''I wish I were better at explaining. In Ark Three we are all trained in telepathy from infancy. I was different and so, I guess, was Luke. I've only just begun to discover and develop my abilities, so I'm not very good. But Luke is an expert in telekinesis, that is moving objects at a distance without touching them, with only his mind acting on the molecules in the thing to be moved.”

“You think that your friend Luke could alter the circuits of the computer from within?”

How quickly he grasped the essentials. She nodded. “If you show him the diagrams and tell him exactly what has to be done, I'm sure he could do it.”

The Overlord rubbed his hand across his face. He sighed. “I am still afraid that any attempt to meddle in the area I've shown you may result in the destruction of the computer. It is like trying to remove a tumour from deep in the medulla of a patient's brain. To excise the tumour risks ending the life of the patient.”

“I do understand. I'm sure that if you explain exactly what you want to Luke he can change the circuitry within that area without touching the parts around it.”

“You certainly have a lot of faith in your young friend. I hope it is justified. It is an amazing solution to what I've always thought was an impossible problem. My infopaks tell me that it may work. Logically it is the answer. Emotionally- I am afraid. So much depends on this young man, of whom I know nothing. Tomi, what do you think? Dare we risk it?”

“It's our only chance to break free, Father. For years you designed dreams about Outside, yet no one connected their dreams with reality and chose to leave the Ark - no one even wanted to leave. The dreams were a relief, nothing more.”

“Have you had better success since I made you Dream

Master?''

Tomi shook his bald head. “I have built into my dreams a longing for freedom and a sense of discontent, and I have based them on the reality I learned when I was Outside. But, although I walk about the Ark listening and watching, I have never heard a grumble. Workers and soldiers alike are content to spend their lives as mindless servants. The control of the computer through our lifepaks is just too strong to break. If it were not for my memories of… of my friends outside, I think I, too, would succumb to its pressure.” He sighed. “I've been wasting my time this last year.”

“You certainly haven't,” Ruth burst in. She blushed furiously when the Overlord turned his eagle eyes on her, but she went on. “I received your dreams. I wanted to be free, to discover the Outside. And because of your dreams we are here, from Ark Three, with the Esper skills you need to help you to free yourselves.”