Robert Silverberg - Starhaven

Yes, he answered himseh.

It had been a busy day. Thunder boomed in the sky outside. That meant it was nearly two in the morning —for, at two, thunder sounded over Starhaven, and then the nightly rains came, refreshing the planet, sweeping away the staleness of the day and leaving everything clean and bright and new.

Myra was smihng at him.

He reached forward and tugged down the master switch; instantly, meters and dials leaped into jiggling life. Once again, Starhaven was surrounded by an impassable network of force-shields; once again, they were protected from the outside.

And within the shield, Mantell thought, the greatest experiment in criminal reform in the history of the universe was about to begin. On a planet without law the galaxy’s most hardened criminals would be converted into useful citizens—segregated from the rest of the galaxy. Starhaven would become a giant prison barred in both directions, ManteU thought.

The rain started to fall, pattering hghtly down. Mantell pulled Myra close against him for a moment.

Then he released her. There was time for that later. “You’d better get in touch with the rest of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Starhaven and let them know that Ben’s dead,” he told her. “We have plenty of work to do.”