Spotlight
“We are not revolutionaries, but our University has chosen to start a revolution. We are not soldiers, but our University has asked us to fight. We are not violent in nature, but now we will pursue whatever means are necessary to attain the freedoms we seek.
“Someday all people along the Janus String will hear about what we are doing today, and they will know that we understood some things are worth fighting for. Things like freedom, liberty, and democracy. “May God bless us all. Mount up.” Everybody mounted up. One by one the synthetic birds flapped their wings and left the platform, loaded with people and equipment. --- Young Servant of the State Marcus Savitch lives on Redwood, a restricted outer planet in the Janus String where humans are confined to one isolated city. Extraordinarily bright, a computer hacker and spaceship pilot, Marcus holds a dark secret. Afflicted with hematophagia, a forbidden condition compelling him to feed on blood, he lives in constant fear of eradication by the State. When his secret is exposed, he escapes and heads toward the giant trees at Redwood’s center. There, despite restrictions, a team of specialists from New Texas has been conducting clandestine research for decades on the mysterious creatures living deep in the forest. When revolution erupts on the outer planets, Marcus finds himself going back to the city he escaped from, this time with a small army at his side. |
Excerpt
“You’ll have noticed all the black markets on those planets are on University land.”
I hadn’t thought about it, but now that he said it I knew he was right.
“The State has no authority there, and the University turns a blind eye to things the State may otherwise sanction. So the arts, literature, and music flourish in the Universities. You’ll notice books, paintings, music … all those things are available in the black market that aren’t for sale elsewhere because they’re prohibited by the State. Intellectual discoveries, research, pure science … all these also take place in the Universities, out from under the glare of State bureaucrats.
“As for the other problem of giving individualists somewhere to go, in the past when new planets were opened on a regular basis, individualists always had new places to spend their time and talents. Each generation rushed forward to the next planet in the string. Research it, classify the fauna, write new stories about it. Enjoy life a little before the State closed in and the planet became ‘civilized.’
“But now, there is stasis. There are no new planets to explore, and the latest ones are closed off, except to prisoners and outcasts. Now, individualists fester on the last ‘civilized’ planets, which happen to be the ones farthest from the State’s locus of power.”
He paused for a moment, then locked eyes with mine. A smile slowly spread across his face.
“Now, we have time for a revolution.”
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