Future History III: "The Roads Must Roll" Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "The Roads Must Roll" is a 1940 short story by Robert A. Heinlein that takes place around 1970. In the story, what means of transportation has taken the place of the automobile for many commuters?

Answer: High-speed moving walkways

In "The Roads Must Roll", high-speed moving walkways are indeed used by commuters, with the walkways moving at speeds as high as 100 miles per hour.

Flying cars, rocket propulsion, and space ships do not occur until later in the Future History Series.

Interestingly, according to the final Future History chart produced by Heinlein, the story "Word Edgewise", which was never written, takes place in 1960 between "Let There Be Light" and "The Roads Must Roll".

2. In the beginning of the story, the guild representing road technicians is meeting to discuss their grievances. A speaker is rousing the audience of technicians against the Transport Commission, which has long ignored their petitions. Which of the following is NOT a demand by the guild?

Answer: Fair pensions

Brother Soapy is making the inflammatory speech:

"Did we ask for too much? Were our demands unreasonable? 'The right to resign whenever we want to.' Every working stiff in other lines of work has that. 'The same pay as the engineers.' Why not? Who are the real engineers around here? D'yuh have to be a cadet in a funny little hat before you can learn to wipe a bearing, or jack down a rotor? Who earns his keep: the 'gentlemen' in the control offices, or the boys 'down inside'? What else do we ask? 'The right to elect our own engineers.' Why not? Who's competent to pick engineers? The technicians?-or some dumb examining board that's never been 'down inside,' and couldn't tell a rotor bearing from a field coil?"

Brother Harvey cuts in, pointing out they are very well paid, get full insurance and retirement, and safe working conditions for the most part. For his efforts, he gets called a "spotter" by a member of the guild who questions Harvey's loyalty to the guild.

3. The guest speaker at the guild meeting is an engineer who was promoted from within the ranks of the technicians. What is the nickname of the man whose speech will spark a violent clash between the guild and the Transport Commission?

Answer: Shorty

Shorty Van Kleeck is his name, and he begins his speech by deriding his fellow engineers and telling the crowd how he feels more at home among the technicians. Heinlein leaves his speech in mid sentence: "Sometimes, lying awake at night, I wonder why we technicians don't just take things over, and-" We're left to ponder what he says next, but the plan becomes apparent soon enough.

4. Larry Gaines is the Chief Engineer of the Diego-Reno Road Town. He is entertaining a Mr. Blekinsop, who is visiting the United States for the first time to study the way the American roads roll. From which country is Mr. Blekinsop?

Answer: Australia

Blekinsop, whose "Oxford accent partially masked the underlying clipped, flat nasal twang of the native Australian" came on behalf of the Australian government to study the methods the United States have adopted to alleviate many social problems of the time, most especially the new "roads". His timing, as it turns out, was quite extraordinary.

5. Gaines and Blekinsop dine at Jake's Steak House No. 4, which advertises "The Fasted Meal on the Fasted Road!" A portable phone at the table allows Mr. Gaines to check in with Davidson if an emergency arises. As it turns out, one does. What happens on the road where Gaines and Blekinsop are dining?

Answer: An emergency stop

Gaines is on the phone, hearing more about some unusual problems in the Sacramento Sector, when the phone dies and the rapid deceleration lands a cup
of coffee in his lap. As a surge of people start toward the restaurant door, Gaines halts them in their tracks and demands they stay in the restaurant until they can be evacuated. He deputizes a man in the restaurant to guard the door and leaves with Blekinsop.

6. Gaines and Blekinsop come out onto the stopped road and witness a number of human disasters: a string of events that begins with one unfortunate woman being pushed by a panicked mob onto a neighboring road travelling at 95 miles per hour. The two leave the scene to find a telebooth, where Gaines dials up Davidson. He learns about escalating problems from the Sacramento Sector, where no one is answering communications. What does Gaines determine is the cause of all the problems?

Answer: Sabotage

Per Gaines in his conversation with Davidson: "This isn't an engineering failure. Take a look at your readings; that entire sector went out simultaneously-Somebody cut out those rotors by hand. Place off-watch technicians on standby status-but don't arm them, and don't send them down inside. Tell the Commandant to rush all available senior-class cadets to Stockton Subsector Office number ten to report to me. I want them equipped with tumblebugs, pistols, and sleepy bombs."

He orders Davidson to stand his post and let his normal replacement handle calls from the mayor, governor, and even the president. He further has him notify everyone that he has assumed emergency authority and tells him that the police chief is now under his orders. Cadets are also ordered to be armed and await further instructions.
The roads must roll.

7. Blekinsop follows Gaines into a stairwell that leads into the interior workings of the roads. The sound is deafening. They encounter a technician working on replacing one of the rotors. How do Gaines and the technician communicate with each other over the noise?

Answer: Using a kind of sign language

A specialized sign language exists for communication under the roads where the noise can literally cause a man to lose his hearing. Blekinsop watches the two communicate and decides it is most akin to American Indian sign language with some finger movements of Hula. However, he concludes, the language is necessarily strange as a result of the particular terms it must convey.

8. Gaines and Blekinsop get into a car under the roads. Once the glassite hood is swung back into place, they can hear themselves think again. They reach Subsector Ten, and as they enter the office, Gaines is told that Van Kleeck is calling him. What does Van Kleeck inform his boss that leaves the latter astounded?

Answer: Van Kleeck is the leader of the new "functionalist revolution"

"Shorty" Van Kleeck informs Gaines that the latter is no longer his deputy and that he has been chosen to be "Director of the Provisional Control Committee for the New Order." He further explains: "This is it - the functionalist revolution. We're in; you're out. We stopped strip twenty just to give you a little taste of what we can do."

Heinlein describes functionalism as the failed idea of some workers that their jobs are so important that they should be in charge of things. The hard lesson, he says, was taught to many unemployed workers during The Great Depression, who thought the world simply could not continue spinning without them. They were proven wrong.

9. Gaines is against any kind of military action and asks that this message be relayed all the way up to the White House. Instead, his first priority is having Davidson clear the roads while he himself moves northward toward Van Kleeck's office. (Blekinsop is dropped off at this point for safety.) On the way, Gaines picks up a new arrival who insists on talking to one of the groups of men to try to diffuse the situation. Gaines lets him try, but instead of defusing the situation, he is shot and killed. What was the name of the man who tries to intervene?

Answer: Harvey

Harvey is picked up by Gaines, and, when they encounter a group of saboteurs, insists on talking to the men. Gaines, knowing that Harvey is respected among the technicians, allows it, but then watches as the man is gunned down. Thirty seconds later, the cadets under Gaines have killed all members of the group.

10. Van Kleeck and Gaines meet at the end of the story. After a brief discussion, they struggle for possession of a gun, and a shot goes off. Gaines retrieves the gun, and finds Van Kleeck on the floor. In what state is Van Kleeck at this point?

Answer: Crying

During their brief conversation, Gaines outmaneuvers Van Kleeck with a knowledge of his foe's psychology. Once bested, Van Kleeck blubbers on the floor until Gaines knocks him out with the butt of the gun. The next morning he remembers Blekinsop, and goes to get him, whistling "The Road Song of the Transport Cadets":

"Hie! Hie! Hee!
The rotor men are we -
Check off your sectors loud and strong!
One!
Two! Three!
Anywhere you go
You are bound to know
That your roadways are rolling along!"

Source: Author OofahLandian

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Robert Heinlein, arguably the greatest science fiction author of the twentieth century, wrote about two dozen stories in a series called "Future History". This is about the third in the series, a short story called "The Roads Must Roll".

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>