The show was not too bad, he guessed. He’d never seen anything quite like it, but it wouldn’t matter if he never repeated the experience, either. His mind refused to remain passive. It lunged about, from considerations of his vague and shadowy future to Lonestar and Barie, and then back to the strange little Mech girl sitting beside him. He wondered what would become of her when once they were safely away into the Outlander country. Had she some secret plan of her own?

During the succeeding days they spent most of their time together discussing with each other their past lives in the widely divergent worlds from which they had come. They spent long, idle hours in the gardens or at the music bar. They ate together and Deva read to Rick poems and stories that opened up a new world of beauty to him.

The time passed more quickly than he could have dreamed. Then on the fifth day Deva said, “Tomorrow we can take a trip through the city. I don’t suppose I’ll need a leash--”

He laughed and drew her to him and kissed her soundly as had become their custom at parting--solely to impress the watchers who recorded all their actions.

“I told you to behave!” Deva said, how angrily he could only guess.

“Tomorrow,” Rick promised.