After checking the outer door seals to his apartment, Jim Tyman cycled through the airlock in the shortest time he could.  Once inside, he opened the faceplate of his exo-suit and stepped into the decontam chamber, parcels and all.  He waited impatiently for the process to end, hating having to go through it every time he went out.  Earth had gotten to be such a foul place that it was barely fit to live on.  What he wouldn't give to be someplace where he didn't have to put up with such things.    

      When the ready light flashed green he stepped into the main portion of his apartment, dropped his parcels onto a plastable and shucked off his sterilized exo-suit.  He checked it over for any small rips or tears or signs of wear and then hung it in the combi-closet.  He distributed his groceries, part going into the refrigerator, the rest into the cramped cabinet next to it.  The apartments seemed smaller every year, he thought.  When's it going to stop?

     His meager groceries taken care of, he dropped into his formcliner and stabbed the button on the right armrest to activate the wallscreen.  The news came on and it was the same as always—artificially bright and cheerful.  The immaculately made-up anchorwoman spouted the usual stories of slowly but steadily improving conditions among the superpowers.  The Sino-Japanese-Korean powers had agreed to further arms-limitation talks with the United States, Russia and Anglo-Franco-Germany's bloc.

     Sneering at the hollow rhetoric, Tyman switched stations to the weather report.  The ozone level was up by another half percent, the latest acid rainstorms had been shorter than expected, and the CO2 level was holding steady.  Impatiently, he got out of the chair and headed for the kitchenette.  The door signal chimed softly.  He turned on the minicam and saw the familiar green and gold decorations of Susan Martin's helmet and exo-suit.

     “Hello, Su. You're early.  Come on in,” Tyman said over the comlink as he activated the outer door.  Three minutes later he was helping her remove her suit.

     “I bet you haven't got anything started yet,” Su said as she hung the suit up.  “Tell the truth, now.”

     “Well, no.  But I was just going to.”

     “Then I'll help get the table ready.”

     “Thanks.”  Ty took three dinner-portions out of the cooler and set them in the microwave.  “Hope you didn't want to play a compgame.  The terminal's still down.”

     “Really.  It's been—what—a week now?”

     “Yeah.  Well, you know how hard it is to get someone from repairs to do anything.”

     “That's for sure.  Sometimes it seems as if nothing ever gets done very fast.”

     Tyman came up behind Susan and kissed her, then turned around and started to again, when the microwave alarm sounded.  “Dinner time,” she said.  “Save that.”

     “Is that a promise?”  They sat down at their pre-packaged, perfectly balanced, bland meal.  “It helps to take my mind off the atmosphere, crime, pol—”

     “Eat your dinner and then we'll really warm up your bed.”

     “You've got it.”  He grinned.

     When next morning came he slipped out of bed, not bothering to dress, fixed a quick breakfast for himself and the still-sleeping Susan, and checked the news printout.  Nothing much had changed overnight in the world, but an announcement in the co-op newsletter and notification from Population Control caught his attention.  He was still brooding over it when Susan woke up to join him.  “What's the matter, Ty?  Breakfast that bad?”

     “What? No.  The co-op's been ordered to subdivide.”

     “Again? How are they going to do it this time?”

     “You don't want to know.”

     “Tell me anyway.  I live in it too, you know.”

     “The usual way.  All the singles will be split in two.  But that's not the worst of it.  They turned down our marriage application.  How could they do that?  It isn't fair!”

     “There isn't much these days that is, Ty.  You know that.”

     “Yeah.  Yeah.  I know something else, Su.  It's times like this that make me wish I could get out of here and go someplace better.”  Ty glared at the now blank vidscreen.

     “Like where?” Su said gently.  “You know all the other cities are just like this one.  Even the polar colonies are getting too crowded.”

     “I was thinking of some place farther away, and I don't mean one of those L-5 colonies.  I've heard they aren't much better than here.”

     “Where else would you go, then?  Most of the other places cost too much and they want married people for those.”

     “Sure.  But I've got to do something.  I can't stand it here any longer.”

     “I can't stand it either, Ty, and I'd get out in a minute if I could.  But there's just no way.”

     “There's got to be, and I'm going to find it.”  Ty looked thoughtful.  “Look, the government's supposed to be coming up with some sort of space colony project.  All we have to do is find out about it.  That shouldn't be too hard.  Sure.  We can do it!  Look, if we sell one of the apartments, move in together like we would have if we could've gotten married, we might be able to scrape up enough money.  It's worth a try, isn't it?”

     “It's a crazy idea, but what the hell—why not?  If we have to, we ought to be able to borrow enough to make up the difference.”  Su threw her arms around Ty.  “Let's do it.”

     “Great.  That's the way I like to hear you talk.  We'd better get ourselves to work now.  I'll keep my ears open for something and you do the same.”

     Tyman came home from work a week later and he found Su sitting in front of the vidscreen with the device turned off.  The look on her face spoke volumes.

     “No word where you work?” he asked sympathetically.  “You shouldn't be surprised.  We can't really expect anything to turn up in a few days' time.”

     “I know, Tyman, but it seems as if there should be some kind of news, even a vague rumor.  But I haven't heard a thing.  Nothing!”

     “We've still got time.  So it takes a little longer.  This way we'll be able to save up money and not have to borrow any.”

     “All the money in the world wouldn't make up for the way things are and you know it.”

     “I know.  But what else is there to do?  Dammit, I even spread the word around that we'd do anything we could to get passage off Earth any way at all.  About all we can do is hope somebody either can't go for some reason or changes their minds.  Even that possibility doesn't seem worth  thinking about.”

     “We can't give up, Ty. Other people manage to cope with worse. We can manage this.”

     “That's all it really amounts to, isn't it—coping and surviving?  For all the advances the human race has made, we're still not much more than animals existing in great fancy cages that we build ourselves.  Oh, hell, let's not talk about it anymore.  Let's get something to eat, watch the vids, and then work off some of our tension in bed.  What do you say?”

     “Why wait that long?  I'm not hungry right now anyway.”  Su smiled wickedly and began undoing her blouse.  Just then the enunciator chimed loudly. They looked at each other questioningly.  Su hastily buttoned her blouse while Ty got up to see who was outside.  He looked at the screen and saw a short, heavy-set, graying man with a furtive look staring at the TV camera. 

     “What do you want?” Ty asked over the intercom.

     “Is this the James Tyman residence?”

     “Yes.”  Ty glanced back at Su.   “Are you from the Housing Authority?”

     “No.  And I'm not from the government either.”  The man reached to touch his face, then paused because the faceplate to his exosuit was in the way.  “Do you mind if I come inside?  I've important business.  It's about the notice you posted on the BBS.”

     “Let him come in,” Su said.

     “It could be a trick.  Who knows what he really wants?”

     “He couldn't have got this far past security if he was pulling something. Please.”

     “All right.  But I think he's probably some kind of wirehead.” 

     Ty jabbed the button to the outer door, then stepped away from the inner one.  Su joined him, linking arms.  The stranger slipped out of his exo-suit and hung it on a hook in the decontam unit and faced the inner door.  When the green light flashed, Ty punched the inner door button and the man stepped into the room.

     “Good day, Mr. Tyman.  My name is Walter Garwood.  And this must be Sue Martin? I'm pleased to meet you both.”  He nodded and smiled.

     “What's your business here, Mr. Garwood?” Ty asked.  “How do you know our names?”

     “I think one answer will satisfy both questions.   I heard about the message you left where you work at the Communicenter BBS.  I've come with news you might find interesting.”

     “What kind of news, Mr. Garwood?” Su asked.  “It couldn't be about…”

     “Your desire to get off Earth.  I assure you that's exactly it.”

     “If this is some kind of joke—”

     “It's no joke, Mr. Tyman.  There wouldn't be much point in it.  I can help you.”

     “Sure you can.”  Ty made no effort to conceal his distrust and skepticism.  “How?”

     “I represent a private concern set up to help people such as you two.  People who are fed up with their lousy existence and want to do something about it.  We have a—solution to all your problems, a way to escape from all this around you.”

     “Are you trying to tell us you can get us off Earth, Mr. Garwood?  How?  You know how the government is about letting people leave Earth.  All the red tape they have.  And the only way for people to get away is by fitting in with the government quotas.”

     “Not any more, Mr. Tyman. Governments all over the world realize there is a need for better and more efficient ways of dealing with the problems the world faces.  The people I work for have set up a method for getting around all the government regulations.  We can see to it that anyone who wishes to can escape from all the everyday problems.  For a fee, we can arrange for you to leave all this behind and achieve what you most desire.”

     “Can you really do that?” Su asked excitedly.

     “We really can, Ms. Martin.”  Garfield smiled in a way that reminded Ty of a real estate agent or one of those salespeople on the vids.

     “How come we've never heard of such a—a service, Mr. Garwood?” Ty asked.

     “We prefer to keep a low profile.  Can you imagine what would happen if it were widely known there was a way to leave Earth without petitioning to government?  We wouldn't be able to keep up.  There might even be riots.  No.  We do it all very quietly and circumspectly.”

     “I guess that makes sense.  How much would it cost if we decided to go with it?”

     “Much less than you think.  It won't be cheap, but we're not about to bankrupt our customers.  I'm sure you have more than enough saved up to afford what we charge.”

     “Why are you doing this, Mr. Garwood?  Is it just to make a profit?”

     “I won't lie to you—yes, that's our primary reason.  But Earth is far too crowded and something needs to be done to alleviate that situation.  All the governments are doing what they can, but naturally that isn't enough.  There's plenty of room in outer space, but limited ways of getting there.  So the people for whom I work are trying to help out.  To those who couldn't get aboard a government ship, we offer a second chance. 

     “Well, there you have it.  Are you interested?”

     “I don't know.  It sounds good, but—“

     “But nothing, Ty,” Su said vehemently.  “This is our chance to do what we planned.  I say we go with Mr. Garfield's offer and buy berths on their liner.  I don't care what their reasons are.  I want to get the hell off Earth.”

     Garwood stood politely by until Su stopped speaking.  When Ty didn't answer right away, he stepped up to them.  “Are you folks going to sign up, or not?  You'll never regret it.  Just think—a way to escape from all the strife and misery for good.  But you have to make up your minds now because there are others who want this as badly as you.  So is it yes or no?”

     Ty looked at Su.  Her eyes shone and the smile on her face allowed for no other answer.  He turned to Garwood.

     “All right, yes.  We'll go with your offer.”

     “Splendid!  I'm sure you won't regret it.”

     “I hope not.  What do we do now?”  Ty slipped an arm around Su's waist.

     “I just happen to have the legal forms right here.”  Garwood removed a computer printout from an inside pocket.  “Just sign these and I'll take care of the rest.  The proper amounts will be credited to your accounts.  We'll give you the exact details in a few weeks.”

     “And that's all there is to it?” Su asked, hunting for a pen.

     “That's all.  You're not dealing with the government.  No red tape.  Simplicity itself.  Thank you very much.”  Garwood accepted the signed form.  “We'll be in touch.”

     Three weeks later, along with two dozen other immigrants, they stepped off a plane at an airfield in southern Texas.  A plain, dark-colored bus whisked them to a large fenced-in complex where they were quickly processed through one of the buildings.  A representative from the company escorted them to a gantry surrounding a huge space shuttle that was like something from the late Twentieth Century.  Tyman and Su were among the last half dozen or so to ride up in the elevator and enter the shuttle.  A silent, solemn-faced woman led them to their seats and helped them get buckled in.  She took their carry-on bags with her when she left. 

     “It looks like we're finally going to make it,” Su said.  “I knew we would but I can still hardly believe it.”

     “I know.  Me, too.”  Tyman looked around at the other seats already filled with smiling, happy people who whispered among themselves.

     “What's the matter, Tyman?  You don't look or sound very happy.”

     “I don't know for sure.  It's something I can't quite put my finger on.  Something about this whole deal suddenly seems wrong, but I don't know how.”

     “It's just your nerves.”  Su patted his hand and smiled.  “Just relax.  Everything will be all right.  You'll see.”

     “Yeah.  I suppose.”  Tyman leaned back in his seat. 

     Minutes later the spacecraft began shaking and rumbling.  After a few seconds Su and Tyman and everyone else in the cabin felt themselves becoming strangely drowsy.  Soon they were all asleep.  A few minutes passed and half a dozen white-suited figures emerged from another compartment and began passing among the sleeping people.  Swiftly and efficiently, they attached electrodes to temples and chests and hooked everything up to terminals in cabinets above the passengers' heads.

     “Shake a leg,” one of the white-suited ones hissed.  “We've got to have everything hooked up by the time the shuttle gets here to tow this thing into storage.  I sure don't want to be left on board with all these zombies.”

     “I know what you mean,” another of them said.  “It's going to be one long trip.”

     “Yeah,” a third one said.  “For the rest of eternity.”

     “You know, it still doesn't seem right somehow,” a fourth one said.  “Lying to them like that.  I mean, these poor fools think they're going to a colony on another planet.”

     “They are,” the first one said.  He snickered.  “In their dreams, with the help of a computer.  Hey, it's not for us to worry about that.  All we gotta do is our jobs.  We're just doing our little bit to help ease the overcrowded population.  This is the cheapest way.”

     “Yeah, but isn't this cheating them?”

     “Maybe.  I don't know.  I'm not going to worry about it.  Nobody is going to be any wiser.  If anybody does wonder, the Company will just tell them something went wrong.  Accidents happen all the time.  People'll feel sorry for a while but it won't last long.”

     “It still seems like a hell of a way to end up—going into imaginary space forever.”

     “Don't think about it,” the first man said.  “Is everything all set?  Good.”  He consulted his chronometer.  “It's that time.  Come on.  Let's go meet our ride back.”

     The other five crew members returned to the rear compartment.  Just before he passed through the hatch, the leader looked back at the sleeping figures.

     “Pleasant dreams,” he said softly, then shut the door.

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