Sten felt a sickening void in his stomach as they marched past the officer. Surely the man suspected. Would it all end right here, before they even had a chance to get started? He felt the reassuring pressure of the knife inside his belt, the one weapon that Franz had advised, and resolved that, if it should be necessary, their lives would be sold dearly. After a while they turned into a series of side passage-ways and Franz stopped before the door to one of the cubicles. The corridor was empty, and they were out of range of the view-screens. Johnathon relaxed against the wall and sighed. "What a sight. I never expected it to be as bad as this. Did you notice the look in most of their eyes? It's a dull, glazed almost dead look. They're nothing more than beaten animals." "Easy," Franz cautioned, "wait till we get inside." He pressed the button on the door. A woman's voice came through the door panel. "What do you want?" "Open. In the name of The Leader. It is a Provost." Slowly the door swung open and the men saw a small brunette standing before them. "What do you want?" she repeated in the same monotone. "Interrogation!" Franz pushed his way inside. The others followed. The woman stood against the wall cowering from the soldiers. Franz searched around the apartment carefully, then confronted the woman. "Do you not know me?" The woman stared into his eyes. Finally she said, "No, no, I don't know you." "Do you not remember Jeannine? The girl you worked with? Remember the plans? The plans to leave here and go outside to build a new life?" Her chin quivered as she tried to speak. "Yes, now I remember. You are Franz, Jeannine's lover. That was before The Leader found out and ... and sent Jeannine away. You disappeared, I thought you had been sent away, too. It is hard to remember. You know we are ordered to forget the past. What ... what do you want of me?" Franz motioned to the men with him, "We are from the outside." The woman recoiled with a gasp and backed even closer to the wall. "Root-Diggers!" Sten stepped forward. "No, we're not Root-Diggers. We're the men of Boru. We've come to lead you and others like you to freedom." "Barbarians!" the woman snarled. "You're planning to overthrow Panamia!" She lunged wildly at the switch that would have turned on her view-screen. Sten caught her and pushed her back against the wall. The woman screamed once before Sten slapped her, then she sobbed into her hands. "Shut up!" Sten commanded. "We mean no harm. We have come only to lead out to freedom those who wish to go." "You are against The Leader." Franz laughed. "Let's say we hope to outwit him." The woman drew back. "That is impossible, he cannot be outwitted. The Leader is all." Johnathon looked up from the corner where he was examining the view-screen. "That may be, but we intend to have a try at it."