Sten stepped forward. "No, we're not Root-Diggers. We're the men of Boru. We've come to lead you and others like you to freedom."
"Barbarians!" the woman snarled. "You're planning to overthrow Panamia!" She lunged wildly at the switch that would have turned on her view-screen. Sten caught her and pushed her back against the wall. The woman screamed once before Sten slapped her, then she sobbed into her hands.
"Shut up!" Sten commanded. "We mean no harm. We have come only to lead out to freedom those who wish to go."
"You are against The Leader."
Franz laughed. "Let's say we hope to outwit him."
The woman drew back. "That is impossible, he cannot be outwitted. The Leader is all."
Johnathon looked up from the corner where he was examining the view-screen. "That may be, but we intend to have a try at it."
Karl, who had been leaning against the door, suddenly sat down on a hard bench against the wall. "Damn," he complained, "this whining noise gives me a headache."
The woman allowed herself a moment of curiosity. "What whining noise? There is no noise."
"They are conditioned to it," Franz spoke to Sten. "It's a part of their lives. We never hear the pounding of our hearts."