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 stitching, the patches, the
fades and stains. No one seemed to mind.
"Hey, bud. What do you hear about rotation? They passed any laws yet?"
"I been here ten years. When do _I_ get rotated?"
"Ain't that something? Dad Jenks came here with the first ship. Don't
you talk about rotation. Ask Dad."
"Better not mention that word to Dad Jenks. He sees red."
"This whole damn 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)
Assigned bunks in a dormitory, with four men to a room. (Be it ever so
humble--bah!)
Told to keep things clean and assigned temporarily to a garbage pickup
detail. (For this I left Sheboygan?)
Read to from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution 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 hell 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."
"So what?"
"So nothing--not necessarily. Except that with it you have a very well
balanced personality. We can use you, Temple."
"That's why I'm here."
"I mean--elsewhere. Mars is only a way station, a training center for a
select few. It takes an awful lot of administrative work to keep this
place going, which explains the need for all the station personnel."
"Listen. The last few weeks I had everything thrown at me. Everything,
the works. Mind answering one question?"
"Shoot."
"What's this all about?"
"Temple, I don't know!"
"You what?"
"I know you find it hard to believe, but I don't. There isn't a man
here on Mars who knows the whole story, either--and certainly not on
Earth. We know enough to keep everything in operation. And we know it's
important, all of it, everything we do."
"You mentioned a need for some men elsewhere. Where?"
The psychiatrist shrugged. "I don't know. Somewhere. Anywhere." He
spread his hands out eloquently. "That's where the Nowhere Journey
comes in."
"Surely you can tell me something more than--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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