“I know it’s not. I’ve studied my own body as intensively as the workings of the GATE since I’ve been here,” he assured her. “I’m sure the Syrax consider me a lost cause. Maybe they’re already at work on a new model, one less likely to break down on them.” That brought forth a few gentle laughs.
“No wonder the Syrax are so desperate to obtain the secret of GATE operations,” Jeeter muttered. “They could put a receive unit anywhere, including Earth itself.”
“And by the same token, if they wanted to break the secrecy, WOSA could put a receive on the Syrax home world. It’s a dangerous situation,” Eric said unnecessarily. “One of these days it’s going to blow up. I’d like to be clear of any fallout.” He looked over the heads of the anxious crowd, located the engineer who'd voiced her suspicions.
“If I were still under the control of the Syrax, I could have reversed the polarity myself, at night. It doesn’t take much work. You’d be surprised at how simple it is, if you know what to do. I could have delivered myself and my knowledge to them without anyone’s knowing.”
“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully.
“Maybe. I certainly wouldn’t have to tell you what I’m telling all of you now. I didn’t have to confess my origins when Lisa Tambor and I came through.”
“That’s enough.” Jeeter rose, put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Eric Abbott is as much a man as any of us.”
“Not me,” said a female electrician, and the crowd cracked up. When the laughter had subsided some, Eric looked gratefully at Jeeter.
“Well, as human, anyway.”
“Eric, are you sure about this world?”
“Positive. The catalog is full of information on each planet, and this one’s no exception.” He let his gaze rove over the crowd, saw the hope, the intense wish to believe on many anxious faces. “It’s everything Eden and Garden were advertised to be.”
“If it’s not,” Jeeter said warningly, “we could be stuck there forever.”
“Not at all,” Eric reminded him. “You’re forgetting that we can reverse polarity on GATE Station. If the Syrax information turns out to be wrong, and I’ve no reason to suspect it is, we could at least return to Earth, or Eden.
“We can cannibalize enough replacement components to build a second receive terminal, send it through to GATE Station, then on to Paradise. It will be a trade-off. The infrastructure you’ve worked to build up here against complete freedom from Earthly interference and the return of your birthright. You can still have what you were promised.”
“It will have to be put to the Council,” Jeeter was muttering, “and there’ll have to be a general vote. Not everyone will want to take the risk.”
“What about you, Jeeter? Will you-come with Lisa and me?”
“Eden’s my home. I was born here.” He broke into a wide smile. “I can’t wait to get the hell off.” Roars of assent rose from the onlookers. When the general amusement had died down, Jeeter turned serious once again.
“Assuming everything works out, Eric, what happens when we arrive at GATE Station? WOSA’s not going to let us make use of the GATE for our own purposes.”
Eric didn't smile at all. “Then we’ll have to insist, won’t we?”
Nearly a third of Eden's population voted to chance the move to the world Eric described in such glowing terms. They comprised a solid mix of newcomers and native Edenites disenchanted with the world they'd been given. Many still yearned for the promised land that had called on the spirits of their parents and grandparents. They owed little to Eden, and nothing to Earth. They came from every profession, every branch of Eden’s society. It was a good cross section. The new colony of Paradise would not lack for necessary skills.
Using lifters and repulsion pallets, they transferred those supplies that could be spared from Eden’s warehouses. There was a heated discussion concerning whether they should take any computer components at all, but even Eric argued in favor of taking the basics along. It was the insidious influence of the Colligatarch they had -to beware of, not the machinery itself, and the Colligatarch would not be able to reach them on Paradise.
It would take time to build on Paradise what had laboriously been constructed on Eden: bridges, roads, manufacturing facilities, and it would have to be done without the aid of regular resupply from Earth. That was the price they would have to pay for achieving real independence. None of the volunteers balked. They were ready to do the work necessary to cast off the last umbilical cord.
At least they wouldn’t be dependent on Earth for heating equipment, Eric assured them. From the information in the Syrax catalog he knew Paradise to be a world of gentle oceans and lush farmland, of mild temperatures and seasonal rains. He knew it was so because he could see it in his mind.
“It’s going to take time,” Madras commented as he, Lisa, and Jeeter stood before the Council. “You’ve twenty-five thousand volunteers, and you can’t pass them through the GATE in a couple of minutes. How are you going to hold it for the necessary time?”
“Transposition is practically instantaneous,” Eric reminded them. “We’ll send our Paradise receive unit through first, then start bringing over people and supplies. Once we gain control I’ll assume the GATE master’s station and his functions. We’ll bring through groups of fifty, hold them at the Terminus while I realign for Paradise, then transpose them again five at a time. Then back to Eden, Eden to Terminus, Terminus to Paradise, and so on.
“The GATE will transpose five people every thirty seconds. Allowing for realignment and recoordination, say it works out to five every minute. Working nonstop that’s three hundred people an hour, seven thousand two hundred per day. So if we can hold the Terminus for four days, we should be able to safely transpose every volunteer and all necessary supplies.”
“Four days,” another Council member muttered. “Working round the clock. I’ll chance it.” Councilman Symionowski was sixty-four years old and ailing, but he wanted to be among the first to make the journey.
“We’ve selected the team for the first assault,” Eric Went on. “If for some inexplicable reason the GATE is powered down, we’ll just have to wait, but the delay should be only momentary at most. Since the regular GATE crew isn’t aware two-way transfer is possible, we’ll have surprise on our side.
“I’ll be one of the first five through, together with Lisa and Jeeter Sa-Nos-Tee. The rest of the assault team will follow at thirty-second intervals. I don’t foresee any problems. The GATE crew is unarmed, and all security is located between the Departure Lounge and the rest of the city.
“Furthermore, the whole security setup is designed to keep unauthorized visitors from getting into GATE Station, not out of it. We ought to be able to lock ourselves in tight. We’re going to arrive through the exit.
“At first there should be confusion, then some kind of probe of our forces, then consideration of how to carefully dislodge us. GATE Station is horrendously expensive. The authorities will take great pains to insure it isn’t damaged. It’s going to take a decision at the highest level before local security can come after us in real strength, and by that time we should be done with the Station. Our best defense will be bureaucratic inertia.”
“I’m not sorry I’m staying here,” Madras told him. “This is my home now. But many of us feel differently.” Councilman Symionowski let out a grunt of assent. “I’m afraid I prefer palpable comfort to old dreams. Those of us who will remain behind will, of course, do everything we can to help.”
“Someday, somehow, we’ll let you know how we’ve fared,” Eric assured her. “Or our descendants will, anyhow. Paradise will be a colony of Eden, not of Earth.”
“Our assistance and our prayers will go with you,” she said solemnly.
Eric looked thankful. “We’re going to need both.”
XIX
Ironically, the weapons they would need for the assault on GATE Station were readily available on Eden. Their presence among the supplies the first colonists unpacked was further proof of the authorities’ duplicity, since no guns should have been needed on a “paradise world.” Now the well-used “sporting implements” would find new employment.
More than enough spare parts and backup components existed to build the receive terminal which would be transposed to Paradise. While Eric’s engineering team put it together, others began the task of assembling and caring for a third of the colony’s population, coaching those who’d never been through the GATE on how to act, assigning everyone from the eldest to the youngest a specific task, stacking and preparing supplies for rapid transposition.
As the weeks of careful preparation slid past, there were some who had second thoughts and decided to remain on Eden. Their places were taken by others who determined to take the chance after all. The total number of departees fluctuated but held relatively steady. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and tent housing was sufficient to keep the crowd sheltered and warm.
Then there were no more morning briefings to be held, no more preparations to be made. Everyone knew what was expected of them. Under normal circumstances such an undertaking would have been impossible, but the 25,000 who’d opted to make the attempt were not a normal collection of citizens. They had been winnowed from Earth’s entire population. They were as extraordinary as their leader.
