Herb came up from the deep stupor of the drugs. He had been under their influence for the last twenty hours while the sleep tapes hammered information into his unconscious brain. "All right," said Wezen, their private custodian, "time for exercise. Two hours of work-outs, and then you eat." Herb sat up and felt his head. It ached dully. "Give me a minute. Time to think, Wezen. I'm--" The other two starmen were also recovering. "None of that! No time to think! Get up! Get up!" Herb got reluctantly to his feet. Cold air washed over his nude body, and he trembled. He wanted to return to sleep, not the drugged sleep of the sleep tapes, but the genuine, untroubled sleep. Something frightening and alien was taking place in his mind. He looked around for a dream form. It was a subconscious response. He realized with relief that it was not necessary to fill one in. Technically, he had not been asleep. The Oligarch came to witness the first awakening. "How goes it, Wezen?" "Fine." "I don't know," Herb said. "My mind, it's ... I can't think...." One of the others said, "There's all kinds of information, but I can't get at it. I ... can't ... get ... at ... it." He looked around desperately. "Every time I try, something new comes up. It's like a volcano. I can't control it. I think, the name of a river is Mississi--and then I know that leaves are green, and...." "The sun is 93 million miles away...." "The day is divided into twenty-four equal periods of sixty minutes...." "The largest ocean is the Pacific...." "The Federal Government of the United States of America is composed of three independent branches...." They were all talking at once. "It's awful. Not to be able to control...." "Good, good," said the Oligarch. He was satisfied with the progress. By the time they landed, they would be little more than mechanisms designed to answer questions; they would not be able to think at all: they would _respond_. Stimuli-response. "Freedom," said the Oligarch. "Is," Herb found himself saying, "is the basis of any government that governs justly." Wezen made a little intake of air that was loud in the shocked silence. "I said that," Herb said unbelievingly. "Excellent," said the Oligarch. "The proper reaction." Wezen relaxed, but he was visibly shaken. He had _heard_ the heresy. What might happen to him later, when this job was done? "The indoctrination is beginning nicely." The Oligarch nodded. They would be able to soothe suspicion and dispel fear when they arrived on Earth. They would speak of love and assistance when the time came. "But you still have much to learn." "You have a lot of information about them," Herb said. "Their history ... their.... You got it just in the last few days from their radio and television shows? I don't see how...."