hey were inoculated against nameless diseases. (Watch for the needle with the hook.)
They were told again they had arrived on the planet Mars. (No kidding?)
Led to a drab underground city, dimly lit, dank, noisome with mold and mildew. (Quick, the chlorophyll.)
Assigned bunks in a dormitory, with four men to a room. (Be it ever so humble—bah!)
Told to keep things clean and assigned temporarily to a garbage pickup detail. (For this I left Sheboygan?)
Read to from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Public Law 1182 (concerned with the Nowhere Journey, it told them nothing they did not already know).
Given as complete a battery of tests, mental, emotional and physical, as Temple ever knew existed. (Cripes, man! How the hell should I know what the cube root of −5 is? I never finished high school!)
Subjected to an exhaustive, overlong, and at times meaningless personal interview. (No, doc, honest. I never knew I had a—uh—anxiety neurosis. Is it dangerous?)
"How do you do, Temple? Sit down."
"Thank you."