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Alice's sporter stood near the ramp. He turned to her, noting with embarrassment that she was very
nicely dressed. She had made herself pretty for him.
"Alice, could I drive you straight to your hotel?"
"Certainly, Jeff." She handed him the key. "Do you want me or the car?" She wasn't being coy; it was a
direct question, a ringer question. Ask a ringer whether she will or she won't, he thought, and she will tell
you whether she will or she won't.
"I don't know. If I were smart, I'd want you but things aren't that settled. I have to do some serious
thinking."
"She certainly is pretty. But "
"So are you, Alice. That isn't the problem."
She did not question him further, and he drove on to her hotel. She got out without comment at her
apartment and smiled bravely back at him. "Don't break any laws!"
He laughed, a trifle bitterly, and waved as he pulled away. It hurt him to leave her like that, but it would
have been worse to build up her hopes before he was sure. He knew that she was right, and right for
him, even apart from the ring factor; and he knew that Pamela was a dream of sensuality that could never
be realized because it was phony. He knew but what man willingly gives up the irrational adventure
without at least exploring its potential?
He was uncertain what his destination was, whether or not it was in any sense physical, or what he
expected to gain from so silly a thing as an unorganized drive. He couldn't even go very far, since he was
not supposed to exert himself unduly during his recuperation, and the ring would see that he obeyed.
He passed a Vicinc outlet, gaudily lighted day and night. Strange, he thought, the way Vicinc was
supposed to have abolished repression, just as technology had abolished need and the ring had wiped
out crime. Civilization was Utopia, in theory but the theory was badly flawed. Crime was in fact
rampant on every level, with thugs in the park and corruption among top executives. Need well,
inflation had simply kept pace with technology, so that the fancy little gyrocars still cost more than the
average man could afford without extended payments and prolonged debt. Repressions, sexual and
otherwise, instead of being relieved, had discovered more and more morbid expressions.
He was approaching the skyway. Well, why not? He had never driven its length, having lacked sufficient
leisure when he'd had a car before. Somewhere along this road was that junkyard, just off one of the
turnoffs Big Ed's place. How had Ed made out, after learning about that stolen car?
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Jeff slowed, shifting his body to zero the vertical indicator, and steered the vehicle onto the elevated
track. The thing about gyros was that they did not tilt with the landscape; they maintained their attitude
whatever came, in the short run, which made possible the economy of the single tire. Of course, that
whirling balance could make things inconvenient at times, and the driver always had to be alert but
overall, the gyro provided a compactness and stability that had never been available in the automotive
field before. It was a real pleasure to be swinging out alone like this.
Afternoon thunderheads enclosed the highway ahead in a darkening canopy. That was right Weathinc
had scheduled rain for 1630, according to the morning fax. The law required a ten percent reduction in
velocity during inclement driving conditions, but that was no problem. He slid into the high speed lane and
applied power.
The little car shot up the incline at fifty miles per hour, its single tire singing against the dark firm plastop.
The sporter was beautifully responsive.
Rain would not affect the driving surface, he thought, and wondered why the law had not been revised to
allow for this. There were so many laws that an intelligent person could question. Regulations were not
intended to endure past their time; they needed to be updated periodically. Maybe there should be a
ringer on the highway board.
The hi-vee lane rose above the others, and Jeff could see beyond the sturdy guard-rails to the winking
early lights of the city. The overcast had brought premature dusk, making the metropolitan structures
stand out uniquely in the half-light. Overcrowded and dangerous it might be but from above the lighted
city was a splendor.
Perhaps that was what he needed to remember about the law: despite its defects, the great legal
structure was when viewed from above a splendor. Man struggled in the darkness of his inner world [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]