“So the city of Barsama due east of Boston has an interplanetary port?” Donald said.

“It does,” Arak said. “But it has not been used for hundreds of years. The city of Barsama is very pleasant, however, although it is quite small.”

“When you say unused,” Donald continued, “does that mean it has been sealed like the port here in Saranta?”

“Not yet,” Arak said. “But it will be soon. The shafts of those outmoded ports were all supposed to have been sealed ages ago, as I said yesterday. Just today the Council of Elders issued a new decree to speed up the process.”

Donald nodded. He eased back in his chair and recrossed his arms.

“Any other questions?” Arak asked.

No one moved.

“I think we are too stunned for more questions,” Perry said.

“You need to spend time together to help each other adapt,” Sufa said. “And we encourage you to seek the counsel of Ismael and Mary. I’m sure you can benefit from their wisdom and experience.”

No one responded.

“Well then,” Arak said. “We’ll resume your orientation in the morning after you’ve had a deserved rest. Remember, in addition to everything else, you are all still recovering from the decon process. We know that the stress of that ordeal heightens emotional volatility.”

A quarter hour later the group found themselves walking back toward the dining hall after Arak and Sufa’s departure. Evening was beginning to fall. Trudging through the thick grass no one spoke. Each was absorbed in his own thoughts.

“We have to talk,” Donald said, suddenly breaking the silence.

“I agree,” Perry said. “Where?”

“I think it best if we do it outside,” Donald said. “But let’s wait until we get to the dining hall so we can leave our wrist communicators inside. I wouldn’t be surprised if they serve as a surveillance device along with their other functions.”

“Good idea,” Perry said. He had recovered enough to be angry.

“I want to apologize again to everyone,” Suzanne said. “I just feel terrible that I’m responsible for everyone being here.”

“You’re not responsible,” Perry said irritably.

“We don’t blame you,” Michael said. “It’s these goddamn Interterrans.”

“Let’s keep the talk to a minimum until we get rid of our communicators,” Donald suggested.

The group walked the rest of the way in silence. Inside the dining hall they stripped off the wrist units, then filed back outside.

“How far do you think we should go?” Perry asked. He glanced over his shoulder. They were already about a hundred feet from the tip of the dining room pool. Light from the interior spilled out into a puddle on the lawn.

“This is fine,” Donald said. He stopped and the others huddled around him. “So now we know,” he said. “I don’t like to say that I told you so.”

“Then don’t say it,” Perry grumbled.

“At least we know where we stand,” Donald said.

“That’s a lot of comfort,” Perry said sarcastically.

“I was surprised you posed the question,” Suzanne said. “Why did you change your mind about not being direct?”

“Because we needed to know sooner rather than later,” Donald said. “If we’ve got to break out of here, which we now know is the case, then we’ve got to do it soon.”

“Do you think there is a way?” Suzanne asked.

“I think it is possible,” Donald said. “The most promising piece of news is your having seen the Oceanus and it being intact. If we could get it to that exit port in Barsama and figure out how to flood the chamber and open the shaft, we’d have enough power and life support to get us to Boston.”

“That’s not going to work,” Suzanne said. “As paranoid as the Interterrans are, the exit ports have to be heavily guarded and monitored. Even if we knew how it worked, we wouldn’t be able to get away with it.”

“Suzanne’s right,” Richard said. “They’d have a bunch of those worker clones hanging around for sure.”

“I agree,” Donald said. “We can’t sneak out or even break out. We have to be let out.”

“Cripes!” Perry complained. “They’re not going to let us out. Arak made that perfectly clear.”

“Not willingly,” Donald said. “We have to force them.”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Suzanne asked. “We’re talking about an extremely advanced civilization here, with powers and technology that we can’t even anticipate.”

“Blackmail,” Donald said. “We have to convince them it would be safer to let us out than detain us.”

“Keep talking,” Perry said dubiously.

“They are terrified of exposure,” Donald said. “My idea is to threaten to transmit to surface TV and expose this place.”

“Do you think people on the surface would believe it?” Suzanne asked.

“All that matters is that the Interterrans believe it,” Donald said.

“Do they have facilities to transmit TV signals?” Perry asked.

“No, but they receive. Michael and I found a man who will help us.”

“It’s true,” Michael said. “He’s an old bird from New York City named Harvey Goldfarb. He’s been here for years but spends his days hidden in Central Information watching TV reruns. He wants out, too, big time.”

“The important thing is that he’s familiar with their TV equipment,” Donald said. “We’ve got two camcorders on the Oceanus that could be jury-rigged to transmit. Goldfarb says there’s plenty of power.”

“Hmmm. You know,” Perry said, “it sounds promising.”

“Not to me,” Suzanne said with a shake of her head. “I don’t see how it is going to work. I get the threat idea, but how do we use it to pressure the Interterrans into doing something they obviously do not want to do?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Donald admitted. “We’ve got to put our heads together and work it out. I envisioned having Goldfarb with his finger on the switch ready to transmit.”

“Is that all?” Perry questioned with dismay. “If that’s all you’ve got, then Suzanne’s right. It wouldn’t work. I mean, they could just send a worker clone in to clobber Goldfarb or, simpler still, they could just shut the power off. If blackmail is going to work, it’s got to be more involved to be a credible threat.”

“It’s a start,” Donald said. “Like I said, we’ve got to brainstorm on this.”

Suzanne looked at Perry. “What do you mean, ‘more involved’?” she asked.

“Something like having two coexisting threats,” Perry said. “That way if they block one, the other does the job. You know what I mean? In order to neutralize the threat they’d have to address both flanks.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Donald said. “Can anybody think of another threat?”

No one volunteered anything.

“I can’t think of anything on the spur of the moment,” Perry said.

“Nor can I,” Suzanne said.

“We’ll start off with the camcorder idea,” Donald said. “While we’re getting that set up, something else will occur to us.”

“What about the weapons in the museum?” Michael asked.

“You found some weapons?” Perry asked.

“A whole room full,” Donald said. “But unfortunately they’re mostly old, outdated, damaged ordnance scavenged off the ocean floor from ancient Grecian times to World War Two. The most promising piece we saw was a German Luger.”

“Do you think it would fire?” Perry asked.

“It might,” Donald said. “The clip is full. Mechanically it seemed clean.”

“Well, that’s something,” Perry said. “Especially if it works.”

“One thing we know for sure,” Donald said, “we’re not going to be able to pull this off once we get separated into different cities.”

“That’s right,” Perry said. “So we’ve got less than a month.”

“We might have a lot less time than a month,” Richard said.

“Why do you say that?” Suzanne asked.

“Michael and I had a little problem,” Richard said. “And I imagine all hell is going to break loose around here one of these days when it’s discovered.”

“Richard, no, don’t say anything!” Michael cried.

“What is it?” Perry questioned. “What have you done now?”