Jordan pressed his foot onto the brake pedal and slowed the machine. The shovel inched toward the child.
"Get out of the way, gaffer. I need to collect the load. " Jordan calculated the mass of the ore already freed by waterhammer. He would need every moment of the work period to get all that rock into the delivery train. His foot lightened on the brake. the kid stood his ground.
Jordan stared into the kid's eyes from the cab. He released the brake and the huge machine lurched forward. The young gaffer didn't move. Instead, he held his hands forward toward Jordan. He held his hands palms up and cupped them as if he was holding something invisible.
The loader jolted to a halt. At first, Jordan couldn't figure why. He checked the engine statistics automatically expecting to see a mechanical failure. There was none. It was only when he looked back toward the gaffer that he felt the tension in his leg. His foot shook as he pressed down on the brake pedal.
A feeling he had never felt before rippled down his spine. Why had he stopped? the load was dry and waiting. Raw tonnage for the taking. Time in the sunroom.
The kid turned slowly and knelt. As the gaffer sank below the shovel, Jordan put the machine in reverse and pulled backward until he could see him again.
He stood on the brake pulling himself up out of his seat and aimed the loader's headlights on the gaffer.
The boy knelt aside the waterhammer who had gotten tangled in his hoses. He lay amid the rock, his equipment damaged, a thin stream of blood running onto the mine floor beside him.
Jordan typed a command into his console.
DAMAGE TO THE WATERHAMMER. PLEASE REPAIR.
He waited a few seconds for the request to transmit.
The response came: REPLACE OR REPAIR?
Jordan thought. He could have a replacement in under seven minutes. He could drive over the gaffer and the waterhammer and collect the load and no one would question his decision to terminate the men. He'd tell control to wash the ore. they'd deduct half the tonnage and replace the crew.
It could take hours to repair the waterhammer. Jordan's legs shook as he held his leg tense on the brake pedal. He felt himself needing air but he didn't know why.
He typed the word: REPAIR.
The word "ACKNOWLEDGED" appeared on the console.
Jordan secured the loader in place. The gaffer turned and looked at him. Jordan held his hand up to the cab window for the gaffer to see. The sign. Two fingers. then he waited for the work period to end.
The men queued up in a single file row and removed their coveralls and hard hats. They stood naked and hairless, shivering in the mine's damp cool air. One by one they got onto the conveyer belt that pulled them through the washing and feeding facility.
As Jordan stood waiting for an empty place on the belt he felt the poke in his back again.
Jordan held two fingers down at his side. As he raised his leg to mount the belt he looked quickly toward Waterhammer. He held up two fingers in "V," then rotated his hand to the horizontal—the sign for sleep. Then he lay on his back on the belt and felt straps seal over him. Warm water coated his body. Brushes scoured his skin. He could feel his abdomen shrink as a robot arm attached a tube to a connection at his waist and removed the liquid and solid wastes from his gut.
He heard the control voice say, "stop breathing," as the belt pulled him into the cleaning solution. His heart rate quickened. He thought he felt the belt stop as it had when he was a young gaffer. Ten men were killed when the belt broke and they were strapped beneath the surface of the cleaning solution. He had just been immersed. He strained against the straps and dislocated his shoulders. He survived by withstanding the pain and forcing his head out of the solution to the air. One wash period in thousands. The memory stayed with him. He imagined it would be with him forever.
His desire for air increased with his fear until he felt he would be forced to inhale the solution. But his body broke water into the air and he took his first breath with a gasp.
A robot arm connected a tube to the feeding connector mounted in his side. He felt his stomach fill with the warm nutrient. Then the tube was disconnected and he was moved into a large gallery filled with men. Naked, he walked up the metal stairs and across the steel catwalk to his sleeping chamber.
He felt the tingling in his neck as the control voice said, "Enter the chamber. " He remained standing. "Enter the chamber," the voice said again.
He could feel the vibration in the catwalk as someone walked close behind him.
He turned and saw the waterhammer. Jordan turned quickly and put his arms around him, hugged the muscular man tightly against his body, and pulled him into the upright sleeping chamber.
Waterhammer resisted for a moment. Then he realized what Jordan was trying to do and he yielded. He winced as the door slammed closed and compressed his head and body against Jordan's.
Jordan moved his head to the side, and Waterhammer's cheek fell against his. They interlaced their legs and arms. Jordan turned his head. He pressed the control connector on the side of his neck toward Waterhammer's but he couldn't make contact.
Waterhammer was nervous. He pulled in air and wouldn't exhale. Jordan was could only take quick shallow breaths.
"Breathe out," Jordan said with his mouth, hoping Waterhammer was young enough to have some of his hearing. "Exhale or I'll die. "
Waterhammer exhaled and quickly pulled in air. During the brief moment in which there was enough room for his chest to expand, Jordan inhaled. Then he exhaled again.
Jordan felt Waterhammer's heartbeat slow. As the young man began to breathe calmly, Jordan took in air. He concentrated on the timing of Waterhammer's breathing, letting the young man breathe freely while he paced himself. Water-hammer shifted his head slightly in the coffin, and Jordan was could press his neck against the young man's and make connection.
"This is how we pass the word," said Jordan, forming the words in his mind. "It was time for you to learn. "
"Loader Jordan. Thank you for not terminating me. " the young man spoke through his connector.
Jordan ignored him. He said, "You said you understand the instructions. "
"Yes, oh yes I do," said Waterhammer. When I first read the manual, it didn't make any sense. I read the commands over and over. Soon, I understood what they meant. "
"What do you think they are?" Jordan asked.
"They are instructions for operating our lives. Maybe they were written a long time ago. It refers to positions and machinery I don't understand. Are we supposed to follow those instructions, Loader Jordan? this seems like an unauthorized manual. I think I will be section sixty-two'ed if control finds out I've learned these commands. "
"That manual is a book, Waterhammer. It's a manual from the surface. It was written by surface men for surface machinery and positions. Many work periods ago Timer Andrew visited the surface and brought the book down to us. Many men have read it but none of us understand it. The work it describes it hard for us to imagine. "
"This is a surface manual?" asked Waterhammer. "I remember the surface. I was on the surface when I was at the breeding farm. It was a horrible place. Strange machines. No work. Why would we want to keep words from the surface here in the world?"
Jordan said, "You know the words of men, don't you?"
"Yes, of course. We all know them. I learned them at the breeding farm. "
"No," Jordan said. "Not the words of instruction. Not the reading for manuals and commands, the words of men. " Jordan groped with his right hand and found Waterhammer's hand next to his. He put his hand under Waterhammer's and made a fist. He extended three fingers in the sign for "be still. " then he made the sign for "run," a single extended finger.
"You know these," Jordan said. "I know you do. "
"Yes," said Waterhammer. "I learned those at the farm too. "
Jordan said, "these are the words of men. Control does not understand these words. The words in the book and the words I give you now are also the words of me
n. Timer Andrew told us. "
"Perhaps Timer Andrew was defective. "
"Many men thought that. But his word requires my agreement. The word requires agreement from many of us. Today I ordered your repair because the gaffer would not yield to the loader. Gaffer's action required my agreement. "
"He expected you would drive through us," said Waterhammer.
"If he did, why did he put his body in front of me?" Jordan asked.
Waterhammer was silent. He let two breaths pass between them. Then he said, "I know that gaffer from the breeding farm. He always kept his body close to mine. When we learned he sat in proximity. When we were washed and fed he stood behind me in the queue. He was always close to me in the elevators. Now he is assigned to you as I am and he remains close to me. I think he follows commands from the book. "
"Have you shown him the book?"
"No," said Waterhammer.
"Why do you think he follows the commands in the book if he has never seen the instructions?"
"I think the instructions are in him. I think he has been programmed. "
Jordan said, "Timer Andrew said some instructions were in all of us. Not just the instructions for work, to gaff, to hammer, to load, to drive and to time—but further instruction. Information we know but do not act on. He said one instruction above all would help the men. It's the instruction, ‘to love. '"
"I have read that instruction many times. Still, I don't completely understand it but I feel the instruction in my body. "
"I do too," said Jordan. "And that is why I have chosen you to carry the word of Timer Andrew in secret. You have shown caring. "
"Caring?"
"It is a word of Timer Andrew. You have done your work with energy that comes from your feeling. You smile when the work is going well. I know you
can feel your actions. You feel them as I. "
"Yes, I do feel my work," said Waterhammer.
"Each of us learns the word of Timer Andrew and does his best to understand it. Before you are terminated you will choose another man and give him the word. I will teach you how to find someone. In the mean time, you must know that it is not for you to understand Andrew. You need only pass the words to another. Timer Andrew said it was important that the word remains alive in men. The salvation of the men depends on the word. When all men know the word, men will be saved. "
"Saved? Why do we need to be saved?" Waterhammer asked.
"I don't know" said Jordan. "Perhaps, in time, one of us will know. For now, you must keep the word to yourself. Control will terminate you for having heard it. They will terminate you for simply mentioning the name ‘Andrew. ' Loaders are no longer given that name so you may never mention it. If they find you, they will terminate all of us. "
"I will keep the word," said Waterhammer.
"And when you are promoted to loader and are given your name, you will be given the power to terminate men. And then you will pass the word to another whom you can watch. And if you feel he will slip, if you feel he will make a mistake and utter the word of Andrew to any other you will terminate him before he takes a step forward. these instructions will not be repeated. "
"I understand, Loader Jordan. "
"Very good. Now, let's begin. . . "
Jordan removed his clothing and stood before the massive doors. The bolts on the doors slid open. Jordan could feel the vibration in his feet as the giant door swung wide. there was a vibration in his neck as the controller spoke.
"Loader A, twenty-percent reward period beginning immediately. "
Had he retrieved the entire load drilled by Waterhammer he could have expected a ten-fold period for exceeding his quota by a wide margin. He had simply let the loader idle while the maintenance crew collected Waterhammer and took him for repair. When the work period had ended he found himself only slightly over his quota. Performance worthy of only the smallest period allotted. He would spend the first fifth of the work day in the sunroom. The remainder of the day he would spend at his station remembering the bright warmth.
He remembered pieces of an instruction the book Thomas had given him,". . . Tiger burning bright. . . what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry. . . " But he had only been taught enough to read the machine manuals. What was a tiger? What symmetry should he fear?
As the door opened the light from inside escaped into the hallway. Where it touched him there was warmth and white. He never knew his skin could be so white. As he stepped into the room and felt the light engulf him as if he had fallen into liquid. It was a feeling he remembered from somewhere long before.
He hardly noticed the massive door swing shut behind him.
There was a man lying naked on a flat tables arranged along the walls of the square white room. On the ceiling was a round white light source.
The man sensed the vibration of the door closing. He slowly lifted his head and looked at Jordan. His eyes were openings onto a cold emptiness. Jordan hardly recognized him, his skin so white, eyes so black and deep. He raised a fist and signed the men's greeting to his mentor, Driver Thomas.
Thomas sat up on the table and motioned for Jordan to sit beside him. As Jordan sat Thomas reached over and put his hand around the back of Jordan's neck. He jumped off the table, stood in front of him, and pulled Jordan's head toward him. He leaned forward until Jordan's chin was over his shoulder. Then he pressed Jordan's neck against his, touching his control connector against Jordan's. Instinctively, Jordan pulled away.
"Don't be afraid," Driver Thomas said, a voice coming from the center of Jordan's head. "Control doesn't monitor here. "
Jordan relaxed and leaned into Driver Thomas.
Driver Thomas said, "But we won't have much time. If the door opens we'll be on monitor. they'll sixty-two us. "
Jordan tried to pull away to look into Driver Thomas's face, but Thomas kept Jordan's neck pinned in an iron grip.
"Why are you doing this?" said Jordan.
"Last lesson, Jordan," said Thomas. "Control knows about the book. Even now maintenance is searching for it. They searched the K group and suspected Loader Solomon. That's why he was terminated. When they couldn't find the book they terminated everyone. I saw the order pass for three hundred replacements. An entire group, Jordan. three hundred men. three hundred lives. "
"Waterhammer didn't show the book to anyone," Jordan said. He felt a tightness grow in his chest. It was a pain like the one he had felt the day before when stared down the shovel of the loader at Gaffer and Waterhammer on the mine floor.
"I have to give you all lessons at once now," Thomas said. "there are many books. Many carry the word. "
"My waterhammer said he understands," said Jordan.
"Love is the lives of the men," said Thomas. "Does he understand that?"
Jordan looked down at the muscles in Thomas's back. Then he stared out at the blank wall and the empty tables in the sunroom. The warm white light loosened the muscles in his back and arms.
"The lives of the men," said Jordan. "My life?"
"All life. The decision to repair rather than to replace. The worth of a man to himself. Worth of life as that of the ore. "
"Men worth as ore?"
"On the surface, Timer Andrew learned that men are bred from other men. They value their own lives as reward. Love is the value of men's lives. It is somehow like time in the sunroom. Like promotion. It is the value of men for other men. "
In his mind Jordan saw the gaffer kneeling beside the wounded waterhammer. He remembered the boy's eyes as he threatened with the shovel of his machine. Why hadn't the boy moved?
"My gaffer," said Jordan. "Last work period he prevented me from taking a dirty load. Waterhammer was injured. I should have taken him with the ore. "
"How did gaffer stop you?" asked Thomas.
"He stood in front of my machine. "
"Why didn't you simply take the ore with them both?"
"I don't know," said Jordan. "He looked at me as if. . . as if he could
damage my machine with his eyes. "
"Now you are seeing what I see," said Thomas. "there are instructions not learned but known. The gaffer knows without teaching. I had hoped you could come to this conclusion as well but time is short. "
Thomas pulled back from Jordan and took the man's head in his hands. He pulled Jordan's face toward his and pressed his lips against Jordan's. Then he leaned aside and made connection with his neck again.
"That is the sign for Love. that is the symbol of the value of man's life. "
They felt a vibration that could only mean the door was opening.
"The period is not over," said Jordan.
"Control must monitor this room after all," said Thomas, scanning the blank walls. Thomas pointed and Jordan spotted an imperfection in the seamless walls, a spot slightly darker than the brilliant white all around.
Jordan felt his heart race. His breathing deepened and he felt the white of the room intensify. He felt he could hear with his ears again.
"It's as if the word itself is more powerful then the men," said Thomas. They saw the dark crack between the wall and the door as the massive hinge swung open.
What do we do?" Jordan said. He looked back at the door, then quickly touched his neck connector to Thomas's.
"These are the final words of Timer Andrew," said Thomas. "the last lesson. Remember this and run. Control is on the surface. They cannot terminate all of us. "
Jordan felt Thomas press his hands into his back. He could feel the warmth from Thomas's body, the vibration of Thomas's heart, the rhythm of Thomas's breathing.
Thomas continued, "Have the men switch their control connections from radio to cable. Go to your machine and destroy the yellow control box. Then, it too will ignore signals from control. "
Thomas grabbed Jordan's arm and pulled him to the center of the room as the door stopped in its travel and the mobile particle weapon appeared in the doorway.
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