off his face.

* * * * *

He awoke to disaster. The captain and Plato's dorm master were standing
there, staring down at him, and the dorm master was saying, "All right,
Plato, you've had your adventure, and now I'm afraid you'll have to pay
for it. It's time to go home."

Plato couldn't move. It was impossible, after he had been so clever, so
ingenious, and had thrown them off the trail in so many ways, for them
to have found him!

"You shouldn't have bought a ticket to the wrong station," said the dorm
master, somewhat amusedly. "When the conductor turned it in, the only
one of its kind on his flight, it naturally attracted attention. We
hadn't even suspected you had taken a glider-train until the flight
people came to us."

Now he would never adventure on strange planets of unknown suns. He
would never course through space like Comets Carter. He would never have
the adventures which alone made life seem worth living.

Unable to control himself, he burst into tears. It was a completely
unmanly thing to do, but he couldn't help himself. The tears flowed down
over his cheeks, washing away all his shattered illusions. He would
never dream such dreams again. From now on, it would be useless. They
would be watching him carefully to make sure that he didn't leave the
planet.

He heard the captain say in astonishment, "I didn't know these young
ones could cry like that."

"Of course they cry," replied the dorm master. "They eat, sleep,
cry--almost like you and me, Captain. And worst of all, they even have
their dreams. That's why I sometimes wonder, Captain, if it isn't a
mistake to send them to school."

"They have to learn."

"Granted," agreed the dorm master somberly. "But not to dream of being
human when they're only androids."

--WILLIAM MORRISON

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _Galaxy Science Fiction_ November 1952.
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.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Runaway, by William Morrison

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