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"'Coventry'" is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein and part of his Future History series. It was collected into the book ''Revolt in 2100''.

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Plot summary

Plot summary

David MacKinnon, a romantic idealist, is forced to escape the boredom of a too-civilized future by emigrating to the rugged outland beyond the Barrier, where people who refuse to abide by social norms are exiled, rather than submit to radical psychotherapy. He finds not the peaceful anarchy he envisioned but a corrupt democracy and is immediately jailed, losing all his goods. Befriended by a man he knows only as "the Fader," he breaks jail to warn of an attack on civilization. He then learns that the Fader is actually an agent of the United States Army, and that he has redeemed himself by risking his life to warn the rest of the country.