Justin raised his arms up and wide. "Look ... look at how they treated one free man. They certainly will not tolerate millions living with that very same freedom. They will come in all their fury to extinguish this spark of liberty made into flame. They will come with their ships and their nanites and, yes, their psyche booths to impose their slavery by force, now that they can no longer fool you into accepting it willingly. They will do that because they must. And mark my words ..." Again Justin let the last phrase slip away through the thoroughfare. Only when he heard his voice stop ricocheting off the grand stone ceiling did he continue, "they will FAIL! They will fail because it's too late. You are They will fail because it's too late. You are all all already free!" already free!"

And then Justin heard what he'd been waiting for. What he'd been trying to coax from Cereans rather than prompting them. What he'd wanted to have emerge from the depths of their hearts.

"One free man, one free man, ONE FREE MAN! one free man, ONE FREE MAN!"

He allowed it to reach a crescendo, saying nothing, doing nothing, and then, with a sudden hammering of his fist onto the rail of the makeshift podium, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Stop!" "Stop!"

The chant was shattered, the spirit diffused. Exactly as he'd wanted.

"Don't you see," he now pleaded, "that that is no longer true? That I am no longer the 'one free man'? That I am no longer cursed by the truth of that terrible indictment? How horrible it was to see humanity so enslaved that there was only one one free man. Well, let me tell you, freedom like that comes at too high a price. It was too lonely a prison, too heavy a sentence. I wept with the thought that if I was indeed the one free man, I might perhaps be the free man. Well, let me tell you, freedom like that comes at too high a price. It was too lonely a prison, too heavy a sentence. I wept with the thought that if I was indeed the one free man, I might perhaps be the last last free man. free man.

"But you," Justin continued, once again doing a complete circle in the limited space of the dais, "you all all saved me. Not just from GCI, who would have stripped my mind and turned me into an automaton. You saved my hope. And you saved my soul. By your individual acts of courage and defiance this very day, you've freed me from the curse of the 'one free man.' I will say it again for all to hear and rejoice. saved me. Not just from GCI, who would have stripped my mind and turned me into an automaton. You saved my hope. And you saved my soul. By your individual acts of courage and defiance this very day, you've freed me from the curse of the 'one free man.' I will say it again for all to hear and rejoice. I am no longer the one free man I am no longer the one free man, because, as of this day forward, we are all free men we are all free men. All free men, All Free Men, ALL FREE MEN! All Free Men, ALL FREE MEN!"

The roar grew to a crescendo, and the enormous cavern once again magnified and expanded the cry. Only this time it was heard not just within the confines of thoroughfares deep in the heart of Ceres, it was heard throughout the entire system. Justin stood tall, shoulders straight, head held high. As he watched the crowd sway, and heard the thunderous chant over and over again, he felt a tension release within himself that he'd never realized was there. At long last, Justin Cord was finally free.

Epilogue.

Shortly thereafter, Ceres declared its independence. The next system to declare was the Oort Cloud observatory. In its declaration the new leader, Kirk Olmstead, called on all other enslaved peoples to throw off their chains. In addition to consulting with the leader of the revolution, Justin Cord, Acting Director Olmstead called for an outer systems congress to meet in Ceres to draft policies on trade, government, and mutual defense.

In quick succession over 90 percent of all the settlements from the asteroid belt out declared their independence, and began sending delegates to Ceres. On Earth there was massive rioting, put down ruthlessly. The Moon and Mars stayed impressively loyal to the corporate order.

Justin Cord had not been at all surprised by the scope and speed of the revolution. He was now the leader of a vast space-faring nation that stretched from the outer reaches of the solar system back to the asteroid belt.

Justin was sitting in his office reviewing trade policies when his new assistant entered the room and stood at attention, barely able to suppress her grin.

"Yes, Catolina," he said, looking up from a large stack of papers. "What is it?"

"Sir ... I mean, Justin, the centaur state of Chiron has just declared for the revolution."

"Excellent," answered Justin. "With Chiron aboard, in six months the last of the outer settlements will declare for us."

The weary leader then looked back down at his papers. It didn't take him long to notice Catolina still fidgeting in place.

"Was there something else?"

"Well, um ... yes."

Justin indicated that she continue.

"Now that's it's all over," said Catolina, "I mean, that we're free and all ... Well, what do we do now?"

With a smile strangely devoid of joy and mirth, and as cunning as that of a hungry wolf, Justin Cord gave her the answer.

"We stay that way."