THE SENTINEL STARS A NOVEL OF THE FUTURE BY LOUIS CHARBONNEAU [Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] With love to Helen and Bruce TRH-247 That meant he was the two-hundred-and-forty-seventh citizen with the name Thomas Robert Hendley. His name, of course, was never used. The Organization found numbers more efficient than names. Only, TRH-247 wasn't any other citizen. He was himself, different from anyone else, and he had to do something about it. So he quit work; smuggled himself into the forbidden pleasures of a Freeman Camp; found boredom and nonidentity there, too; committed the ultimate rebellion, using a false number; and got the ultimate punishment--banishment. He took the girl with him, for her crime was equal to his. The only problem he had to face now was--survival! A PROPHETIC NOVEL OF AN EASILY FORECAST FUTURE WHEN A CITIZEN HAD TO FIT THE MACHINE--OR PERISH.... * * * * * THE SENTINEL STARS _A Bantam Book / published November 1963_ _Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-19052_ _© Copyright, 1963, by Louis Charbonneau._ _Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada._ _Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trade-mark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a bantam, is registered in the United States Patent Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Patented in the United States of America. Bantam Books, Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York 16, N. Y._ * * * * * 1 The morning after. In the underground streets and the wide arcades lined with shops, curling colored streamers rustle under the feet of night workers hurrying home to their rooms. Automatic street cleaners snuffle at plastic cups and empty bottles strewn outside of vending bars and recreation halls--snuffle like some curious animal, suck, devour and move on, their fat wheels whispering on the pavement. Marquees overhead still wink with last night's slogans: ONE FOR ALL--ALL FOR ONE! WORLD HAILS MERGER! The Merger is complete. East is West, and black is white. Now the talk can cease. Now the viewscreens, the discussion forums, the recreation hours, the coffee debates, the public opinion polls, the conversations of lovers can turn to other things. The Organization is One. Freedom is all. * * * * * Rebellion can be a bomb or a cry of pain, a shout of defiance or a mute, sullen face. Or a man lying in bed, motionless.