The Blue Tower | Page 2

known anybody who had as many
relatives as she did, and sometimes he suspected they were not all
related to her. Then he would dismiss the thought as unworthy of him
or any right-thinking human being. He loved Corisande for herself
alone and not for her family. Whether they were actually her family or
not was none of his business.
"Be happy!" he greeted the assemblage cordially, sitting down beside
Corisande on the tessellated pavement.
"Bah!" said old Osmond Flockhart, Corisande's grandfather. Ludovick
was sure that, underneath his crustiness, the gnarled patriarch hid a
heart of gold. Although he had been mining assiduously, the young
man had not yet been able to strike that vein; however, he did not give
up hope, for not giving up hope was one of the principles that his wise

old Belphin teacher had inculcated in him. Other principles were to
lead the good life and keep healthy.
"Now, Grandfather," Corisande said, "no matter what your politics, that
does not excuse impoliteness."
Ludovick wished she would not allude so blatantly to politics, because
he had a lurking notion that Corisande's "family" was, in fact, a band of
conspirators ... such as still dotted the green and pleasant planet and
proved by their existence that Man was not advancing anywhere within
measurable distance of that totality of knowledge implied by the
Belphin.
You could tell malcontents, even if they did not voice their
dissatisfactions, by their faces. The vast majority of the human race,
living good and happy lives, had smooth and pleasant faces.
Malcontents' faces were lined and sometimes, in extreme cases,
furrowed. Everyone could easily tell who they were by looking at them,
and most people avoided them.
* * * * *
It was not that griping was illegal, for the Belphins permitted free
speech and reasonable conspiracy; it was that such behavior was
considered ungenteel. Ludovick would never have dreamed of
associating with this set of neighbors, once he had discovered their
tendencies, had he not lost his heart to the purple-eyed Corisande at
their first meeting.
"Politeness, bah!" old Osmond said. "To see a healthy young man
simply--simply accepting the status quo!"
"If the status quo is a good status quo," Ludovick said uneasily, for he
did not like to discuss such subjects, "why should I not accept it? We
have everything we could possibly want. What do we lack?"
"Our freedom," Osmond retorted.

"But we are free," Ludovick said, perplexed. "We can say what we like,
do what we like, so long as it is consonant with the public good."
"Ah, but who determines what is consonant with the public good?"
Ludovick could no longer temporize with truth, even for Corisande's
sake. "Look here, old man, I have read books. I know about the old
days before the Belphins came from the stars. Men were destroying
themselves quickly through wars, or slowly through want. There is
none of that any more."
"All lies and exaggeration," old Osmond said. "My grandfather told me
that, when the Belphins took over Earth, they rewrote all the textbooks
to suit their own purposes. Now nothing but Belphin propaganda is
taught in the schools."
"But surely some of what they teach about the past must be true,"
Ludovick insisted. "And today every one of us has enough to eat and
drink, a place to live, beautiful garments to wear, and all the time in the
world to utilize as he chooses in all sorts of pleasant activities. What is
missing?"
"They've taken away our frontiers!"
Behind his back, Corisande made a little filial face at Ludovick.
Ludovick tried to make the old man see reason. "But I'm happy. And
everybody is happy, except--except a few killjoys like you."
"They certainly did a good job of brainwashing you, boy," Osmond
sighed. "And of most of the young ones," he added mournfully. "With
each succeeding generation, more of our heritage is lost." He patted the
girl's hand. "You're a good girl, Corrie. You don't hold with this being
cared for like some damn pet poodle."
"Never mind Osmond, Eversole," one of Corisande's alleged uncles
grinned. "He talks a lot, but of course he doesn't mean a quarter of what
he says. Come, have some wine."

* * * * *
He handed a glass to Ludovick. Ludovick sipped and coughed. It tasted
as if it were well above the legal alcohol limit, but he didn't like to say
anything. They were taking an awful risk, though, doing a thing like
that. If they got caught, they might receive a public scolding--which
was, of course, no more than they deserved--but he could not bear to
think of Corisande exposed to such an ordeal.
"It's only reasonable," the uncle went on, "that older people should
have a--a thing about being governed by