Tyranopolis, p.2
Tyranopolis, page 2
Since Higenroth had only Eidy, Heen Glucken would come right after her. The young woman’s situation was complicated by an unfortunate event that had occurred shortly after her marriage to Higenroth. At that time she had put a lock on her door and informed him that for some reason she had no interest in the man-woman relationship.
It was late afternoon when Eidy appeared in her husband’s bedroom without any clothes on and reported to him that the prospect of losing him had stimulated her to a great admiration for his manly qualities. She was accordingly - she said - his ‘to do with as you will.’
Whereupon, she laid herself down on his bed.
Professor Higenroth gazed at her girlish figure for a long moment. Then he walked over to a chair by the window and abruptly sat down.
A fantastic thought had flashed through his mind for the first time, the very first time: ‘This is why I did all this.’
He stared, wondering at himself, through the window glass at the green campus grounds beyond.
‘Well, here it is,’ he thought. ‘Success.’
Here was the end result of his feverish behaviour of the past two years: the subconscious scheme to capture her and her affections at no matter what cost. That was the picture he suddenly saw.
‘They got me!’ he thought. And it was justice that they had. Not their justice, but his own inner truth kind. His crime: an elderly male agreeing to let a teen-age girl be forced to marry him.
Yet, after a little, his agreement with the punishment yielded to amazement at how much pressure it had taken to break down the resistance of this slip of a girl.
Once more, he went over to where she lay, looked down at her naked girlish body, and was ashamed of himself. Though, now that he could think again, it occurred to him that her intended role at this instant was equally shameful.
Not once had she shown concern. And here she was, determined - he realized - to hold him for the executioner’s axe. At this penultimate moment, no price evidently was too high, including delivery of the sex she had hitherto denied him.
And so his question to himself was:: did either Glucken or she or he himself deserve mercy? He couldn’t decide. So -without a word - he turned, left the room, locked the door behind him.
He went to his den. Everything inside his skin felt different. His mind was working again in a reasoning way, as if released from a timeless thrall. And so, as he sat down before what seemed to be a blank wall, he was keenly aware of many logical possibilities.
As he gazed at the wall, a picture appeared on it. Of Eidy at the phone about an hour earlier, putting through a long distance call to Dr. Heen Glucken. Her voice, as she talked, came clear and pure from a hidden speaker. Dr. Glucken’s progressively alarmed voice came equally clear, undistorted despite that it was coming from across the ocean.
Higenroth listened with a faraway look in his eyes as Eidy told Glucken of her husband’s remark about taking to the Hills. ‘You know what that means,’ she spelled out for her distant listener. ‘If he gets away, I’m next. And if I go with him, you’re next.’
She added plaintively, ‘I don’t want to go to the Hills. I don’t want to leave civilization.’
Higenroth shook his head wonderingly at the word. ‘She calls this, civilization!’ he thought. ‘The world of a tyrant whose like has not been seen since -‘
He couldn’t imagine a comparison. Yet, fact was until his marriage to Eidy he had held still for the rigidities of the system, because he had a philosophy of his own about the hard necessities of transitional periods in history.
… He grew aware that Eidy had made her point, for Dr. Glucken agreed he would marry her after the Accolade award was achieved for Higenroth, and agreed to make all the necessary contacts with the Board of Education to ensure that the professor kept his Accolade appointment.
And Eidy agreed to hold her husband by every possible means until the ultimate moment - at which time, of course, he would be picked up by the authorities.
Dr. Glucken next asked Eidy if she had a clue for him as to the direction of Higenroth’s theories of the past ten years. ‘He achieved that breakthrough whereby distance, no matter how great, can invariably be made to equal zero -we’re talking on that system now; notice how completely natural our voices sound! But since then he seems to have been puttering around perfecting aspects of that. I can’t believe that’s all he’s been up to. He always was a wily so-and-so … until he began those anti-government writings.’
A Result of the Eidy Effect, Higenroth thought, sarcastically. It had taken a teen-age girl to knock him out of his good sense.
Watching the perfect image of her on the wall, he saw Eidy shake her head doubtfully, then, ‘I came in on him one day by surprise - I was supposed to be shopping - and he had pictures on every wall in the living room, which are just of ordinary plastic. He asked me to forget I had seen them. Is that what you mean?’
Higenroth felt himself turn grey. ‘Trust a woman!’ he thought. He should, 6f course, never have asked her for secrecy.
‘Hey!’ said Dr. Glucken, ‘that sounds like his early discredited Pervasive Theory. If he’s found a way through that! -‘ His voice went up half an octave, ‘This should get me a hearing from the dictator himself.’
He thereupon impressed on the girl the importance of making an effort during these final hours to obtain further information about Higenroth’s communication theories. Eidy promised to do so.
It did not seem to occur to either - Higenroth observed wryly - that, according to the mystique of Accolade beheading, the information would be passed on to Higenroth’s students.
The trans-oceanic conversation ended with Eidy saying urgently that she had been greatly attracted to Glucken; and the doctor gallantly responded with a confession of strong attraction on his part, also.
On the wall scene, Eidy replaced the receiver, stood up, and walked off through a door.
Higenroth’s communication system could have followed her; for every wall in this house was automatically a pick-up stimulator. But two feelings were struggling to take over his mind.
The first - to solve the problem of escape.
The second, more powerful, was a male impulse. This time, conscious.
At the time of the marriage, he had pretended to himself that he had no control over the matter; that if the government saw fit to present him with a beautiful wife, how could he stop them? He who was not openly resisting the dictatorship.
All that had to go. It was an inner lie - from which he must separate himself forever. In a way it was ridiculous that a beautiful young human female was willing to move over to another man for the reasons that were now motivating Eidy.
But that didn’t matter. None of his business what she did in the future with that perfect skin and those shapely bones.
TWO
The Higenroth Matter found the Dictator’s Court in the throes of a typical score of madnesses. Two of the Great Man’s three current mistresses were in process of being ‘phased out’; and each of the discards was being difficult about it in her own way. The duo of replacements were still in that state of being insanely proud. For them, it was too early for the realization that, statistically, a woman spent slightly less than five months in the ‘king’s’ bed.
Because of these and other personal matters, it was a problem time for top government aides. As one whose status was unofficially number fourteen (because he was sincere) said to another who was at least Number Three, ‘I recalled Higenroth to him earlier this evening. For a few moments he didn’t remember the name. Then he said, “Oh, yes - the communications fellow. When does that come up?”
‘“It’s up, Sire,” I said. “Higenroth is to be beheaded tomorrow.” “Oh,” he replied, “what was our decision about that?” “Your excellency,” I answered him, “this man is believed to be in possession of scientific information of an advanced nature.” “Oh, yes, didn’t I interview another communications expert about that yesterday?” “Herr Doctor Glucken,” I prompted him. “Of course,” he said. “So it’s all settled. There will be a confrontation. So - very well done. Goodbye for now.” And he walked on, smiling that smile of his.’
The two men had met in the hall of mirrors. Number Fourteen was a muscular young man in his thirties, whose name was Crother Williams. He had troubled grey eyes and was officially labelled a scientific intellectual. The other man, Number Three, was older, taller, leaner. His name was Appiter Jodell, and he was a political intellectual. It was he who spoke next, with a faintly sly smile.
‘My friend,’ he said, ‘The Boss plays these little games with you because he’s noticed that his apparent memory lapses confuse you. He enjoys your uncertainty.’
‘That’s what you keep saying,’ said Williams unhappily. ‘Can you tell me what his various statements meant?’
‘It’s simple. His Alter Ego will talk to Higenroth via closed circuit TV some time after midnight tonight.’
‘Why not him talk to Higenroth?’
‘Because, my friend, he spoke objectively. He said, as you reported it, “There will be a confrontation.” That is what he said, isn’t it?’
Number Fourteen sighed. ‘Does the Alter Ego know what he’s supposed to say?’
‘He’d better know. And since he’s been around lohger than most Alters, he’ll probably wiggle through.’
‘To what conclusion?’
‘Well, you reason it out. The ideal would be - Higenroth hands over his secret science, and dies on the block tomorrow. Perfect solution, right?’
‘But why would he hand it over?’
‘That’s your job.’-
‘For God’s sake, how and when did I get that as an assignment?’
‘You were the one that somehow - it was no accident, I assure you - happened to meet The Boss in that doorway this evening.’
The expression on the younger man’s face reflected a combination of amazement and dismay. Twice, he tried to speak, but all he could manage each time was a gulp.
Number Three continued, in a decisive tone, ‘He’ll expect a Total Victory report from you and the Alter Ego tomorrow.’ The older man started to walk past Williams, paused, turned, and said casually, ‘Your meeting me here was no accident either. The Boss had the feeling you weren’t picking up his message; and he called me a few minutes ago. Better get on it, sir.’
THREE
Late afternoon of the day prior to the beheading, Higenroth was still considering alternatives.
And, in fact - he analyzed - they would expect it. Would be suspicious if he failed to make obvious attempts at survival … Might as well go through the stereotyped motions - he told himself cynically.
He had been sitting in a chair in the patio, warming himself in the sun. Without moving, and using the concrete wall of the patio directly in front of him as a reflector - let them figure that out (if they were watching) - he mentally activated his pervasive system, and located a Hills Adviser. Higenroth seemed, then, to speak directly into the air in front of him, but actually his voice was picked up by a tiny microphone in the make-up at the tip of his nose. The Adviser’s image was on the wall. He listened with pursed lips to Higenroth’s dilemma, and finally shook his head.
‘As soon as your wife realizes The Hills have no specific location, she’ll betray you at one of your Restovers. So—no—do not bring her along.’
A Restover - it was widely believed - was the home of a Hills sympathizer, who would put up a Wanted for two weeks, then pass him on to another Restover. Higenroth knew better. ‘The Hills’ was a government organization with an elaborate system for dealing with rebels, escapees, and other establishment opponents.
The dissidents always ended up dead or captured, but seldom right away. The authorities took pains to make sure that, although the victim was never out of their control, he always thought he was safe. And, when he was finally cornered, they tried to arrange it so that he believed he was victim of an accidental exposure or of an error that he personally had made.
What made The Hills attractive to Higenroth on this fateful afternoon was the possibility that the figures on Eidy’s calendar did not mean what he had always believed, and that therefore in order to achieve his long-run purpose, he would need to delay his execution a week or so.
The Adviser was urging, ‘Why don’t we pick you up about 3 a.m. and take you to a Restover. Leave your wife locked in the bedroom. After all, you’re the scientist, the important one.’
Higenroth parried, ‘Remember, she’s a victim, also. Maybe there’s a better solution. Let me think about it.’
‘Don’t wait too long!’ the Adviser warned.
Higenroth felt a fleeting admiration. It was amazing that an Adviser need show no cunning; but could simply and instantly give honest opinions. The spokesman of a genuine rebel organization could have said no better than this somewhat plump, earnest, youngish man.
He broke the connection, abruptly more cheerful. System perfection almost always had an energizing effect on him .. . Let’s face it, he decided, I’m sixty-eight. My job is not to save myself but to save the pervasive system - so that at a future time a younger man than himself could use it to solve the problem of an all-powerful dictatorship that had twice now successfully passed on the mantle of power.
The earth was ruled by a third generation dictatorship -which indicated that a method had at last been found for training a political heir. Of itself that was a unique event, worth special study.
Only the king system, or certain types of elective systems, had previously been able to achieve similar bloodless inheritance of power; not that there wasn’t always some bloodshed, probably more than was known. Higenroth had his own unspoken views on the matter.
Question: what younger man should he select for the task?
Regretfully, he rejected his students as possibilities. It was regretful because two of the girls and one of the boys were unusually bright people. They would all - all - be suspects, and would probably be executed. Every single one, boys and girls. If there was hope for them, it would be because he meticulously avoided contact in these final hours.
No, no, he thought, there was - now that he had considered it - only one remote possibility. Maybe fate was on his side after all.
He stood up, smiling faintly, and returned to the bedroom. Eidy had drawn the covers over her body and her young face was fear-ridden. ‘Why did you lock me in?’ she asked in a trembling tone.
‘I didn’t want you to leave,’ he replied.
Her expression changed. It struck Higenroth that she must consider him out of his mind. Obviously, he couldn’t drive her away with a whip at this stage.
Higenroth sat down on the bed beside her. ‘What time of the month is this for you? Are you likely to become pregnant?’
‘But I want to.’ She must instantly have thought he had a hope about it. Because in a flash she had flung the covers aside; and, nude body gleaming, she was off to her own room. She came racing back with a calendar on which her menstrual periods were marked in red circles. And no question, it was what he had believed - today was the virtual middle of the menstrual month - the fertile period.
Well-l-l-ll, thought Higenroth, we don’t have to do anything complex like fleeing to a Restover … It was all here, the time, the woman, the state of mind. Today, it was her task to hold him, and it was his to save the world at some future time by taking advantage of the pressure she was under.
Not exactly an ideal time for sex; his attention kept being distracted. Yet in the end he managed a creditable performance, and so had his first carnal knowledge of his lawfully wedded wife. It was, he told himself, a legal act between two legally associated human beings, and not merely a matter of consenting adults; though that factor was also present.
Eidy stayed with him the remainder of the afternoon, and placed what amounted to a stranglehold on him the early part of the evening. Shortly before ten (which hour was normally her bedtime), he began to tell her about his invention. It was a calculated act on his part. He had long ago observed that any talk of science could put Eidy to sleep faster than sleeping pills.
As he had anticipated, even now when she wanted to hear, she yawned repeatedly as he talked:
… Those other fools dismissed the problem as insoluble. They said, the idiots…’ Higenroth could not restrain his scorn ‘… that sound and light wiaves damp out in seconds … Now, of course, that’s true at some levels. It’s not true on others. What they forgot is that there’s energy everywhere, and a carrier wave can utilize what’s at any spot for amplification and relay. I can send a message any distance. And what Glucken doesn’t know is, I don’t need a receiver at the other end…’
A faint, faint snore answered him.
Higenroth eased himself out of the bed, took his clothes down the hall, dressed - and came back to her, wheeling his machine over to where the troubled girl lay in an exhausted sleep. He focused the projector on the part of her body where, now, eight hours after the first intercourse, the sperm would have penetrated the ovum. Watched until a needle moved slightly. Then locked it in place.
The tiny bio-structure that would at some future time be a human being, was his victim - Who else? What else? The truth was, it was the only way any child of his would survive: if that madman in the palace believed that somewhere in the baby, the toddler, the child, the teen-ager, was in fact the information about the pervasive system. Even -Higenroth speculated - Eidy might be allowed to live out her life this way.
There was no other hope for her; of that he was sure.
There was no dissembling now. He presumed that spy rays were trying to see and hear what went on in this house. But of course that was his field of mastery. As he softly spoke his truth in a soundproofed microphone and by that means into the field that he had set up around the newly created embryo, unpenetrable interference barred not only the avid listeners and viewers who were out there, but also Eidy’s ears.
No chance, now, of her being later hypnotized and the words evoked from her subconscious.
