Prophet of ConFree (The Prophet of ConFree) (3 page)

"His parents are quite respectable, and devastated by his actions," one of the males said. "He has a great many school friends, both male and female. We couldn't get any of his peers to comment negatively about him. The girls – all of them underage – particularly like him. Even his teachers – most of them – think he has great potential. But he's lazy and not motivated."

"All right, that's enough. Let's hear from the accused."

The policeman gestured, and I stood up.

"Tell us what you planned for your life," the lead judge said. "What did you want to do?"

I was totally unprepared for his question. What did that have to do with anything? I finally responded. "Um, uh, I thought I'd be a historian."

"A historian? Why?"

"Well, I like history. And I thought it might be nice to…write it. Or teach it."

"That takes many years of preparation, advanced studies, writing skills, and experience. A lot of hard work. You haven't demonstrated much aptitude for anything like that. You recently graduated Middle School. What were your immediate plans?"

"Plans? Well, I didn't really have any. I mean, I hadn't thought about it." This conversation was not going well at all, I realized.

"Hadn't thought about it. I see. Let's see, you're seventeen, out of school, unemployed and living with Mom and Dad. When were you planning on getting a job and leaving home? Age thirty? Age forty? When?"

"I…I was just taking a break."

"You're a parasite. You have no plans and no future. You've studied about ConFree. You know we are a society based on self-respect, respect for others, and honest labor. It seems you don't fit in."

"I'm sorry about my actions. I was wrong."

"It’s too late for that. Court, have we reached agreement on the first verdict?" They consulted briefly as I stood there, lightheaded.

The lead judge banged his gavel down so sharply that I twitched. "The accused is
GUILTY
of one charge of parasitism and one charge of gross insult leading to violence. The accused is
BANISHED
from Northmark District. He will be detained until Eugarat National Court responds to our notification about the case. We will reconvene at that time. Bailiff, accompany the prisoner to the detention facility. Court is hereby dismissed."

Δ

My cell was small but clean. A bed on a ledge jutting out of the wall, a little squat toilet, a metal sink with no mirror. No furniture. Cold metal walls. A dim light panel overhead that I could not control. Great. I sat on my bed and pondered my fate. Stupid, I thought. You were stupid. Now you are banished, from all you have ever loved. And more bad news might be coming, depending on what Eugarat National has to say about my case. Maybe they need dummies to clean the streets or something. Or maybe they don't. Then it would be banishment from my own home planet. Would any other ConFree planet want me? Why waste resources on a parasite? Maybe they'd dump me on some alien world. Maybe those ex-System worlds would take me. They always need new slaves, right?

I knew ConFree did not waste resources on parasites. Just like they didn't put criminals in jail. ConFree citizens didn't want their tax money going for such stupid expenditures. Criminals in ConFree don't get rewarded with free board and lodging for the rest of their lives – no, they get a bullet in the brain if they deserve it, or exile if they are lucky.

Dummy! And I thought I would have a bright future. I had laughed at some of the kids who had academic trouble in school. But they'd be laughing at me now. This didn't seem fair to me. It’s not as if I was really a criminal. I wasn't a gang member, I didn't steal anything. Except for those stone lions, and that was just a prank. It seemed so unfair, to listen to that long list of childish misdeeds read aloud in public court.

Life isn't fair! Get used to it
. That was my history teacher. He had a clear view of the universe. If only I had listened to him.

The cell door rattled and squeaked open. Somebody stepped in. The sudden light from the corridor outlined his figure but made it hard to see his features. A man. Now what?

"How you doing?" he asked. A young man, clad in Legion black.

"Not so good," I replied.

"That's not so good,
sir,
" he said. "You still haven't learned, have you? Be polite." He looked like a midschool kid, tanned skin, grey eyes, brown hair cut short in the military fashion, standing almost at attention. His confidence told me he was anything but a midschool kid.

"Yes sir," I said.

"Nice quarters," he said, looking around my little cell. "And all at taxpayer expense. Do you like it?"

"Sir, no sir."

"What a shame. Well, you may not be here long. Once Eugarat National responds to your case, you'll be moving out. You may even be banished from ConFree."

"Sir," I said. "Do you think that's likely? Will they really banish me from ConFree?"

"It's very likely. They've been doing that lately. But you can't know for sure until they respond." He walked back to the cell door and banged on it. It opened. "Can you get me a chair?" he asked somebody outside. In a moment he had a metal folding chair and settled into it before my bed.

"You're an idiot, you know," he said, gazing at me curiously.

"Yes sir," I replied. "That part I've figured out."

"Do you want to be banished from ConFree?"

"No sir."

"Too bad. It's likely to happen. Very soon. You'd best get used to it."

"Sir. Yes sir." I wanted to ask him why he cared, but decided not to.

"You know," he said. "Once Eugarat rules on you, that's it. It will be too late then. Too late for you."

I just looked at him. What did he want from me? An apology?

"You don’t have much time," he said.

"Sir. Much time for what?"

"Much time to change the situation, and get out of this fix."

He had my full attention now. "Sir. How do I do that?"

"What you do – is take decisive action, to change the situation. Instead of just drifting, and accepting your fate, you take action, and change your fate."

"Sir. That sounds good. What do I do?"

"Well…what was your name again? Robert?"

"Sir. Richard."

"Well, Richard. I can tell you how to walk through that door, if you want to. But the decision will be up to you. Not me. And the decision has all sorts of consequences. And responsibilities."

"Sir. Decisive action sounds good to me. What do I have to do?"

"Simple. You enlist in the ConFree Legion. Now – before Eugarat National rules on you. You meet all our requirements. We're not interested in your schoolboy pranks or your bad attitude. We're looking for tough new recruits, and you qualify. And nobody can stop a Legion volunteer. But that's the point – you have to volunteer. Once you do that, you're committed for the next six years of your life. There's no way out. It's difficult, dangerous work – but very rewarding, if you apply yourself. You'll be rendered immortal right off. When your enlistment expires, if you're still alive, you'll become a ConFree citizen and all these silly charges will go away. But think hard about it. Your enlistment must be completely voluntary. The ConFree Legion only takes volunteers."

Volunteers? The ConFree Legion? My God, I had never even imagined this. I was a lover, not a fighter. What was I going to do in the ConFree Legion? I had always tiptoed around the Legion Gate downtown, hoping nobody paid any attention to me.

"Well, what do you say?" Yes, that was the question. Volunteer? Or banishment. I had no choice!

"Sir. Yes sir. I'll volunteer."

"Good. Good. Sign here." He held out a little d-screen displaying a document. I was stunned. Decisive action – no more words, no more crap. Sign here. Action! I took a deep breath. I touched the little DNA box at the bottom with the tip of my index finger. I didn't even read it.

"I'll be back tomorrow. You stay here until then. Congratulations, Volunteer. The people of ConFree respect your decision and will honor your service." And he walked out the door, taking the little chair with him.

It was nice to hear that the people of ConFree respected my decision. They sure hadn't been giving me much respect so far.

Δ

And that's how I came to be standing before the Legion Gate, in downtown Windwood, a few days later. Three of my friends had finally shown up. I had said goodbye to my parents earlier and asked them not to come to the Gate. My mom had cried and my dad said he was proud of me.

Jailbait was there, and Kittykat. Mark was there, too. The girls had faked excuses to get out of school to say goodbye to me. They brought little notes from the rest of the girls – DeeAnn, Sweetcakes and Judy Dare. Mark had actually crawled out of a bathroom window to make his escape. I felt so touched by that. Just to say goodbye to me! It gave me a lump in my throat. I knew I'd never meet people like these again. Mark was blindly, deliriously in love with Kittykat, and she ignored him as if he didn't even exist. Jailbait was getting all weepy and even Kittykat seemed subdued and uncharacteristically quiet. I kissed both girls and Mark looked like he was getting set to cry.

"Don't open this until you're in," he said, huskily, pressing a little folded envelope into my palm. Poor old Mark was a little slow and many of the kids laughed at him, but I never did. I had grown to like him. He was kind of an outcast. He had no girl, Bob and I were his only friends, and Bob had left already and I was about to.

The Legion Gate loomed before me, right across the street. I had half expected my Legion recruiter to show up there, just to make sure I didn't back out, but he didn't. They wanted volunteers, you see. I had to walk in there on my own.

"All right, I'm going in," I said. "I'm going to miss you all." I couldn't say any more. We did a group hug, and Jailbait was crying and Mark was crying and Kittykat was all pale and blurry-eyed. Will I ever see these kids again? I broke away abruptly and walked through the Legion Gate, gritting my teeth.

Δ

I walked down an entry hall lit only by glowing holo shots lining both walls. They showed astounding views of alien worlds, beautiful, mysterious landscapes, glowing under milky, starry skies. Some of them showed Legion soldiers in A-suits, marching into horrific horizons erupting in flames. I tried not to look at these scenes – I guess I wasn't quite ready.

The entry hall led to a large, bright, open circular area built around a vertical metallic structure that looked like some kind of monument. A black slab was set in the center, set under a Legion cross, and silvery letters rippled slowly over the slab. I knew what that was. I spotted an open office area on the other side of the monument, and walked over there. There were two young men, clad in black Legion uniforms, evidently engaged in conversation. One of them sat behind a large gleaming desk bedecked with d-screens and commo gear. He was pale, dark-haired and had a thin pencil mustache. The ConFree and Legion flags flanked his desk. The other was leaning against the wall, glaring, ruddy-faced, blond hair. He seemed distinctly unhappy.

"…nothing to be done," the mustache was saying. "You know it. There's nothing you or anybody else can do – except to carry on."

"Carry on. Right!" The blond almost snarled.

"Who are you?" Mustache finally noticed me. I was standing before his desk.

"Uh, I'm a Legion volunteer. Sir." I wasn't going to forget the 'sir' any more.

Mustache stood up, looking me over. "Oh," he said. "You're Rains. Richard Rains. We were told to expect you."

"Yes sir."

Then he did something that caught me off-guard. He stood at attention, and saluted me. It was quite a salute. I was so stunned that I did not know if I was supposed to return the salute or not.

"Welcome to the ConFree Legion," he said. "The people of ConFree respect your decision and will honor your service." That one I had heard before. "And that's the last time anyone's going to be saluting you for quite awhile. Now, tell me – why did you volunteer?"

I was ready for that one. "I just want to help," I said.

"Why? Why do you want to help? It’s dangerous work. You may be killed."

"I want to do something worthwhile. I want to make something out of my life. I want to serve the people of ConFree."

"He wants to help," Mustache said to his companion, who was watching me with a scowl. "A volunteer. What do you think?"

Blondie came over to join us, looking me over carefully. "A volunteer," he repeated. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Yes sir. I think so. I just want to help."

"He wants to help," Blondie said. "Great. Are you ready to bleed for ConFree?"

"Yes sir."

"Ready to die for ConFree?"

"Yes sir. If I must."

"Look at him," Mustache said. "He's the perfect volunteer. And they just keep coming."

"Yes," Blondie said. "They just keep coming. Until they're all dead. And we just carry on. No matter what."

"That's right," Mustache said. "That's exactly right. Volunteer, you will be transported to the Veltros star system for basic training. We'll take you to the spaceport by aircar tomorrow. Meantime, report to the ready room – it's out the door to the right. You keep your civilian clothes for now. We'll show you your quarters later. And don't try to leave the installation. That's a one-way gate you came in. And the past is dead and gone."