Chapter Nine: A Change of Mind

While DelPonte remained on board the Orbit Jet supervising the work of the Ophiuchian technicians, Jones and Ray found themselves doing what Cleolanthe had suggested they do: they saw the country, looked into corners, and searched the Ophiuchians' minds.

Cleolanthe had placed one of the hovercars from the Analka Vainda Govornox at their disposal, and of course had also assigned a military escort under Captain Tarlax, traveling in a separate hovercar. Every day's itinerary included a morning visit to the Gray Observatory to meet with Professor Newton and Bobby. Newton always reacted as he had at their first meeting, with his mood abruptly alternating between indifference and effusiveness. Bobby continued to treat them with the stiff formality of a child addressing upper-caste Ophiuchian adults.

They visited factories where the Ophiuchians produced ground cars, viseograph sets, and electronic components. Those weren't so bad. It was true that the workers were all dressed in identical uniforms, with slight color variations based on their particular specialties, but it was common enough in the Solar System for companies to dress their employees in uniforms. They observed the workers as they assembled components, as they ate in factory cafeterias, as they performed calisthenics on rooftop exercise yards. Vena unobtrusively listened as the Ophiuchian workers talked to each other, and much of it was the familiar talk of the doings of acquaintances, viseographed entertainment, and the weather. It seemed normal enough until you noticed the sort of talk that wasn't there: complaints about unreasonable superiors, politics, and above all, families.

On the fifth day of their stay on Ophiuchius Prime, Jones and Ray visited one of the Ophiuchian nursery factories, where Ophiuchian children were socialized and educated. The children all wore gray uniforms, but school uniforms were also common in the Solar System. What was not common, though, was the sight of five hundred children standing at attention as they recited lessons in unison along with their instructor. There was none of the note-passing, the whispered comments, or even the bored scribbling in notebooks you would have found among a group of similar students on Earth or Venus. There was no fidgeting, no wandering attention, no slacking. Every face remained focused on the viseograph behind the instructor, every voice spoke out in the same formal cadence, every young body stood stock still, feet apart and hands clasped behind the back. It was a teacher's dream, and a student's nightmare.

It was all too much for Vena, and as their hovercar left the nursery factory she found herself shivering in reaction, trying to avoid becoming physically ill at the thought of all those children transformed into alien insects.

"Vena, are you all right?" came the concerned voice of Rocky Jones.

She shook her head. "It's horrible, Rocky! Horrible! Those poor children!" Her horror at the memory of the nursery factory became mixed with shame at the weakness she was displaying. She was supposed to be a Space Ranger, and here she was shaking like a frightened child. Rocky Jones had insisted all along that she wasn't fit for their mission to Ophiuchius Prime, and now she was proving him right.

"I know, Vena." She looked up, surprised out of her misery. The last thing she had expected to hear from Rocky Jones was sympathy, but there was no denying the compassion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rocky. I know I'm reacting badly."

Vena was even more surprised when Jones reached over and took her hands in his own. "It's all right, Vena. You wouldn't be human if you weren't deeply disturbed by what we just saw. What's been done to those children is terrible, the most terrible thing I've ever seen."

Vena felt her shivering subside, and her equilibrium returning. She straightened up in her seat, and looked into Jones' eyes. "Thank you, Rocky."

Releasing her hands, Jones nodded. "Carry on, Ranger Ray."

Vena returned the nod, and in a voice steadied by resolve, she answered, "Yes sir, Commander Jones."

* * *

On their last day on Ophiuchius Prime, Jones invited Bobby to come and visit them on the Orbit Jet. He thought that seeing the familiar ship might remind Bobby of his time on Earth with the Space Rangers, and shake him out of his determination to remain with the Ophiuchians.

The Orbit Jet had been placed lengthwise in a cradle by the Ophiuchians during the repairs, to make it easier to move through the ship. Vena and DelPonte remained in the engine room with the Ophiuchian technicians while Jones and Bobby went past them to the pilot room. Both of his crewmates gave Jones a final, wordless good luck with their eyes.

As Jones escorted Bobby into the pilot room, he said, "It's good to have you back on board, Bobby. You know, we've missed you."

Bobby remained the expressionless, formal Ophiuchian youth Jones had become familiar with. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir."

Jones was momentarily at a loss, which wasn't a feeling he was used to having. He finally settled for sitting in his crash chair and saying, "Why don't you have a look around, Bobby?"

Bobby took Jones' suggestion as an order, and began to inspect the pilot room's controls as though he were a technician performing a pre-flight check. When he had finished, he stood at attention before Jones, his hands clasped behind his back.

Uneasily, Jones said, "Well, Bobby, do you see any changes?"

Still maintaining his formal stance, Bobby said, "Nothing appreciable."

"Remember, you were going to captain one just like her when you grew up," Jones reminded him. "And none of that new-fangled stuff, boy, she's got to be just like the Orbit Jet."

"I'll captain a space ship someday," Bobby responded. "And she'll run rings around the Orbit Jet." And now, for the first time, Jones saw Bobby's formality give way to enthusiasm. "Maybe we'll meet up in space against each other. And I'll like that."

Jones felt a kind of horror growing within him. It reminded him of the way he felt watching the Ophiuchian children reciting their lessons in the nursery factory. "Bobby . . . "

The look of eagerness on Bobby's face faded away. "I'd like to go back to the observatory," he said.

Now the horror had taken firm hold of him. This final, last-ditch effort to win over Bobby had been a failure. They would have to leave Ophiuchius Prime soon, and now Jones knew that they would not be leaving with Professor Newton or Bobby. Taking a deep breath, Jones answered, "All right, Bobby." Rising from his chair, Jones followed the boy out of the pilot room and through the Orbit Jet.

In the engine room, two Ophiuchian technicians were finishing their work on a power terminal while DelPonte and Vena tested the oxygen flow regulator. As the technicians packed away their instruments, Jones said, "Vena, take Bobby back to the observatory, please." One glance from her was enough to communicate the truth: he won't be coming back with us.

"Good-bye, Bobby," Jones said to the boy.

Bobby responded with a curt, "Bye."

"See you, Bobby," said DelPonte. This time, Bobby didn't respond at all.

When Bobby, Vena, and the Ophiuchians were gone, DelPonte said in puzzlement, "Nothing, huh?"

Jones shook his head sadly. "And I thought going through the Orbit Jet would bring him back to his senses."

"Boy, if we could get 'em back on Earth for a while, they'd come to their senses quick enough," DelPonte said. Then, looking sideling at Jones, he added, "Hey, maybe we could figure out a way to . . . "

DelPonte left the rest of the thought unspoken: a way to force them to come with us. Jones felt a terrible urge to go along with the idea. The thought of allowing Professor Newton and Bobby to remain under the iron rule of the Ophiuchians made his blood run cold. But it was impossible, and he and DelPonte both knew it. "We go by the rule of freedom, and a man's right to make his own decisions," Jones reminded DelPonte. "Professor Newton and Bobby want to stay here on Ophiuchius, so there's nothing we can do about it."

* * *

Bobby remained silent as Vena returned him to the Gray Observatory, while her mind returned over and over again to their time together on the Montevideo. He seemed like a different boy now. Wordlessly, she escorted him to the observatory's main entrance. She paused at the door with him.

"We used to be friends," she said. "I'm sorry it's different now. Good-bye, Bobby."

"Good-bye," Bobby said brusquely, then turned and left.

Vena walked away. She told herself that she shouldn't look back, that she should just get into the Ophiuchian hovercar and drive back to the Orbit Jet, but in the end, she couldn't help herself. She stopped and turned back.

She was expecting to see Bobby marching stoically into the observatory. Instead, he had started to climb a set up steps to the second story, then paused there. He was leaning heavily against a balustrade, his eyes closed and his head in one hand. He seemed to be ill.

Vena ran back. In moments, she had joined him on the steps, her arm around his shoulders. "Bobby, what's the matter?"

Bobby's formal, expressionless manner was gone now. There was a pained look on his face as he said, "I don't know. I feel sort of dizzy, as if I wasn't myself."

"Here," Vena offered, "I'll help you up the stairs."

"No!" Bobby shouted. His eyes were wide open, and the pain in his face had given way to anger. "It's cold. It's a prison. Just like the rest of Ophiuchius."

Hope flared within Vena Ray. "Say that again, Bobby."

But Bobby's eyes were closed now, and he shook his head. The pained expression was back. "No. No, I don't know what I'm saying." Then his eyes cleared, and the Bobby Matthews who looked at her was the one she remembered from the Montevideo. "Vena, I was just on the Orbit Jet with Rocky, wasn't I?"

Vena was quick to reassure him. "Yes, Bobby, you were."

Bobby was urgent now. "Please, Vena, go get Rocky for me. I want to talk to him. Right away!"

"Of course, Bobby," she said.

"Hurry, Vena!"

"I will, Bobby!" she promised, then turned and fled back to the hovercar.