Free Escape! by Ben Bova

phones?”
    “THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM IS POWERED SEPARATELY, FROM
OUTSIDE THE CENTER.”
    “Show me how it works.”
    A drawing appeared on the TV screen, showing how the
telephone system was linked by a cable to the main power line of
the telephone company. Danny saw that the power line ran
underground along the highway, and the cable connecting into the
Center came to the administration building through a tunnel. Cut
that one cable, and all the phones are dead.
    It was well after lunchtime when Danny finally said,
“Thanks SPECS. That’s all I want to know. For now.”
    The TV screen went dark. Danny sat at his desk, not
hungry, too excited to eat, thinking about how to knock out the
power station, the emergency system, and the phone line.
    The screen glowed again, “MR. ROMANO.”
    “What?”
    “YOU HAVE A VISITOR. MISS MURILLO.”
    Danny shot out of his chair and to the door without
stopping to get his coat.
    He sprinted across the campus to the administration
building, through the wintry windy day. There were lots of visitors
today: parents mostly, grownups trying to look happy when they were
really miserable that their kids had to spend Christmas in the
Center.
    But Danny didn’t see it that way. He saw adults
faking it, laughing too loud, bringing presents to their kids that
they never got when the kids had been at home. Danny wondered what
his father would have been like, if he would have lived. His mother
was still alive, probably, wherever she was.
    He found Laurie in one of the small visitors’ rooms.
She was wearing a new dress, a dark green one. And her hair was
different. It was all swept back and smoothly arranged.
    He blinked at her. “Hey, you look different... like,
all grown up.”
    “Do you like the way I look?” Laurie was smiling and
trying her hardest to look as pretty as she could.
    Danny said slowly, “Yeah... I guess so, I... never
saw you looking so... well, so fancy.”
    She stepped up to him and kissed him. “Thank you. And
Merry Christmas.”
    “Merry... Hey! I almost forgot! What’s all this about
you moving to someplace uptown? What’s goin’ on?”
    Holding his hand, Laurie brought Danny to the sofa by
the tiny room’s only window. They sat down.
    “I’ve got a new job and a new apartment,” she said
happily. “I’m sharing the place with two other girls. We all work
in the same building. I’m a clerk in an insurance company. They’re
teaching me the job as I go along. It pays a lot better. And I’m
going to school at night to learn how to be a secretary.”
    Danny frowned. “But why? What for?”
    “For me,” Laurie said. “Danny, try to understand. I
love you, honey, I really do. But I can’t just sit in my sister’s
place and work in the restaurant for years and years.”
    “It won’t be years....”
    “Shush,” she said, putting a finger to his lips.
“Listen for a minute. Dr. Tenny told me that he’s trying to make
you into the best person you can be. That’s what the Center’s for.
Well, I’m trying to make myself the best person I can be.”
    “I don’t like it.”
    “Don’t you see? When you get out, Danny, I want to be
something more than a skinny kid with a dirty apron. I want to be a person , somebody who can do things. Somebody who can help
you, not drag you down.”
    Danny remembered something. “You been going out with
other guys.”
    She nodded. “Only on double dates, or with a gang of
people. Nothing serious, honest, Danny.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    Laurie’s eyes widened. “Danny, honest...”
    “I been sittin’ here and you’ve been goin’ out with
other guys. Movin’ uptown, getting big ideas. Joe Tenny’s put you
up to this! He’s tryin’ to get you away from me!”
    “Danny, that’s crazy....”
    “Oh yeah? Well, you’ll see how crazy it is!”
    He got up and stormed to the door.
    “Wait,” Laurie called. “I got you a Christmas
present....”
    “Give it to your new boyfriend!” Danny slammed the
door