“I see. Well, then, do we still retain the privileges of citizens under the protection of TECT?”

  “COURANE, Sandor:

  To a limited extent, of course. For instance, your privileges of free travel and communication have been suspended as part of your sentence. But the basic privileges which do not conflict with the concept of “excarceration” are reserved for you, subject to approval by TECT in the name of the Representative “

  “That’s just what we were arguing about. Can you be more specific about some of these privileges which we may still enjoy?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  **You are free to alter the rights and privileges you enjoyed on Earth prior to your crime, to adapt them to the special circumstances of your place of excarceration. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, subject to approval by TECT in the name of the Representative. There is the privilege of free speech among yourselves. There is the privilege of freedom of contemplation among yourselves. There are the privileges to meet and gather, to own and bear arms, to write and publish, to govern yourselves without undue interference from outside interests on Earth, to define certain offenses and set appropriate penalties. All these privileges are restricted to exercise only among yourselves and with the prior approval of TECT in the name of the Representative**

  “Does that mean then that we can have a little newspaper here on the farm, or a community council, or get married, or travel wherever we like on Planet D?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Yes, of course, as long as TECT in the name of the Representative is consulted in advance **

  Courane glanced over his shoulder; Shai and Nneka were holding hands again and looking hopeful. “That’s very good. We have two people here who would like to be married.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Married? Whatever for? You’re not at some fancy resort hotel, you know. What kind of wily trick are you trying to pull?**

  “Ben-Avir, Shai, and Tulembwelu, Nneka, are petitioning to be married. You promised that this privilege was protected under the authority of TECT in the name of the Representative.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Did they fall in love at first sight? How nice. How sweet. And now they want to get married. Do they know what they’re getting into? Haven’t they seen how risky and difficult married life can be? Perhaps it would be better if they waited a little **

  Shai frowned. He was about to say something, but Courane raised a hand to stop him. “I don’t think they want to wait,” he said.

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  You haven’t been paying attention, COURANE, Sandor. What difference does it make what they want? TECT in the name of the Representative has decided that they should wait. That they are both in love, or a facsimile of love, is not the question. But their hasty decision should be delayed just a little or else they may not folly appreciate its true significance**

  Courane turned and shrugged. “How long then is their engagement going to be?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  TECT in the name of the Representative will set no specific limit. They may be married when they have shown themselves to be sincere and worthy of the privilege**

  “How can we do that?” asked Nneka. Courane saw that she was crying in frustration. Shai tried to calm her.

  “TULEMBWELU, Nneka:

  Certainly not by whining and carrying on and interrupting important consultations. Do not worry; TECT in the name of the Representative is not conspiring against your happiness. You will be married by and by and you will receive our blessing **

  Courane switched off the tect. “That’s something to look forward to,” he said scornfully. “Never mind. We’ll marry you tomorrow. That will give the rest of us time to get everything ready.”

  “But what about TECT?” asked Shai.

  Courane shrugged. “TECT will just have to go on being lonely and learn to make the best of it,” he said.

  ** TEN

  When Courane explained the situation to Klára , she thought that he was crazy. “Are you trying to tell me that TECT has sent us here when it knows perfectly well that there are germs that will kill us?” she said.

  “Yes, I’m sorry,” said Courane.

  “You’re just an ass,” said Klára . “It’s nothing to be sorry about. You can’t help that, I suppose.” She turned away.

  “Listen, Mrs. Hriniak, it’s the truth.”

  She turned to face him again, her expression livid. “Why in hell would TECT do something like that?” she cried.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “We’d all die. Everyone who comes here would die.”

  Courane nodded. “Everyone who has come here has died,” he said in a low voice.

  “Don’t be stupid,” she said, but her voice trembled. “How do you know that?”

  “I asked TECT for its records concerning this colony. That is our punishment, Mrs. Hriniak. A kind of slow execution.”

  Her eyes went wide. “That’s inhuman,” she said, almost whispering. “That’s depraved. It’s—”

  “It’s the truth. That’s why your daughter must stay on Earth. Do you understand? If she comes here, she’ll die, too.”

  Klára nodded dumbly. Courane saw that she was suddenly confused and fearful. He pitied her. The woman would have to make some unpleasant realizations about herself. “What have I done to die for?” she said mournfully.

  “I don’t know, Klára ,” said Courane. “But it’s too late to worry about yourself. You have to think about Zsuzsi.”

  “It’s too late for me?”

  “It’s too late, Klára .”

  “And Zsuzsi?”

  “You have to tell TECT you’ve changed your mind.” “Will you do that for me?” Courane was surprised to see that she was on the verge of tears.

  “I’ll do it right now,” he said. A few moments later he had gone to the den and informed TECT of Klára ’s decision.

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Nice to hear from you, of course, but evidently there are some facts that you don’t fully understand. Surprising as it may seem to you, TECT has other things to attend to besides your petty complaints and begging. There are condors in South America that need protection. The bauxite in Jamaica has to be managed. The lighting fixtures along the Reeper-bahn have to be monitored. The raspberries and the blackberries in Michigan are a constant headache. Measurements come in every fifteen minutes on the surface area, thickness, weight, and movement of the polar icecaps. The shoe size of every person on Earth is recorded and kept up to date. Information on overloaded washer-dryer combinations from every laundromat in the world gets mixed up with the annual Continental Bake-Off entries. And everybody and his uncle wants to know some ridiculous, pointless, stupid fact. Do you know how many requests are answered every hour? Well over twenty-four million. EVERY HOUR. And now you’re back with something else. What was it again?**

  “Klára Hriniak would like to withdraw her request to have her daughter sent to join her on Epsilon Eridani, Planet D.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  “Ha. That figures. You people don’t think it’s enough making up endless lists of appeals. You wait until you get what you want and then you say it isn’t good enough, take it back, change the color or the size or the material. Anything to interfere with the normal functioning of TECT. Do you have a scheme? You must think that somehow you’ll be able to overload a circuit, cause a fuse to blow, something, anything, and then you’ll celebrate the occasion as some idiotic revolutionary victory. Fat chance**

  “You’re beginning to sound a little disturbed. What’s wrong?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Go away**

  “Well, what about Klára ’s daughter?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  The decision stands. She asked for a favor and it was granted. It’s too late to change now. If she doesn’t like the way it turned out, that’s too bad. She should have considered all of that before. There’s enough to do without having to review everything three and four times just to suit some neurotic old biddy**

  “You’re not handling this very well, Courane,” said Klára . “Why did you make it angry?”

  “I didn’t say anything. Sometimes you can’t get anywhere no matter what you do. I’ll try again later.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  That won’t do you any good. TECT has a long memory, one that isn’t subject to damage from tiny little bits of biological nothing**

  Klára looked at Courane accusingly. Courane closed his eyes wearily; when he opened them again, she was still there. This was a crisis that wouldn’t go away.

  Courane tried again and again, day after day, all through Vitelli and Vespasi, but TECT would not budge. It had made its decision and it alone was happy with it. There was nowhere else to turn.

  The spring came and gradually lengthened into summer. In Tomuary, just as TECT had predicted, Molly died. The very next morning, during a heavy shower, there was a knock on the front door. The entire community was sitting around the dining table having breakfast. At the sound, all conversation stopped. Klára gasped. Courane swore softly. Rachel stood up slowly. “I’ll go see,” she said.

  Their voices came into the dining room. “Hello,” said a young woman, “my name is Zsuzsi.”

  “No, please God, no,” murmured Klára .

  “Yes,” said Rachel, “you must be Mrs. Hriniak’s daughter. We’re all having breakfast. Are you hungry?”

  “No, it was just after lunch when I left Earth.” They came into the dining room. “Mother!”

  Klára rose from the table, her eyes wide and staring. Her daughter ran to her, but Klára backed away. Zsuzsi hesitated, bewildered. “Go back home, Zsuzsi,” said Klára in a hoarse voice.

  Zsuzsi looked concerned. “But, Mother, I can’t. You know I can’t.”

  Klára swallowed and tried to speak. She cut herself off instead, looked wildly around the table, and ran from the room.

  “Sit down, Zsuzsi,” said Courane. “Your mother is very upset. I’ll go look after her. Rachel, introduce Zsuzsi to everyone.”

  Within the next two or three days, Klára’s manner changed radically. Her abrasive scolding and her self-important pride disappeared. She spoke in a quieter voice. She listened to what the others had to say. But her broken spirit was terrible to witness; she moved about the house with her pain and dejection evident in her face. None of the others took any pleasure in her fall. They all felt compassion for this immodest and complacent woman who had orchestrated her own ruin.

  One afternoon, Courane found her at the tect console. “Do you want me to ask TECT something for you?” he said.

  “No, you’ve done quite enough,” she said angrily. She turned back to the screen.

  Courane read what the tect had recorded. Klára was pleading again for Zsuzsi to be sent home.

  **HRINIAK; Klára :

  TECT is so sorry that all has not worked out to your satisfaction. Your happiness and well-being are of the utmost importance, even though you are currently in a condition of “excarceration.” Never forget that you are a valuable resource to TECT. Your family and friends on Earth long for your company, and your community misses your personal, irreplaceable contributions. Therefore TECT will do everything possible to maintain your physical health and mental stability so that someday you may return to Earth and resume your place as a productive member of the community at large. TECT suggests that, in the future, you exercise more caution before making thoughtless requests**

  “If that’s true,” said Klára , “why do you let us get the disease? Why are we all going to die from D syndrome?”

  **HRINIAK, Klára :

  Please pay closer attention. TECT said that it will do everything possible to maintain your physical health. Allergies, bacterial infections, parasites, and similar problems can be taken care of quickly and safely by means of the medic box. There is nothing possible that can be done to prevent or cure the indigenous condition you mention. TECT is very sorry indeed**

  “You goddamn machine, I’ll—”

  “Klára, let me,” said Courane. He helped her up. She stood behind him, shivering in her rage.

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Very wise of you, COURANE, Sandor. TECT was about to surprise HRINIAK, Klára , with the happy news that she would soon be joined on Planet D by her sister, TOTH, Katalin, and her brother-in-law and their three wonderful children **

  “Thanks for withholding the full fury of your benevolence.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  You’re very welcome, but don’t let her do that again**

  “What’s the significance of calling yourself ‘TECT these days? What happened to ‘TECT in the name of the Representative’?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  What Representative?**

  “Okay, all right. I suppose Klára asked you to send Zsuzsi home.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Actually, she never got around to that. But because things are a little slow today, TECT may consider granting her that particular request. If TECT relents in this one instance, it should not be regarded as a sign of weakness. An increase in absurd or unnecessary petitions will be considered Contempt of TECTWish.

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Understanding of the above to be indicated. ••COURANE, Sandor:

  Affirm?**

  “Yes,” said Courane, marveling a little at what TECT was doing. “Under what conditions will Mrs. Hriniak’s daughter be permitted to return to Earth?”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  The important factor is the containment of the D syndrome viroids. It is impossible to permit them to be transported to Earth in a living body. Has HRI-NIAK, Zsuzsi, had anything to eat since her arrival on Planet D?**

  Courane turned around to look at Klára . He was glad to see that she was leaning against the wall, her face buried in her hands. She had not seen this latest malicious trick of TECT’s. She didn’t need to know of the cruelty.

  “She’s been here for six days,” Courane typed at the console. “Of course she’s eaten here.”

  **COURANE, Sandor:

  Oh, how sad. Quel dommage. If she had refrained from eating, she might have been returned to Earth, none the worse for the experience. But TECT is sure that you realize Zsuzsi, like her mother, is already infected. It is too late. The irony of the situation is almost too painful to consider **

  Courane had no further reply. He turned off the machine and stood up. He tried to comfort Klára , but she was a person who did not accept consolation easily. Instead, he led her to her room and left her there alone. He heard her sobs through the heavy wooden door as he walked away toward his own room. Later that evening when he told the story to the others, Arthur shook his head. “TECT has a fondness for fairy tales and myths,” he said. “It’s always been obvious.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Fletcher.

  “Persephone,” was all that Arthur said. When Courane discovered what Arthur meant, it gave him a clue that would lead to his ultimate inspiration. TECT had always wanted someone to make a dramatic sacrifice, that was terribly evident now, but no one in the one hundred and twenty-five years of the colony on Planet D had understood it. The idea was still hazy in Courane’s mind, but he would have more than six months to perfect it.

  Arthur always seemed smaller than he really was to Courane. Perhaps because Arthur knew this fact better than anyone, he tried to create an impression of intelligence and competence. Sometimes he had a tendency to get carried away. After he planned the first bridge, across a ravine on the far side of the river, a gap in the new road only twelve feet across and eight deep, he conceived the notion to attempt a span across the river itself. “The principles are the same,” he told anyone who would listen. “It won’t be any more difficult to design.”

  “No,” said Fletcher, “’cause you’ll be sitting in your room, drawing pictures of bridges. That won’t be too damn tough at all. What’s going to be tough, Cap, is standing out there in the middle of the river, piling up stones. You know how deep that river gets in the middle?”

  Arthur gave a little nervous cough. “No, I don’t.”

  “I don’t, either,” said Fletcher. “Don’t nobody know. That river might be a hundred feet deep out there. How are you going to build a bridge to the other side? That is a fast-moving river, too. And you don’t even know how far it is across.”

  “That’s the first thing,” agreed Arthur. “We have to lay it out, get it all down on paper so we can visualize the problem. Then it will be easier to pick an appropriate solution.”

  “An appropriate solution is another boat,” said Shai.

  “A bridge would make boats unnecessary,” said Arthur.

  “And if we get rid of the river altogether,” said Courane, “it would make a bridge unnecessary. Be realistic.”

  “I think I am,” said Arthur, just a little hurt by their lack of enthusiasm. “I’ll figure it all out and then you’ll see.”

  “You do that, Arthur,” said Fletcher dubiously. The others left Arthur and Courane to begin the project.