Understanding came. Of course! The other passengers wore blue, yellow,
in two instances beige. His was the only white coverall. The curiosity,
the averted and envious eyes, the careful avoidance of adjoining seats
were suddenly explained. Freemen were never seen in the city--as far
as Hendley knew they never left the Freeman Camps. The fact had never
before struck him as unusual. Chances were that none of his fellow
passengers had ever seen a white uniform before except on a viewscreen.
And it was extremely doubtful that any of them would recognize the
meaning of the red sleeve emblem--the only mark, Hendley had been told,
distinguishing his coverall from that of a permanent Freeman.
He settled back in his seat, half-amused, aware of a peculiar sense of
pleasure, of--what was it?--superiority. If only they knew he was to be
free for only twenty-four hours! But they would undoubtedly envy him
still. How many had the chance to know what freedom was really like?...
He gave himself up to the feeling of being adrift, carried helplessly
along. For the first time since his rebellion began he had time to
think. On that first day too much had happened too fast. Even at
the Morale Center he'd had no time for the luxury of collecting
his thoughts. It had been close to morning when the Investigator's
astonishing pronouncement ended his questioning. Hendley had had no
rest for twenty-four hours. Exhausted, he had slept through most of
the day. Shortly after waking he learned that the morale computer had
approved his visit to the Freeman Camp. When he expressed a desire to
return to his room to prepare for the trip, the Investigator demurred
politely. "That won't be necessary," he said.
"But I'll need a fresh uniform, at least--"
"Not at all. Whatever you need will be supplied. And in any event,
you'll wear white...."
The Investigator had explained. No one was allowed to visit a Freeman
Camp in other than the prescribed white coverall. Any other color
would attract too much attention, even hostility. The precious
right of freedom was an exclusive privilege. Moreover, to move
freely--the Investigator chose the word with obvious care--to know
what it was like to live as a Freeman, it was essential that Hendley
should pass unnoticed. The red sleeve emblem would identify him to
official personnel as a visitor, but to most Freemen it would have
no significance. Hendley would go into the camp empty-handed as any
permanent Freeman would. Even his watch would be left behind. There
were no clocks in the land of the free.
"Those of us who work are shackled to the clock," the Investigator
said. "The day, the hour, the minute measure our distance from freedom.
To be free is to be liberated from the need to recognize time...."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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