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Ata Elahi
Computer Systems
Digital Design, Fundamentals of Computer
Architecture and ARM Assembly Language
2nd ed. 2022
Ata Elahi
Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, USA
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively
licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is
concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in
any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the
advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate
at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Intended Audience
This book is written primarily for a one-semester course as an
introduction to computer hardware and assembly language for
students majoring in Computer Science, Information Systems, and
Engineering Technology.
Organization
The material of this book is presented in such a way that no special
background is required to understand the topics.
Chapter 1–Signals and Number Systems: Analog Signal, Digital Signal,
Binary Numbers, Addition and Subtraction of binary numbers, IEEE
754 Floating Point representations, ASCII, Unicode, Serial
Transmission, and Parallel Transmission
Chapter 2–Boolean Logics and Logic Gates: Boolean Logics, Boolean
Algebra Theorems, Logic Gates, Integrated Circuit (IC), Boolean
Function, Truth Table of a function and using Boolean Theorems to
simplify Boolean Functions
Chapter 3–Minterms, Maxterms, Karnaugh Map (K-Map) and
Universal Gates: Minterms, Maxterms, Karnaugh Map (K-Map) to
simplify Boolean Functions, Don’t Care Conditions and Universal Gates
Chapter 4–Combinational Logic: Analysis of Combination Logic,
Design of Combinational Logic, Decoder, Encoder, Multiplexer, Half
Adder, Full Adder, Binary Adder, Binary Subtractor, Designing
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), and BCD to Seven Segment Decoder
Chapter 5–Synchronous Sequential Logic: Sequential Logic such as S-
R Latch, D-Flip Flop, J-K Flip Flop, T-Flip Flop, Register, Shift Register,
Analysis of Sequential Logic, State Diagram, State Table, Flip Flop
Excitation Table, and Designing Counter
Chapter 6–Introduction to Computer Architecture: Components of a
Microcomputer, CPU Technology, CPU Architecture, Instruction
Execution, Pipelining, PCI, PCI Express, USB, and HDMI
Chapter 7–Memory: Memory including RAM, SRAM, DISK, SSD,
Memory Hierarchy, Cache Memory, Cache Memory Mapping Methods,
Virtual Memory, Page Table, and the memory organization of a
computer
Chapter 8– Assembly Language and ARM Instructions Part I: ARM
Processor Architecture, and ARM Instruction Set such as Data
Processing, Shift, Rotate, Unconditional Instructions and Conditional
Instructions, Stack Operation, Branch, Multiply Instructions, and
several examples of converting HLL to Assembly Language.
Chapter 9–ARM Assembly Language Programming Using Keil
Development Tools: Covers how to use Keil development software for
writing assembly language using ARM Instructions, Compiling
Assembly Language, and Debugging
Chapter 10–ARM Instructions Part II and Instruction Formats: This
chapter is the continuation of Chap. 8 which covers Load and Store
Instructions, Pseudo Instructions, ARM Addressing Mode, and
Instruction formats.
Chapter 11–C Bitwise and Control Structures Used for Programming
with C and ARM Assembly Language
Instruction Resources: The instruction resources contain
15 Laboratory experiments using Logisim.
Solutions to the problems of each chapter.
Power points of each chapter
Ata Elahi
New Haven, CT, USA
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my special thanks to Professor Lancor Chairman
of Computer Science Department at Southern Connecticut State
University for her support as well as Professor Herv Podnar for his
guidance.
I wish to acknowledge and thank Ms. Mary E. James, Senior Editor in
Applied Sciences and her assistant, Ms. Zoe Kennedy, for their support.
My special thanks to Eric Barbin, Alex Cushman, Marc Gajdosik,
Nickolas Santini, Nicholas Bittar, Omar Abid, and Alireza Ghods for their
help in developing the manuscript. Finally, I would like to thank the
students of CSC 207 Computer Systems of Spring 2020.
Contents
1 Signals and Number Systems
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 CPU
1.2 Historical Development of the Computer
1.3 Hardware and Software Components of a Computer
1.4 Types of Computers
1.5 Analog Signals
1.5.1 Characteristics of an Analog Signal
1.6 Digital Signals
1.7 Number System
1.7.1 Converting from Binary to Decimal
1.7.2 Converting from Decimal Integer to Binary
1.7.3 Converting Decimal Fraction to Binary
1.7.4 Converting from Hex to Binary
1.7.5 Binary Addition
1.8 Complement and Two’s Complement
1.8.1 Subtraction of Unsigned Number Using Two’s
Complement
1.9 Unsigned, Signed Magnitude, and Signed Two’s Complement
Binary Number
1.9.1 Unsigned Number
1.9.2 Signed Magnitude Number
1.9.3 Signed Two’s Complement
1.10 Binary Addition Using Signed Two’s Complement
1.11 Floating Point Representation
1.11.1 Single and Double Precision Representations of
Floating Point
1.12 Binary-Coded Decimal (BCD)
1.13 Coding Schemes
1.13.1 ASCII Code
1.13.2 Universal Code or Unicode
1.14 Parity Bit
1.14.1 Even Parity
1.14.2 Odd Parity
1.15 Clock
1.16 Transmission Modes
1.16.1 Asynchronous Transmission
1.16.2 Synchronous Transmission
1.17 Transmission Methods
1.17.1 Serial Transmission
1.17.2 Parallel Transmission
1.18 Summary
2 Boolean Logics and Logic Gates
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Boolean Logics and Logic Gates
2.2.1 AND Logic
2.2.2 OR Logic
2.2.3 NOT Logic
2.2.4 NAND Gate
2.2.5 NOR Gate
2.2.6 Exclusive OR Gate
2.2.7 Exclusive NOR Gate
2.2.8 Tri-State Device
2.2.9 Multiple Inputs Logic Gates
2.3 Integrated Circuit (IC) Classifications
2.3.1 Small-Scale Integration (SSI)
2.3.2 Integrated Circuit Pins Numbering
2.3.3 Medium-Scale Integration (MSI)
2.3.4 Large-Scale Integration (LSI)
2.3.5 Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI)
2.4 Boolean Algebra Theorems
2.4.1 Distributive Theorem
2.4.2 De Morgan’s Theorem I
2.4.3 De Morgan’s Theorem II
2.4.4 Commutative Law
2.4.5 Associative Law
2.4.6 More Theorems
2.5 Boolean Function
2.5.1 Complement of a Function
2.6 Summary
Problems
3 Minterms, Maxterms, Karnaugh Map (K-Map), and Universal
Gates
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Minterms
3.2.1 Application of Minterms
3.2.2 Three-Variable Minterms
3.3 Maxterms
3.4 Karnaugh Map (K-Map)
3.4.1 Three-Variable Map
3.4.2 Four-Variable K-Map
3.5 Sum of Products (SOP) and Product of Sums (POS)
3.6 Don’t Care Conditions
3.7 Universal Gates
3.7.1 Using NAND Gates
3.7.2 Using NOR Gates
3.7.3 Implementation of Logic Functions Using NAND Gates
or NOR Gates Only
3.7.4 Using NAND Gates
3.7.5 Using NOR Gates
3.8 Summary
Problems
4 Combinational Logic
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Analysis of Combinational Logic
4.3 Design of Combinational Logic
4.3.1 Solution
4.4 Decoder
4.4.1 Implementing a Function Using a Decoder
4.5 Encoder
4.6 Multiplexer (MUX)
4.6.1 Designing Large Multiplexer Using Smaller
Multiplexers
4.6.2 Implementing Functions Using Multiplexer
4.7 Half Adder, Full Adder, Binary Adder, and Subtractor
4.7.1 Full Adder (FA)
4.7.2 4-Bit Binary Adder
4.7.3 Subtractor
4.8 ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)
4.9 Seven-Segment Display
4.10 Summary
Problems
5 Synchronous Sequential Logic
5.1 Introduction
5.2 S-R Latch
5.2.1 S-R Latch Operation
5.3 D Flip-Flop
5.4 J-K Flip-Flop
5.5 T Flip-Flop
5.6 Register
5.6.1 Shift Register
5.6.2 Barrel Shifter
5.7 Frequency Divider Using J-K Flip-Flop
5.8 Analysis of Sequential Logic
5.9 State Diagram
5.9.1 D Flip-Flop State Diagram
5.10 Flip-Flop Excitation Table
5.10.1 D Flip-Flop Excitation Table.
5.10.2 Excitation Table Operation
5.10.3 J-K Flip-Flop Excitation Table
5.10.4 T Flip-Flop Excitation Table
5.11 Counter
5.12 Summary
Problems
6 Introduction to Computer Architecture
6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 Abstract Representation of Computer Architecture
6.2 Components of a Microcomputer
6.2.1 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
6.2.2 CPU Buses
6.2.3 Memory
6.2.4 Serial Input/Output
6.2.5 Direct Memory Access (DMA)
6.2.6 Programmable I/O Interrupt
6.2.7 32-Bit Versus 64-Bit CPU
6.3 CPU Technology
6.3.1 CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)
6.3.2 RISC
6.4 CPU Architecture
6.4.1 Von Neumann Architecture
6.4.2 Harvard Architecture
6.5 Intel Microprocessor Family
6.5.1 Upward Compatibility
6.6 Multicore Processors
6.7 CPU Instruction Execution Steps
6.7.1 Pipelining
6.8 Disk Controller
6.9 Microcomputer Bus
6.9.1 ISA Bus
6.9.2 Microchannel Architecture Bus
6.9.3 EISA Bus
6.9.4 VESA Bus
6.9.5 PCI Bus
6.9.6 Universal Serial BUS (USB)
6.9.7 USB Architecture
6.9.8 PCI Express Bus
6.10 FireWire
6.10.1 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
6.11 Summary
Review Questions
7 Memory
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Memory
7.2.1 RAM
7.2.2 DRAM Packaging
7.2.3 ROM (Read-Only Memory)
7.2.4 Memory Access Time
7.3 Hard Disk
7.3.1 Disk Characteristics
7.3.2 Cluster
7.3.3 Disk File System
7.4 Solid-State Drive (SSD)
7.5 Memory Hierarchy
7.5.1 Cache Memory
7.5.2 Cache Terminology
7.5.3 Cache Memory Mapping Methods
7.5.4 Direct Mapping
7.5.5 Set Associative Mapping
7.5.6 Replacement Method
7.5.7 Fully Associative Mapping
7.5.8 Cache Update Methods
7.5.9 Effective Access Time (EAT) of Memory
7.5.10 Virtual Memory
7.5.11 Memory Organization of a Computer
Questions and Problems
Problems
8 Assembly Language and ARM Instructions Part I
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
8.2.1 Classification of Instruction Based on Number of
Operands
8.3 ARM Processor Architecture
8.3.1 Instruction Decoder and Logic Control
8.3.2 Address Register
8.3.3 Address Increment
8.3.4 Register Bank
8.3.5 Barrel Shifter
8.3.6 ALU
8.3.7 Write Data Register
8.3.8 Read Data Register
8.3.9 ARM Operation Mode
8.4 ARM Registers
8.4.1 Current Program Status Register (CPSR)
8.4.2 Flag Bits
8.4.3 Control Bits
8.5 ARM Instructions
8.5.1 Data Processing Instructions
8.5.2 Compare and Test Instructions
8.5.3 Register Swap Instructions (MOV and MVN)
8.5.4 Shift and Rotate Instructions
8.5.5 ARM Unconditional Instructions and Conditional
Instructions
8.6 Stack Operation and Instructions
8.7 Branch (B) and Branch with Link Instruction (BL)
8.8 Multiply (MUL) and Multiply-Accumulate (MLA)
Instructions
8.9 Summary
Problems and Questions
9 ARM Assembly Language Programming Using Keil Development
Tools
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Keil Development Tools for ARM Assembly
9.2.1 Assembling a Program
9.2.2 Running the Debugger/Simulator
9.3 Program Template
9.4 Programming Rules
9.4.1 CASE Rules
9.4.2 Comments
9.5 Data Representation and Memory
9.6 Directives
9.6.1 Data Directive
9.7 Memory in μVision v5
9.8 Summary
Questions and Problems
10 ARM Instructions Part II and Instruction Formats
10.1 Introduction
10.2 ARM Data Transfer Instructions
10.2.1 ARM Pseudo Instructions
10.2.2 Store Instructions (STR)
10.3 ARM Addressing Mode
10.3.1 Immediate Addressing
10.3.2 Pre-indexed
10.3.3 Pre-indexed with Write Back
10.3.4 Post-index Addressing
10.4 Swap Memory and Register (SWAP)
10.5 Storing Data Using Keil μVision 5
10.6 Bits Field Instructions
10.7 ARM Instruction Formats
10.7.1 ARM Data Processing Instruction Format
10.7.2 B and BL Instruction Format
10.7.3 Multiply Instruction Format
10.7.4 Data Transfer Instructions (LDRB, LDR, STRB, and
STR)
10.7.5 Data Transfer Half Word and Signed Number (LDRH,
STRH, LDRSB, LDRSH)
10.7.6 Swap Memory and Register (SWAP)
10.8 Summary
Problems
11 Bitwise and Control Structures Used for Programming with C
and ARM Assembly Language
11.1 Introduction
11.1.1 C Bitwise Operations
11.2 Control Structures
11.2.1 If-Then Structure
11.2.2 If-Then-Else Structure
11.2.3 While Loop Structure
11.2.4 For Loop Structure
11.2.5 Switch Structure
11.3 ARM Memory Map
11.3.1 Introduction
11.4 Local and Global Variables
11.5 Summary
Problems
Appendix A:List of Digital Design Laboratory Experiments Using
LOGISIM
Appendix B:Solution to the Even Problems
Bibliography
Index
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
A. Elahi, Computer Systems
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93449-1_1
1.1 Introduction
Numerical values have become an integral part of our daily lives.
Numerical values can be represented by analog or digital; examples
include an analog watch, digital watch, or thermometer. The following are
advantages of digital representation of numerical values compared to
analog representation:
1. Digital representation is more accurate.
1.1.1 CPU
1.1.1.1 CPU Execute Program
Input Device
The input device is used for entering information into memory. Examples
of input devices include the keyboard, mouse, touch pad screen, light pen,
barcode reader, and scanner. The input device converts information into
bits, and the bits are stored in memory.
Output Device
A computer’s memory transfers information to the output device in the
form of bits such as the output device converts bits to characters, images,
and voices which can be interpreted by humans.
Memory
Memory is used to store information and programs. Memory comes in the
form of solid-state electronics such as RAM, ROM, flash drive, or hard disk.
Nonperiodic Signal
In a nonperiodic signal, there is no repeated pattern in the signal as shown
in Fig. 1.5.
Periodic Signal
A signal that repeats a pattern within a measurable time period is
called a periodic signal, and completion of a full pattern is called a cycle.
The simplest periodic signal is a sine wave, which is shown in Fig. 1.6. In
the time domain, the sine wave amplitude a(t) can be represented
mathematically as a(t) = A Sin(ω t + θ) where A is the maximum amplitude,
ω is the angular frequency, and θ is the phase angle.
Frequency
Frequency (F) is the number of cycles in 1 s, , where T is time of one
cycle in second and F is frequency i represented in Hz (Hertz). If each cycle
of an analog signal is repeated every 1 s, the frequency of the signal is 1 Hz.
If each cycle of an analog signal is repeated 1000 times every second (once
every millisecond), the frequency is
Table 1.1 shows different values for frequency and their corresponding
periods.
Amplitude
The amplitude of an analog signal is a function of time as shown in Fig. 1.7
and may be represented in volts (unit of voltage). In other words, the
amplitude is its voltage value at any given time. At the time t1, the
amplitude of the signal is V1.
Fig. 1.7 A sine wave signal over one cycle
Phase
Two signals with the same frequency can differ in phase. This means
that one of the signals starts at a different time from the other one. This
difference can be represented in degrees (0° to 360°) or by radians. A
phase angle of 0° indicates that the sine wave starts at time 0, and a phase
angle of 90° indicates that the signal starts at 90° as shown in Fig. 1.8.
(1.3)
Or
Example 1.5
Quotient Remainder
34/2 = 17 0 = a0
17/2= 8 1 = a1
8/2 4 0 = a2
4/2 2 0 = a3
2/2 1 0 = a4
1/2 0 1 = a5
Therefore 34 = (100010)2
11 22 – 1 3
111 23 – 1 7
1111 24 – 1 15
11111 25 – 1 32
Example 1.8 Convert (3D5)16 to binary. By using Table 2.2, the result in
binary is
3 D 5
0011 1101 0101
6 D B
0110 1101 1011
In a binary number, the first bit from the left of number is called the
most significant bit (MSb), and the first bit from the right of number is
called least significant bit (LSb).
(b) If the result does not produce a carry, take two’s complement of
the result, and the result is negative.
As we can see, adding two 6-bit number results in a 6-bit answer. There
is no carry; we just take the two’s complement of the result.
Addition Overflow
The following cases result overflow for adding two signed numbers if:
(a) Both numbers are negative, and results of addition become positive:
(b) Both numbers are positive, and results of addition become negative:
Fig. 1.10 IEEE 745 floating point single precision (S = represent sign of mantissa. S = 0
means mantissa is positive, and S = 1 means mantissa is negative)
Decimal BCD
0 0000
1 0001
2 0010
3 0011
4 0100
Decimal BCD
5 0101
6 0110
7 0111
8 1000
9 1001
Binary Hex Char Binary Hex Char Binary Hex Char Binary Hex Char
0000000 00 NUL 0100000 20 SP 1000000 40 @ 1100000 60 ,
0000001 01 SOH 0100001 21 ! 1000001 41 A 1100001 61 a
0000010 02 STX 0100010 22 ” 1000010 42 B 1100010 62 b
0000011 03 ETX 0100011 23 # 1000011 43 C 1100011 63 c
0000100 04 EOT 0100100 24 $ 1000100 44 D 1100100 64 d
0000101 05 ENQ 0100101 25 % 1000101 45 E 1100101 65 e
0000110 06 ACK 0100110 26 & 1000110 46 F 1100110 66 f
0000111 07 BEL 0100111 27 ’ 1000111 47 G 1100111 67 g
0001000 08 BS 0101000 28 ( 1001000 8 H 1101000 68 h
0001001 09 HT 0101001 29 ) 1001001 49 I 1101001 69 i
Binary Hex Char Binary Hex Char Binary Hex Char Binary Hex Char
0001010 0A LF 0101010 2A * 1001010 4A J 1101010 6A j
0001011 0B VT 0101011 2B + 1001011 4B K 1101011 6B k
0001100 0C FF 0101100 2C , 1001100 4C L 1101100 6C l
0001101 0D CR 0101101 2D - 1001101 4D M 1101101 6D m
0001110 0E SO 0101110 2E . 1001110 4E N 1101110 6E n
0001111 0F SI 0101111 2F / 1001111 4F O 1101111 6F o
0010000 10 DLE 0110000 30 0 1010000 50 P 1110000 70 P
0010001 11 DC1 0110001 31 1 1010001 51 Q 1110001 71 q
0010010 12 DC2 0110010 32 2 1010010 52 R 1110010 72 r
0010011 13 DC3 0110011 33 3 1010011 53 S 1110011 73 s
0010100 14 DC4 0110100 34 4 1010100 54 T 1110100 74 t
0010101 15 NACK 0110101 35 5 1010101 55 U 1110101 75 u
0010110 16 SYN 0110110 36 6 1010110 56 V 1110110 76 v
0010111 17 ETB 0110111 37 7 1010111 57 W 1110111 77 w
0011000 18 CAN 0111000 38 8 1011000 58 X 1111000 78 x
0011001 19 EM 0111001 39 9 1011001 59 Y 1111001 79 y
0011010 1A SUB 0111010 3A : 1011010 5A Z 1111010 7A z
0011011 1B ESC 0111011 3B ; 1011011 5B [ 1111011 7B [
0011100 1C FS 0111100 3C < 1011100 5C \ 1111100 7C \
0011101 1D GS 0111101 3D = 1011101 5D ] 1111101 7D }
0011110 1E RS 0111110 3E < 1011110 5E ∧ 1111110 7E ~
0011111 1F US 0111111 3F ? 1011111 5F - 1111111 7F DEL
Characters from hexadecimal 00 to 1F and 7F are control characters
which are nonprintable characters, such as NUL, SOH, STX, ETX, ESC, and
DLE (data link escape).
Example 1.24 Convert the word “network” to binary and show the
result in hexadecimal. By using Table 1.4, each character is represented by
7 bits and results in:
Table 1.6 Unicode values for some Latin and Greek characters
Latin Greek
Character Code (hex) Character Code (hex)
A U0041 φ U03C6
B U0042 α U03B1
C U0043 γ U03B3
0 U0030 μ U03 BC
8 U0038 β U03B2
Table 1.7 Unicode block allocations
They left the foundry and trudged across the broad concrete of a
landing field to where the fat needle of the auxiliary ship lay. They
mounted the ramp to the side port and entered the ship. Inside, the
engineer called: "It's happened again, boys. Let's go!"
The port swung shut behind them. Spacemen drifted up from the
surrounding corridors and rooms. They were rangy and tough-looking
and the sub-nosed paralyzers glinted casually in their hands as
though they'd been cleaning them and merely happened to bring
them along. The foundryman looked around for a long time. At last
he said: "So it's this way?"
"Yes, it's this way. Sorry."
"I'd like you to meet some of my friends, some day—"
"Perhaps we will."
"They'll have an easier time with you than you're gonna have with
me!" He clenched fists and poised himself to spring.
The engineer said: "Hey—wait a minute. Don't lose your head. You
did me a good turn back there. I'd like to return the favor. I've got
more credit than I know what to do with."
The foundryman gave him a perplexed glance. He relaxed and began
to rub his chin dubiously.
He said: "Damn if this isn't a sociable ship. I feel friendlier already—"
The engineer grinned.
I called: "O.K., that's enough. Cut it," and the scene vanished.
"Well?" Yarr asked eagerly.
I said: "We're really in the groove now. Let's check back and locate
the Stabilization debates on Rule 930." I turned to the C-S. "What's
the latest rule number, sir?"
Groating said: "Seven fifteen."
The controller had already been figuring. He said: "Figuring the same
law-production rate that would put Rule 930 about six hundred years
from now. Is that right, Mr. Groating?"
The old man nodded and Yarr went back to his keyboard. I'm not
going to bother you with what we all went through because a lot of it
was very dull. For the benefit of the hermit from the Moon I'll just
mention that we hung around the Stability Library until we located
the year S. R. 930 was passed. Then we shifted to Stability
headquarters and quick-timed through from January 1st until we
picked up the debates on the rule.
The reasons for the rule were slightly bewildering on the one hand,
and quite understandable on the other. It seems that in the one
hundred and fifty years preceding, almost every Earth-wide university
had been blown up in the course of an atomic-energy experiment.
The blow-ups were bewildering—the rule understandable. I'd like to
tell you about that debate because—well, because things happened
that touched me.
The Integrator selected a cool, smooth foyer in the Administration
Building at Washington. It had a marble floor like milky ice flecked
with gold. One side was broken by a vast square window studded
with a thousand round-bottle panes that refracted the afternoon
sunlight into showers of warm color. In the background were two
enormous doors of synthetic oak. Before those doors stood a couple
in earnest conversation—a nice-looking boy with a portfolio under his
arm, and a stunning girl. The kind with sleek-shingled head and one
of those clean-cut faces that look fresh and wind-washed.
The controller said: "Why, that's the foyer to the Seminar Room. They
haven't changed it at all in six hundred years."
Groating said: "Stability!" and chuckled.
Yarr said: "The debate is going on inside. I'll shift scene—"
"No—wait," I said. "Let's watch this for a while." I don't know why I
wanted to—except that the girl made my pulse run a little faster and
I felt like looking at her for a couple of years.
She was half crying. She said: "Then, if for no other reason—for my
sake."
"For yours!" The boy looked harassed.
She nodded. "You'll sweep away his life work with a few words and a
few sheets of paper."
"My own work, too."
"Oh, but won't you understand? You're young. I'm young. Youth loves
to shatter the old idols. It feasts on the broken shards of destruction.
It destroys the old ideas to make way for its own. But he's not young
like us. He has only his past work to live on. If you shatter that, he'll
have nothing left but a futile resentment. I'll be pent up with a
broken old man who'll destroy me along with himself. Darling, I'm not
saying you're wrong—I'm only asking you to wait a little."
She was crying openly now. The boy took her by the arm and led her
to the crusted window. She turned her face away from the light—
away from him. The boy said: "He was my teacher. I worship him.
What I'm doing now may seem like treachery, but it's only treachery
to his old age. I'm keeping faith with what he was thirty years ago—
with the man who would have done the same thing to his teacher."
She cried: "But are you keeping faith with me? You, who will have all
the joy of destroying and none of the tedious sweeping away the
pieces. What of my life and all the weary years to come when I must
coddle him and soothe him and lead him through the madness of
forgetting what you've done to him?"
"You'll spend your life with me. I break no faith with you, Barbara."
She laughed bitterly. "How easily you evade reality. I shall spend my
life with you—and in that short sentence, poof!"—she flicked her
hand—"you dismiss everything. Where will he live? Alone? With us?
Where?"
"That can be arranged."
"You're so stubborn, so pig-headed in your smug, righteous truth-
seeking. Steven—for the very last time—please. Wait until he's gone.
A few years, that's all. Leave him in peace. Leave us in peace."
He shook his head and started toward the oaken doors. "A few years
waiting to salvage the pride of an old man, a few more catastrophies,
a few more thousand lives lost—it doesn't add up."
She sagged against the window, silhouetted before the riot of color,
and watched him cross to the doors. All the tears seemed drained out
of her. She was so limp I thought she would fall to the floor at any
instant. And then, as I watched her, I saw her stiffen and I realized
that another figure had entered the foyer and was rushing toward the
boy. It was an oldish man, bald and with an ageless face of carved
ivory. He was tall and terribly thin. His eyes were little pits of embers.
He called: "Steven!"
The boy stopped and turned.
So we forgot about taking a walk through the gardens and there was
more cold and more silence and more waiting. I clasped my hands
together and I was so chilled and nervous it felt like I had ice water
between the palms. A quick streak of red slanted up through the sky,
the rocket discharges of the Lunar Transport, and ten seconds later I
heard the wham of the take-off echoing from Governor's Island and
the follow-up drone. Only that drone kept on sounding long after it
should have died away and it was too thin—too small—
I looked up, startled, and there was a helio making lazy circles over
the center of the rock gardens. Its silhouette showed clearly against
the stars and I could see the bright squares of its cabin windows.
Suddenly I realized there was a stretch of lawn in the center of the
gardens where a helio could land—where a couple could get out to
stretch their legs and take an evening stroll.
I didn't want to act scared, so I just said: "I think we'd better go
inside and get that helio out of there."
So we entered the gate and walked briskly toward the gardens, the
two cops right at our heels. I managed to keep on walking for about
ten steps and then I lost all control. I broke into a run and the others
ran right behind me—the controller, the C-S, Yarr and the cops. We
went pelting down the gravel path, circled a dry fountain and climbed
a flight of steps three at a clip.
The helio was just landing when I got to the edge of the lawn. I
yelled: "Keep off! Get out of here!" and started toward them across
the frozen turf. My feet pounded, but not much louder than my heart.
I guess the whole six of us must have sounded like a herd of buffalo.
I was still fifty yards off when dark figures started climbing out of the
cabin. I yelled: "Didn't you hear me? Get out of this park!"
And then the Post called: "That you, Carmichael? What goes on?"
Sure—it was the press.
So I stopped running and the others stopped and I turned to the C-S
and said: "Sorry about the false alarm, sir. What shall I do with the
reporters—have them fly out or can they stay? They think this is a
crime hunt."
Groating was a little short of breath. He said: "Let them stay,
Carmichael, they can help us look for Dr. Yarr. He seems to have lost
himself somewhere in the woods."
I said: "Yes, sir," and walked up to the helio.
The cabin door was open and warm amber light spilled out into the
blackness. All the boys were out by this time, getting into their
coveralls and stamping around and making the usual newspaper
chatter. As I came up, the Post said: "We brung your opposition
along, Carmichael—Hogan of the Trib."
The News said: "Now's as good a time as any for the wrasslin' match,
eh? You been in training, Carmichael?" His voice had a nasty snigger
to it and I thought: "Oh-ho, this Hogan probably scales two twenty
and he'll mop me up, but very good—to the great satisfaction, no
doubt, of my confrere from the News."
Only when they shoved Hogan forward, he wasn't so big, so I
thought: "At a time like this—let's get it over with fast." I took a little
sprint through the dark and grabbed Hogan around the chest and
dumped him to the ground.
I said: "O.K., opposition, that's—"
Suddenly I realized this Hogan'd been soft—soft but firm, if you get
me. I looked down at her, full of astonishment and she looked up at
me, full of indignation, and the rest of the crowd roared with
laughter.
I said: "I'll be a pie-eyed emu!"
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