第45节
ws.
Those are for animals. We live on bases - like big cities. In clean
quarters with plenty of room, light, fresh air." Steve waved his left
hand limply. 'A heck of a lot better than this lousy dump."
Mr Snow had never heard the words 'lousy dump' before but he guessed
their meaning from the tone of the cloud warrior's voice. 'Tell me,'
he said affably. 'Do you have a name?"
'I've got a name and a number,' answered Steve.
'29028902 Brickman, S.R. or, if you prefer to be less formal, Steven
Roosevelt Brickman."
Cadillac repeated the number with awe. '29028902...
Talisman! That is a powerful number! More than all the raindrops in
the sky. More than all the stars in Mo-Town's cio. ak." He looked at
Mr Snow. 'Did you know there were so many people under the earth?"
Mr Snow did not answer. He turned to Steve. 'This number, and the
names you bear. What do they mean?"
'I don't know what you're getting at,' said Steve. 'They're just
names."
'No name is just a name,' replied Mr Snow quietly. 'Every word has
meaning. There must be a reason why you were given this number and
these names."
'Ahh, I get it,' said Steve. He continued to gaze up at the flickering
light on the roof of the hut. '29028902 is my personal identification
number. The number on my ID Card -' His hand went automatically to the
appropriate chest pocket then he remembered that he'd been stripped of
everything except his underpants.
'ID Card?" queried Cadillac.
'My identity card,' explained Steve. 'It's to let people know who I
am."
'Do you not know who you are?"
'Yes, of course I do. The card is to prove I am who I say I am."
Cadillac's puzzlement increased. 'But - why would you say you were
someone else? Are you not known to your clan-brothers and sisters?"
I'm talking to an idiot, thought Steve. 'Look -' he began, then gave
up. 'Forget that. The real reason we have a card is so that we can
access the services controlled by Columbus.
It's a big computer ' 'Computer?"
'A word from the Old Time,' observed Mr Snow.
'A machine that runs things,' explained Steve. 'With thousands of
access points all over the Federation. That's why you need a number.
You feed your card into a slot and the number and other magnetic data
on it is passed to Columbus. That's how it knows who you are. With
the help of the computer you can - depending on your credit rating
access all kinds of services: food, databanks, transit systems,
video-communications. Your number allows you to establish an
interface. You can't exist without it."
Cadillac nodded thoughtfully. 'So many strange words, strange ideas.
I cannot get my mind round them."
'His world is not ours,' said Mr Snow. 'It will take time to
understand these things." He turned to Steve. 'Tell us about your
names."
'Steve - Steven is my Family name, given to me when I was born by the
President-General; Roosevelt is the name of the base where I live
"Roosevelt Field". Brickman is my kin-folk name. The name of my
guardians."
'Guardians?" Mr Snow raised his eyebrows. 'Were you kept as a
prisoner on this - base?"
Steve replied with a wry laugh. 'No. My guardians were the two people
assigned to look after me when I was born."
'Do you not have an earth-mother and father?" asked Cadillac.
Steve did not fully understand the question. 'My guard-mother carried
me for the first nine months of my life. My father was the
President-General. Head of the First Family.
The father of all life within the Federation."
'President-General - is this the name you give to your chief elder?"
asked Cadillac.
'No, that's his title. His name is George Washington Jefferson the
31st."
'If he is more powerful, why does he have less numbers than you?"
Steve smiled. 'It's a different kind of number. He doesn't need an ID
Card. He is the thirty-first Jefferson to head the Amtrak
Federation.