ablished. It should not be the role
in life of the common man, the mass, the mob, to make the uncommon man
as common as possible, but quite the other way around. The other way,
Ellaby! Common folk should be given the opportunity to become as
uncommon as possible. Otherwise, Ellaby, we've reached a dead end.

"Kill him and I promise you this: the whole warped system will come
tumbling. A man shouldn't be forced to conform, Ellaby. Mankind's
greatness stems from lack of conformity. For his own purposes, the
Dictator bows to the will of the mob. But he's surrounded himself,
with mediocrity. Without him, what can they do? Without him they'll go
down in weeks, Ellaby. In days!"

The guard, a tall blonde woman who looked like a twenty-over-mode to
Ellaby, led him down a long, well-lit corridor. No one had searched
him. It would have taken the guard a moment to reach within his tunic,
find the blaster and drag him off to the Academy. Other people,
nameless people on nameless errands, walked by in the corridor without
paying Ellaby any attention.

Was Mulden right? Were there people here, within the building, waiting
to help Ellaby?

Ellaby licked his dry lips and kept walking, finding it difficult to
keep his legs from trembling. It was as if a nimbus of terror dogged
his footsteps, ready to envelope him momentarily. The guard seemed
completely unconcerned. She was humming the melody of the latest
song-hit, a wonderfully liltingly banal tune which had been on
everyone's lips back in High Falls.

The blonde guard paused before a door in the long corridor. "Here we
are," she said.

Ellaby opened his mouth to speak, but gulped in air instead. He felt a
weak fluttering in his chest. He had never been so afraid in all his
life.

The guard, who was a head taller than Ellaby, glanced down at him.
"You don't have to be so nervous," she said in a perfectly normal
voice. "Everything's going to be all right."

"You see, it's a new job and all--"

"Oh, here! Let's see that blaster."

Ellaby's heart plunged. He wanted to bolt, to run. She knew. She
knew....

He stood there, too weak to move, while the guard reached inside his
tunic, found the blaster taped to his chest, wrenched it loose. She
took it out, held it up, flipping open the chamber and examined the
inside. "All right," she said. "I only wanted to make sure it was
loaded."

And she took out a key and opened the door. "He's inside," she said,
and strolled on down