He would miss these things. But the atmosphere of the camp was so corrupting that its beauty was soon forgotten or ignored, blurred out of focus by the astigmatism of the free....
What Hendley felt as he neared the beige buildings was not regret but a kind of relief. Perhaps if ABC-331 had been with him, if they could have shared the sunlight and the carefree hours of leisure, life as a Freeman might have been different. And again it might not. Was this kind of freedom, as Ann had seemed to suggest, a monstrous deception? He was not sure what he believed. All he knew for certain was that he had to get out of the camp.
And he had to find her.
He felt no misgivings as he reached the administration building through which he had passed on the day of his arrival. There would be questions about his failure to report Nik's assumption of his identity. The prospect of stiff debits against his tax debt no longer had the power to frighten. Even the possibility of more severe penalties, whatever they might be, did not matter.
There was a reassuring familiarity in the whir and drone of office machinery inside the beige building. One of the uniformed personnel behind a counter looked up brightly. He had an air of eagerness accentuated by prominently bulging blue eyes that reminded Hendley of a frog's. "Good morning, sir!" the clerk piped. "What can we do for you? Not that there's much we can do for the free, eh?"
Hendley decided there was no point in avoiding the issue. "I'm not a Freeman," he said bluntly.
A startled look crossed the face of the clerk, whose pop-eyes blinked. The surprise gave way to amusement. "Ha! Ha!" He was pleased to share Hendley's joke. "That's quite good, sir."
"It's not a joke. I'm here by mistake. I mean, I don't belong here. I'm only a visitor."
"Oh!" The clerk managed a nervous smile. "For a moment I thought—but you're not wearing a visitor's uniform!" he exclaimed. "I don't understand."
"My name is TRH-247," Hendley explained patiently. "You'll find me in your records. They'll show me leaving a week ago—but I didn't leave. Someone else left in my place—a Freeman."