you, you would nowbe safely down below. We had to work quickly because it was such animmense operation."
"But why?" Moss demanded angrily.
"Because it is unthinkable that you should be allowed to resume the war.With all the Tubes sealed, it will be many months before forces frombelow can reach the surface, let alone organize a military program. Bythat time the cycle will have entered its last stages. You will not beso perturbed to find your world intact.
"We had hoped that you would be undersurface when the sealing occurred.Your presence here is a nuisance. When the Soviets broke through, wewere able to accomplish their sealing without--"
"The Soviets? They broke through?"
"Several months ago, they came up unexpectedly to see why the war hadnot been won. We were forced to act with speed. At this moment they aredesperately attempting to cut new Tubes to the surface, to resume thewar. We have, however, been able to seal each new one as it appears."
The leady regarded the three men calmly.
"We're cut off," Moss said, trembling. "We can't get back. What'll wedo?"
"How did you manage to seal the Tube so quickly?" Franks asked theleady. "We've been up here only two hours."
"Bombs are placed just above the first stage of each Tube for suchemergencies. They are heat bombs. They fuse lead and rock."
Gripping the handle of his gun, Franks turned to Moss and Taylor.
"What do you say? We can't go back, but we can do a lot of damage, thefifteen of us. We have Bender guns. How about it?"
He looked around. The soldiers had wandered away again, back toward theexit of the building. They were standing outside, looking at the valleyand the sky. A few of them were carefully climbing down the slope.
"Would you care to turn over your suits and guns?" the A-class leadyasked politely. "The suits are uncomfortable and you'll have no need forweapons. The Russians have given up theirs, as you can see."
Fingers tensed on triggers. Four men in Russian uniforms were comingtoward them from an aircraft that they suddenly realized had landedsilently some distance away.
"Let them have it!" Franks shouted.
"They are unarmed," said the leady. "We brought them here so you couldbegin peace talks."
"We have no authority to speak for our country," Moss said stiffly.
"We do not mean diplomatic discussions," the leady explained. "Therewill be no more. The working out of daily problems of existence willteach you how to get along in the same world. It will not be easy, butit will be done."
* * * * *
The Russians halted and they faced each other with raw hostility.
"I am Colonel Borodoy and I regret giving up our guns," the seniorRussian said. "You could have been the first Americans to be killed inalmost eight years."
"Or the first Americans to kill," Franks corrected.
"No one would know of it except yourselves," the leady pointed out. "Itwould be useless heroism. Your real concern should be surviving on thesurface. We have no food for you, you know."
Taylor put his gun in its holster. "They've done a neat job ofneutralizing us, damn them. I propose we move into a city, start raisingcrops with the help of some leadys, and generally make ourselvescomfortable." Drawing his lips tight over his teeth, he glared at theA-class leady. "Until our families can come up from undersurface, it'sgoing to be pretty lonesome, but we'll have to manage."
"If I may make a suggestion," said another Russian uneasily. "We triedliving in a city. It is too empty. It is also too hard to maintain forso few people. We finally settled in the most modern village we couldfind."
"Here in this country," a third Russian blurted. "We have much to learnfrom you."
The Americans abruptly found themselves laughing.
"You probably have a thing or two to teach us yourselves," said Taylorgenerously, "though I can't imagine what."
The Russian colonel grinned. "Would you join us in our village? It wouldmake our work easier and give us company."
"Your village?" snapped Franks. "It's American, isn't it? It's ours!"
The leady stepped between them. "When our plans are completed, the termwill be interchangeable. 'Ours' will eventually mean mankind's." Itpointed at the aircraft, which was warming up. "The ship is waiting.Will you join each other in making a new home?"
The Russians waited while the Americans made up their minds.
"I see what the leadys mean about diplomacy becoming outmoded," Frankssaid at last. "People who work together don't need diplomats. They solvetheir problems on the operational level instead of at a conferencetable."
The leady led them toward the ship. "It is the goal of history, unifyingthe world. From family to tribe to city-state to nation to hemisphere,the direction has been toward unification. Now the hemispheres will bejoined and--"
Taylor stopped listening and glanced back at the location of the Tube.Mary was undersurface there. He hated to leave her, even though hecouldn't see her again until the Tube was unsealed. But then he shruggedand followed the others.
If this tiny amalgam of former enemies was a good example, it wouldn'tbe too long before he and Mary and the rest of humanity would be livingon the surface like rational human beings instead of blindly hatingmoles.
"It has taken thousands of generations to achieve," the A-class leadyconcluded. "Hundreds of centuries of bloodshed and destruction. But eachwar was a step toward uniting mankind. And now the end is in sight: aworld without war. But even that is only the beginning of a new stage ofhistory."
"The conquest of space," breathed Colonel Borodoy.
"The meaning of life," Moss added.
"Eliminating hunger and poverty," said Taylor.
The leady opened the door of the ship. "All that and more. How muchmore? We cannot foresee it any more than the first men who formed atribe could foresee this day. But it will be unimaginably great."
The door closed and the ship took off toward their new home.
--PHILIP K. DICK
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Galaxy Science Fiction_ January 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
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