The Happy Man Page 2

who had never known the electronic dreams whichwere fed to all but a few of Earth's peoples. People who had neverlain asleep in nutrient baths from their seventeenth birthday livingan unreal world built to their own standards. Of the billions onearth, only a few hundred were wakers. Most of those were patrol, ofcourse, but a few were rebels.

  That was he, and also the girl he had seen yesterday. And it had beenEdna and Sammy and Jeanne and Gardner; and maybe a dozen other peoplehe had known since he had escaped from the Commune, when he had beenjust a kid--but when he had seen the danger.

  For the past two and a half centuries or so, almost everyone raised onEarth had been raised in a commune, never knowing his or her parents.They had been raised, they had been indoctrinated and they had matedin the communes--and then gone into Sleep. More than likely, Nelson'sparents were there still, dreaming in their trance, having long agoforgotten each other and their son, for those were things of a harsherworld over which one could have no control. In Sleep one dreamed of aworld that suited the dreamer. It was artificial. Oh, yes, it was ahighly personalized utopia--one that ironed out the conflicts bysimply not allowing them. But it was artificial. And Nelson knew thatas long as the universe itself was not artificial nothing artificialcould long stand against it. That was why he had escaped the communewithout letting them get him into the nutrient bath in which thedreamers lived out their useless lives. His existence gave the lie tothe pseudo-utopia he was dedicated to overthrowing. The called itindividualism, but Nelson called it spineless.

  * * * * *

  Above him was sky stretching light blue to the horizons--and beyondthe blueness of stars. He felt a pang of longing as he looked uptrying to see stars in the day sky. That was where he should be, outthere with the pioneers, the men who were carving out the universe tomake room for a dynamic mankind that had long ago forgotten theSleepers of the home world. But no, he decided. Out there he would notbe giving so much to mankind as he was here and now. However decadentthese people were, he knew that they were men. Nelson knew thatsomehow he had to overthrow the Sleepers.

  Before something happened while they lay helpless in their coffins,dreaming dreams that would go on and on until reality became harshenough to put them down.

  What if the spacefarers should return? What if some alien life formshould grow up around some other solar type star, develop spacetravel, go searching for inhabitable worlds--solar type worlds--anddiscover Earth with it's sleeping, unaware populace? could dreamsdefend against that?

  Nelson shuddered with the knowledge that he had his work cut out forhim, and awoke to his own hunger. He fished out a can and started toopen it before he remembered, and fished out another can as well. Hepressed the release on both and the tops flew off, releasing the odorof cooking food.

  He leaned over and set one can on a flat rock that was just inside hisreach, then scooted back about a foot and using his fingers, scoopedup a mouthful of his own breakfast. Half turning his head, he caughtsight of her out of the corner of his eye, about fifteen feet away,tense and expectant but ready to spring away if she thought it wasnecessary. He turned back and concentrated on eating his ownbreakfast.

  "This sure is good after all night," he said, after a few minutes,making a show of gulping down a chunk of stew beef, and sucking thegravy from his fingers. He did not look back.

  "My name is Glynnis," he heard abruptly. He sensed the uncertainty inher voice, and the--distant--hint of belligerence, but even so hecould tell it was a soft voice, musical and clear--if he could judgeafter not having heard a woman's voice in so long.

  "Glynnis," he said slowly. "That's a pretty name. Mine's Hal Nelson.Like I told you last night."

  "I haven't forgotten. Is that for me?" She meant the food, of course.Hal Nelson looked around. She was still standing by the tree. She wastrying to seem at ease and making an awkward show of it.

  "Yes," he told her. She took a step closer and stopped, looking athim. He turned back to his own eating. "No need to be scared, Glynnis,I won't hurt you." He became uncomfortably aware that she had notspoken his name yet and he wanted her to very much.

  "No." Then a brief pause before she said, "I'm not used to anybody."

  "It isn't good to be alone out here with the animals and food so hardto come by--and the patrol searching for wakers. You ever have anybrush with the patrol?"

  She had come up and was eating now; her answer came between eagermouthfuls. "I seen them once. They didn't know I saw them--or theywould have caught me and taken me back with them."

  "Where're you from? What are you doing out here?"

  For a moment he thought she had not heard him. She was busy eating,apparently having classified him as a friend. Finally, she said, "Myfolks were out here. They were farmers for a while. I was born outhere and we moved around a lot until my daddy got tired of moving. Sowe built a farm. He built it in a place in a valley off there"--Shevaguely indicated south--"And they planted some grain and potatoes andtried to round up some kind of livestock. We had mostly goats. But thepatrol found us."

  Nelson nodded, bitterly, he knew what had happened. Her father hadgone on as long as he could until at last, broken and uncaring he hadmade one last ditch stand. More than likely he had half wanted to giveup anyway, and had not only because of the conflict of his family andsaving face. "You were the only one who got away?" he asked.

  "Uh-huh. They took the others." She spoke without emotion, peeringinto her food can to see if there was any left. "I was out in thefield but I saw them coming. I hid down low behind some tall grain andgot to the forest before they could find me." She examined the canagain, then decided it was empty and put it down.

  "Do you know what they do to people they take?" Nelson asked.

  "Yes."

  "Your daddy tell you? What did he say?"

  "He said they take you back to the Mausoleum and put you to sleep in acoffin." She looked up at him, her face open, as if that was all therewas to it. Nelson decided that she was as guileless as he had expectedher to be, and reflected absently on that factor for a moment.

  A light breeze was up and the air was full of the scents of theforest. Nelson liked the pungent smell of the pines and rich odor ofchokeberries and bushes; and the mustiness that could be found inthickly overgrown places where the ground had become covered with abrown carpet of fallen pine needles. Some days he would search placesin the forest until he found one or another brush or tree whose leavesor berries he would crush in his fingers simply so that he could savorthe fragrance of them. But not this morning.

  He rose to his feet and reached over to pick up Glynnis' discardedfood container. She drew away from him, bracing herself as if to leapand run. He stopped himself and froze where he stood for a moment,then drew back.

  "I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "We can't stay here, because ifyou stay somewhere they find you. We can't leave the containers here,either, because if they find them it might give them a clue intracking us."

  She looked ashamed, so he reached over, ready to draw back his hand ifshe acted as if she were scared. She tugged at her lower lip with herteeth and stared at him with eyes that were wide but she did notspring to her feet. Somehow Nelson knew that the girl was acutelyaware of how much she needed help out here. Suddenly, her right handdarted out and for a split second Nelson feared he had lost after all.But she reached over for the discarded can, picked it up and handed itto him. He reacted a little slowly, but he smiled and took thecontainer. Their hands touched briefly and the girl drew hers away,immediately looking ashamed for so doing. Nelson continued to smile ather, and rather stiffly, she answered with a smile of her own. He putthe container into the knapsack with the others and then slipped intothe armstraps. Glynnis helped him.

  * * * * *

  They walked for an hour, that first day together, neither speaking.Glynnis stayed close by his side and Nelson could feel her proximityto him. He felt good in a way he had not felt in along time. When thesilence
was finally broken, it was Nelson who broke it. They weretopping a small hill in a section of wilderness that was not asheavily wooded as most and the sunlight was warm against Nelson'sface. He had been thinking the matter over off and on all morning, andnow he asked, "Have you ever raided a patrol depot?"

  "No," she answered, a trace of apprehension in her voice.

  They topped the hill and began moving down the other side. "Sometimesit's a pushover, when nobody is there. Other times it's mortal hell.The patrol is always anxious to get their hands on wakers, so they tryto keep an eye out for them at the depots. That means a fight unlesswe're very lucky. If the depot we pick is too heavily manned--"

  "What do you mean, 'Depot we pick'?"

  "We need more food. We either shoot some, raise some, or steal some."

  "Oh," she said, but there was apprehension in her voice.

  "We don't have any choice. We'll wait until almost dark. If the depotis guarded by too many men, or for some reason an extra number isthere for the night, then we're in trouble unless we play our cardsjust right. You just do as I tell you and we'll be all right." Hereached back and fumbled with the side pouch on his pack. "You knowhow to use one of these? Here, catch." He tossed her in his sparefurnace beamer.

  She almost missed it. She caught it awkwardly and held it gingerlywith both hands, looking first at the gun and then him. Then, stillgingerly, but with a certain willingness, she took the gun by the gripand pointed it to the ground, her eyes shut hard. Then, suddenly, herexpression changed and she glanced up at him, worriedly.

  "Oh, you said they could tell if we fired one of these."

  "Don't worry," Nelson said. "The safety is on. Let me show you." Hetook the gun and explained to her how to use it. "Now then," heconcluded. "When we get to the depot you stay outside the alarmsystem. I'll go in, leaving you to guard. Try not to use this unlessyou have to, but if it is necessary, don't hesitate. If you fire it,I'll know. My job will be to slip past the alarm and get inside to thefood. If you fire, that'll be a signal that you've been discovered bythe guards and we have to get out of there."

  "Won't this give us away the same as shooting game?"

  "Sure, but we get more food this way and maybe some other stuff.Especially reloads for the furnace guns. And, if we're lucky, we canground the patrol. One more thing, Glynnis," he added. "Are you sureyou can kill a man?"

  "Is it hard?" she asked innocently. Nelson was rattled only for asecond.

  "No, it isn't hard, except that he'll probably be trying to kill you,too."

  "I've hunted some game with this." She held up her hunting knife sothat the blade caught the sunlight. She had kept it clean and sharp.Nelson could see, but there were places where the blade had beenchipped.

  "Well, maybe there won't be any need to kill anyone at all," he said,a little more hastily than he intended. "I guess you'll do fine,Glynnis, I'll feel a lot safer knowing you're out there." He wouldfeel as he had felt when Edna had gone with him on raids.

  * * * * *

  Toward evening they came to the depot Nelson had picked out. They wereon a high although gently sloping hill, among the trees that crestedit, looking down at the depot about a quarter of a mile away. Therewas still enough light to see by, but the sky was darkening for night.For the past two or three hours, Nelson had been repeatedly drillingGlynnis over her part. It was simple, really, and she knew itbackwards, but she patiently recited her role when he asked her,whether out of regard for his leadership or an instinctive realizationof his pre-raid state of nerves, he did not know. He made her reciteit again, one last time. She spoke in low tones, just above a whisper.Around them the gathering of dusk had quieted the world. He waited forit to get a little darker, then he touched her shoulder and clasped itfor a second before beginning his way to the depot.

  He kept close to the bushes as far down as he could and crouched lowover the ground the rest of the way even though he knew it was toodark for ordinary optics to pick him up. He had an absorber in hispack that would take care of most of the various radiations anddetectors he would come into contact with, and for the most part,unless the alarms were being intently watched, he didn't expect to benoticed on the control board. And you couldn't watch a board like thatday after day with maximum efficiency. Not when the alarms were setoff only by an occasional animal or falling tree limb. Mostly he hadto keep watch for direct contact alarms and traps; he was anaccomplished thief and an experienced burglar. At last he foundhimself at the fence surrounding the depot.

  In a clump of bushes a few feet from the fence he hid the containers;it saved him the job of having to bury them, and they would bedeadweight now, anyway. Then he turned his attention on the fence.

  He took a small plastic box out of his pack and pressed a panel in itscenter with his thumb. Silently, smoothly, two long thin rods shot outfrom each end of the box until they were each about a foot long. Therewas a groove on the box and Nelson fitted it to the lower strand ofthe fence wire. He let go of the gadget and it balanced of its ownaccord, its antenna vibrating until they blurred, then ceasing tovibrate as the gadget balanced. Nelson went down on his back andpulled on gloves. He grabbed the fence wire and lifted it so that hecould slide under. When he was inside he picked the gadget off thewire by one antenna and shut it off. The antennae pulled back inside.Gardner had made this gadget; Gardner had been handy with things likethis. And there would be no other when Nelson lost this. He didn'twant to leave it where it could be found or where he might have toabandon it to save his neck in an emergency.

  He turned to the problem of getting across the open field. He hadlittle fear of being picked up by radiation detectors, thanks to hisabsorber. But direct contact could give him away. But most of thosehad to be buried. That meant that he could keep close to the bushesand not have to worry. The roots of the bushes fouled up the detectioninstruments if they got to them. He made his way, judging each stepbefore he took it and at last stood by the door.

  It was dark by then. He could see the stars in the clear darkness ofthe sky. They seemed somehow brighter than they had before. Nelsonfished through his pack until he felt the familiar shape of the gadgethe wanted. It was smaller, more compact than the one he had used toget over the fence; but it was more complex. He felt along the doorframe for the alarm trip and found it. He placed the gadget there andswitched it on. There was a short, low, buzzing sound as the gadgetdid its job and Nelson glanced around nervously, in fear it had beenheard. The door's lock clunked back and Nelson released air from hislungs. He pushed the door open and found himself in darkness.

  He was in a corridor with doors facing off from it. He could see lightcoming under two of the doors, meaning patrolmen behind them. He movedcautiously by the two doors, almost opposite each other, to a door atthe end of the corridor. He grasped the handle and opened the door,realizing too late that the door should have been locked.

  But by that time the door was open. His hand darted to his holsteredfurnace beamer and unlocked the safety. It was almost pitch dark inthe room but he heard the room's occupant turning over on the bunk andmumble low, incoherently, in his sleep. Nelson waited a minute butthe man didn't wake up.

  Nelson closed the door.

  He tried another door; this time, one that was locked. He had notrouble forcing the lock pattern; less than a minute later he wasinside, with the door shut behind him. He took out a flashlight.

  This was the storeroom, all right. It was piled with boxes mostlyunopened. Nelson read the labels on the boxes and opened those whichcontained food he needed and supplies. He found another pack in anopened box in one corner and began outfitting it like his own. Or asnearly like his own as possible; he know that he could never duplicateor replace the gadgets Gardner had designed, and in a way he wasbitter about it. He found the ammunition stores and took as manycapsules for the furnace beamers as he could carry. He went to thedoor but slipped the furnace beamer out of his holster before openingthe door.

  The corridor was st
ill dark. He stepped into it, alert for any soundor movement that might mean danger or herald discovery. Hisnervousness had given way to cool, detached determination. He almostmade it to the door before he heard the footsteps.

  * * * * *

  His reaction was unconscious and reflexive. He turned, leveling hisgun. He had passed the two doors light had shown under. One of themwas opening and Nelson saw the shadow of the man who had opened it;then the man. The man saw Nelson at about the same time and stoodgaping at him. Without realizing that he had fired, Nelson felt therecoil of the gun; the roar of the beam against the close walls hurthis ears, parts of the wall blistered and buckled, other parts of itcharred black, some parts vaporizing in thin patches. The patrolmanhad flared instantly, never really knowing what had hit him. Smoke andheavy odors filled the corridor as Nelson slid out into the open. Thepatrol depots were fireproof, but the area Nelson had blasted would befar to hot to pass through for the rest of the night.

  Nelson toned down the volume of his beamer and fired at a fence post.The tough plastic burst into splinters with a sudden explosion. Asnapping wire whipped to within inches of Nelson's face but he didn'thave to think about it. He was running up the hillside a short whilelater--he had lost track of time as such--hoping that Glynnis woulduse her gun if any patrolmen were following him.

  He reached the hilltop in darkness, afraid to use his flashlight.Suddenly, he stumbled; was falling over something soft, like an