The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Highest Treason, by Randall Garrett

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Title: The Highest Treason

Author: Randall Garrett

Illustrator: Gardner

Release Date: January 15, 2008 [EBook #24302]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Transcriber's Note: This e-text was produced from Analog Science
Fact & Fiction, January, 1961. Extensive research did not uncover
any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

_The highest treason of all is not so easy to define--and be it noted
carefully that the true traitor in this case was not singular, but very
plural ..._

THE HIGHEST ... TREASON

By

RANDALL GARRETT

Illustrated by Gardner

_The Prisoner_

The two rooms were not luxurious, but MacMaine hadn't expected that
they would be. The walls were a flat metallic gray, unadorned and
windowless. The ceilings and floors were simply continuations of the
walls, except for the glow-plates overhead. One room held a small
cabinet for his personal possessions, a wide, reasonably soft bed, a
small but adequate desk, and, in one corner, a cubicle that contained
the necessary sanitary plumbing facilities.

The other room held a couch, two big easy-chairs, a low table, some
bookshelves, a squat refrigerator containing food and drink for his
occasional snacks--his regular meals were brought in hot from the main
kitchen--and a closet that contained his clothing--the insignialess
uniforms of a Kerothi officer.

No, thought Sebastian MacMaine, it was not luxurious, but neither did
it look like the prison cell it was.

There was comfort here, and even the illusion of privacy, although
there were TV pickups in the walls, placed so that no movement in
either room would go unnoticed. The switch which cut off the soft white
light from the glow plates did not cut off the infrared radiation which
enabled his hosts to watch him while he slept. Every sound was heard
and recorded.

But none of that bothered MacMaine. On the contrary, he was glad of it.