"Franz has told you why we are here. We believe the human race is doomed to slavery and annihilation unless some of us break away. My father left us a treasure of books that his father before him had salvaged from the holocaust. They tell of a way of life before the land was ravaged. It was a better way, believe me. We men have lived in Boru, a small valley back in the hills. But now we're leaving there. Long ago our father told us of a green valley to the east, high in the mountains where things grow as they did in the time before all this. We have a map; and we're going there to find freedom. We need you to keep this freedom." A hush of silence held the room for a moment, and was broken finally by the man who had come with the three girls. "Will The Leader be there?" Sten stared hard at the man. "You will be your own leader. Can't you see that? Your Leader is only an illusion! There is no leader but yourself, and perhaps the God in my father's books." The man sat a moment, then shook his head. "Not without The Leader--I couldn't face it." "You have your choice," Franz said coldly. The man rose and grasped the arm of the tall woman that had come in with him. "Then we have no business with you," he said as he led the woman to the door. The woman looked back hopelessly as she followed the man out. "And you?" Sten asked the remaining women. The blonde girl smiled and took hold of Johnathon's arm. "I will go." They all turned to the shy-looking girl who sat next to Karl. She looked hard at the man next to her before speaking. "Yes, me too," she almost whispered. "Good. That's two. Kathryn, what about you?" She looked Sten squarely in the eye. "I've decided to stay. Why should I leave this good life to be devoured by beasts or Root-Diggers on the outside?" Sten sighed. "Then we need more. And quickly. We must leave by tomorrow night at the latest." After the women had been escorted to their cubicles, Franz led the men through the corridors toward the center of the city. In each great square they passed squads of soldiers dressed like themselves, staring straight ahead in the same unconscious way. When they paused in the middle of a hall to plan their strategy, Karl turned to Franz. "Something's bothering me, Franz. Just where do they put their dead? We haven't passed anything like a graveyard." Franz laughed. "Death is rare in Panamia, my friend. When a person grows old or very ill, he is summoned by The Leader. He never comes back. I never knew anyone to come back. As far as any one knows they're still at the headquarters of The Leader." A huge cavern-like room loomed ahead where all the main passage-ways intersected. In the middle of the square sat a great round building, forbidding, yet beautiful. Doors opened on all sides leading into the great domed structure. "And this is where The Leader dwells. Nice, eh?" Franz said.