Daniel F. Galouye

“ Remembering his blaster, he swung around, aimed it at a boulder and, vengefully, fed it an enormous surge of power. Angry liquid light streaked out from the intensifier and crashed against the rock. The concussion sent him skittering back several meters.
Bigboss was by far the most magnificent member of the clan—if indeed, he should condescend to regard himself as belonging to the set at all. Fully twice the size of any of the others, he reared pompously erect on four stout appendages. Through its ports, his central section offered glowing evidence of the nuclear processes within. ”

“ The Fleury lurched as the Queen cut loose and blasted away. Brad had watched the pressure gauge climb back to normal and was removing his helmet at the time. The ship's one-sided gravity field caught hold unexpectedly and he toppled to the deck rolling to the port bulkhead. His hurt shoulder rammed into metal and new pain knifed into existence as the heavy helmet clattered down and crashed against his head. ”

“ Clank-sss, clank-sss, went the battered safety valve of the pile cooling system.
BOOM ... boom ... BOOM ... boom. A severed and dangling piston rod crashed in monotonous rhythm against a deck beam as the rest of the auxiliary compression unit strained to satisfy its function.
An off-beat bass viol strum added its depressive note to the symphony of destruction's aftermath—throom-throom ... throom-throom. It was the persistent expansion of plate metal reacting to heat from a ruptured tube jacket.
Forward, in the control compartment of the cargo craft, the sounds were muted. ”

“ The workers came from the cave, over the hills, out of the shadowy depths of fissures, from behind grotesque outcroppings. Illuminators piercing the twilight gloom, they extended retractable electrodes and converged on Bigboss.
One by one, plugs slipped into jacks and steadily increasing drain gave assurance of an orderly distribution of current.
Minnie was late arriving. She came along clumsily, massive drill head bobbing with her awkward stride. ”

“ Robots—human robots—standing awed before unknown concepts while they groped for Truth. Clunkers with a sense of right and wrong and with an overwhelming love. It was absurd that he had been elected father of twelve hundred children—whether flesh or metal—but it didn't feel at all absurd.
"Dost Thou despair of us, O Jackson?" ”

“ Ships switching from hyper to normal space had to do it in a micro-second—if the crews were to live. But it would take Brad suicidal minutes!
Like the sibilant, labored breathing of a dying monster, the tortured ship wailed its death sobs as it floundered in deep hyperstellar space. ”

“ Kavula asked, drawing Mittich from his troubled thoughts.
"You do?"
The pilot flicked his tail rashly—a gesture usually associated with independent thought. "If he pushes on into the alien sector, it will be genocide. Those creatures are helpless. It isn't the sort of operation I'd care to be in on. Anyway, there's no reason why Tzareans and the aliens can't live side by side, even in one small pocket of the galaxy. We have different requirements. I don't think they would even be interested in the type of world we need." ”

“ Brad listened to the ominous convulsions of the ship for a moment. "Your orders are to continue to Vega IV. I'm sticking."
"But, skipper! Dammit! There's always the chance of spilling through into normal! That's a torturous way to go!"
Brad's lips brushed roughly against the bulkhead mike. "If I fall through it's just me, isn't it?"
Although the sound level was too low, he knew there was a sigh on the other end. "Okay," the speaker whispered. "If I can't convince you...."
Brad leaned against the bulkhead and shivered. ”

“ Drummond faced the almost prostrate robots and made a megaphone of his hands. "All right, you guys! How's about knocking it off?"
Slowly, the robots reared erect, waiting.
"Take us back to our ship!"
RA-204 stepped forward. "Again Thou art testing us, O Jackson."
Angus spread his arms imploringly. "Look, fellows. We're men. We're—"
"Thou art our Supervisor!" the throng roared.
"One of you is Jackson," explained 204. "The other is a Divine Test. We must learn which is the True Supervisor."
"You're not being tested!" McIntosh insisted.
"Our beliefs are firm, O Jackson!" ”

“ Rationalization circuits working sluggishly as he surveyed his realm, Bigboss dredged from the fragmented impressions on his memory drums his most fascinating, most disturbing subject for speculation:
In all Creation, there was nothing superior to Him. This material world that stretched out around Him, everything in the celestial reaches as far as infinity itself—all His! ”

“ The Great Hall resounded with click-hisses of approval and disapproval—an equal measure of each, it seemed to Stewart.
He watched Mittich smile—at least, it passed for a smile in the Tzarean Shoal—tolerantly at the excited Assemblyman.
"Killing our prisoners," he chided, "will not alter the fact that alien expansion is under way in the direction of our Shoal."
Chancellor Vrausot lumbered down the central aisle, defying the independence of the legislature as he had during all sessions which Stewart and Harlston had attended as Exhibits A and B of the "Alien threat" issue. ”

“ He reached the end of the robot corridor and started to sprint for the ship.
But he halted and turned to glance back at the humble, patient horde. They were expectantly silent now—as though they could sense his indecision. He backed away from them. ”

“ The screen hunted out and steadied upon the alien ship.
"It's clean!" Mittich exclaimed. "They're not armed!"
"Nonsense," Vrausot said, coming over to see. "They've got to be. Why else would they come here?"
"The hull is sleek." The Assemblyman pointed with his long snout. "I see no gun-hatch outlines."
The Chancellor produced the Tzarean equivalent of a humorless laugh. "They're aliens, Mittich—with an alien technology. Perhaps we wouldn't even recognize their weapons if we saw them." ”

“ McIntosh explained. "Their obsession with religion is stronger than their primary compulsion. That's probably because they've been satisfying their compulsion all along." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the cave.
Drummond swore venomously.
Angus dropped down on the ledge and folded his knees in his arms. He felt his age bearing down on him for the first time.
"Twelve hundred robots," he said meditatively. "Twelve hundred RA robots. Out of touch with civilization for a century. ”

“ We must attack their centers of civilization before they attack ours!"
Another Assemblyman rose imploringly. "But how can we do that? We haven't fought a war in countless millennia! Once we were many and mighty, as they are now. But while they have grown, we have shrunk. Why, our entire Shoal consists of only two civilized worlds. All the others have long been in decay."
"Oh, we could take them by surprise and inflict much damage on their worlds," Hisser of the Assembly Mittich agreed with Chancellor Vrausot. ”

“ Any peculiar noises aboard the Fleury?"
Brad cocked his head toward the stern. The complaining clanks and groans and off-beat thumpings maintained their steady rhythm. There were some new noises.
"I been listening to it get louder for the past three hours," Altman hinted.
Then Brad's ears picked it up—an erratic, excited clackety-clack-clackety-clack. He gasped.
Altman laughed. "That counter's setting up quite a sing-song, ain't it? I sorta think that pile might go boom in a few hours. But I'm hoping I can get your cargo aboard before then. You can come too if you want." ”

“ Drummond snapped his fingers excitedly. "That's why they don't know what we are! Their idea of Man had to be passed down by word of mouth. And it got all distorted in the process!"
Angus's stare, more solicitous now, swept slowly over the prostrate robots. "More important, that's why they developed a religion. What's the main difference between human and robotic intelligence? It's that our span of life is limited on one end by birth, the other by death—mysteries of origin and destiny that can't be explained. ”

“ Carol's eyes strained with disillusionment. "And the question is—what happens when we run out of galaxy?"
"Fat chance." Stewart laughed. "We've got a few billion years to go before we find ourselves short on worlds."
Having apparently lost interest in the conversation, Randall was staring ahead at the onrushing satellite.
"That's one way of looking at it," Carol said pensively. "But there's also another possibility—resistance to the expansion."
"You kidding? In two centuries we haven't run into a single life form that's the intellectual equivalent of a Terran fiddler crab. ”

“ There he'd be at quartercrest and would have time to rest before worrying about being drawn down the arc again toward normal space.
While he jockeyed the fourth crate into the hold, a huge shadow suddenly blotched out part of the star lines off to the port side. It was the Cluster Queen pursuing a crate not in orbit around the Fleury. Brad shrugged; he'd be unable to pick up the ones that far out anyway.
But his head jerked upright in the helmet suddenly. If Altman was after a free box, he realized, the Cluster Queen could not appear in sharp outline to an observer in the Fleury system! ”

“ Drummond slapped the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Now they think they've got a sex function!"
Angus's shoulders fell dismally. "Maybe if we try to figure out their designation. They're all RAs—whatever the A stands for."
There was a hollow rumbling in the cave that grew in volume until the cliff shook. Then a second group of robots emerged and fanned out to encircle the ledge.
"Hell," said Drummond in consternation. "There's twice as many as we figured!"
"Thought there'd be more," Angus admitted. "That ship was big enough to hold a thousand clunkers. ”

“ With the others, Stewart crowded into the cave entrance, careful not to let Carol press too far outside where she would no longer be in the stream of oxygen flowing from the bowels of the satellite.
"They're coming!" McAllister exclaimed, withdrawing. Mortimer retreated with him, striking out for a small passageway that fed from one of the side walls.
Stewart strained forward, shading his eyes against the glare of Aldebaran. The landing party's advance was half concealed by the mass of rocks and outcroppings that hid most of their ship. ”

“ He thought of his only functioning hyperdrive tube. Its gauge showed a power level that was only high enough to boost the craft back onto the hyperspace level when it started to conform with the normal tendency to fall through. How many times the tube could be counted on to repeat the performance he couldn't guess. It might be painful if he should let the drop gain too much momentum before correcting—human beings were built to cross the barrier in nothing longer than a micro-second. But, he resolved, he would worry about that when the time came.
"Why don't you let it go, Brad?" ”

“ That's not what's worrying me, though."
"No?"
"Religious robots! There can't be any such brand. Yet here they are."
Drummond studied them silently.
"Before there can be theological beliefs," McIntosh went on, "there has to be some sort of foundation—the mystery of origin, the fear of death, the concept of the hereafter. Clunkers know they come from a factory. They know that when they're finally disassembled, they'll be lifeless scrap metal."
Drummond spat disdainfully. "One thing's for sure—this pack thinks we're God Almighty."
"Jackson Almighty," Angus corrected somberly. ”

“ Mittich demanded.
Vrausot scratched his jaw with a rigid talon. "Interesting—that trouble between the aliens and their automatons. What interpretation do you put on it?"
Pivoting on his tail, the other spun around from the screen to face the Chancellor. "That they don't even carry side arms. They had no defense whatsoever against their machines. If they were here looking for a fight, wouldn't they be armed at all times?" ”

“ Can you give me a tow, Altman?"
"Can't do that, Conally. I'm not...."
"If you'll just give me a boost then. To the crest of this hyperjump. Then I won't have to worry about slipping through."
"Like I started to tell you," Altman intoned insistently, "one of my grapples is sheared."
"You still have two more."
"Uh-uh. This wise boy ain't gonna take a chance of a line snapping and knocking a hunk outta my hull. Especially when you got cargo spilling all over space."
Brad clenched his fists. He spoke through his teeth. "Look, Altman. Regulations say...." ”

“ Angus went on, "Group C is not only ready to start stripping Group A, but has also become intellectually mature enough to begin the education of the reassembled Group B!"
They sat still for a while, thinking it over.
"The compulsion to do their jobs," McIntosh continued, "is unchanged because the primary function banks are sealed circuits and can't be tampered with. But in each generation, they have their secondary memory circuits wiped clean and have to start all over, getting whatever general knowledge they can from the last generation." ”

“ He swiveled his central section, redirecting the blaster at a boulder that lay between him and the needle and destroying it in a fiery eruption of light and heat and pulverizing forces.
Fuming, he paced forward, stopped and paced back again. He had seen the audacious creatures who were bold enough to invade His Realm! But He had been able to do nothing about them. For at that moment the irresistible compulsion of function had taken over and He could only orient and transmit all the data from his master tape. ”

“ Brad shouted.
"The stuff not in orbit around the Fleury ain't yours any longer, Conally," Altman laughed. "You oughta bone up on your salvage laws."
"You damned scavenger!"
"Now, now, Brad," the other said smoothly. "What would you do if you were in my position? Would you let top priority cargo slip through to normal and get lost off the hyperlane? Or would you scoop it up and bring it in for bonus price?"
"You're not after a bonus," Brad roared into the mike. "You're after a contract.... Altman, I'll pay two thousand for a ten-minute tow up-arc. ”

“ Stewart, however, wasn't even interested in the fact that she had misinterpreted his numb silence.
For the thousandth time he searched his mind for all its hidden knowledge on the alien space ship, on how he had gained that information, how he could have forgotten it.
Carol tried to console him again, as though he were a child. "We'll get home all right. Then we'll get out of the Bureau. We'll go to Terra—you and I—and you'll see how happy we'll be." ”

“ Angus leaned back against the cliff and let the sun's heat warm him.
"Somehow it doesn't seem fair," he commented unhappily.
"What doesn't?" Drummond asked.
"They're so close to the Truth. Yet, after we file a report, a deactivation crew will come along and erase their beliefs. They'll have their memory banks swept clean and once more they'll be nothing but clunkers with a factory-specification job of routine work to do." ”

“ But Randall was shaking his head miserably.
"No, Dave," the director said finally. "The Hyadeans did not brainwash you. I did. I also planted the false impression—to justify this mission. It was necessary that only I know the true situation."
Stewart staggered back.
"Yes," the other went on, "after you and Harlston told me there was another culture out there of undetermined size and intentions, I almost hit the panic stud. Two cultures expanding toward each other, previously unaware of each other's existence. The wrong move could be the shot heard around the galaxy. ”

“ There would be plenty of time to do that; right now she must stick close to the Fleury spatially, Brad realized, so her instruments would indicate the moment the spillthrough to normal space occurred, so her crew could get to work.
As though hypnotized in inconsequential thought, he watched the crates slowly draw away. Almost incredibly expensive cargo. Cargo that Altman would surely not allow to go unrecovered. Even as booty, the crated equipment would bring every bit of what it was worth. But Altman would see that they were delivered—every one of them. ”

“ Only, his praises would be hissed in the same breath with glorious tribute to the concepts of peaceful contact.
Vrausot turned to check the readiness of his landing party.
"All stun weapons loaded and set?" he asked, his voice sounding coarse both in Mittich's earphones and through a bulkhead speaker.
He received twenty affirmative tail flicks.
Of the pilot, standing by the hatch control switch, he demanded: "Status of the aliens' robots?"
"They are all impotent," Kavula reported back into the bulkhead speaker. "The last one used up its remaining power as we descended." ”

“ The demands of logical deduction fully served, he published on each wave length an order that amounted to: "Vigilance is to be maintained against the non-Totemic mobiles. Report instantly on their reappearance."
That taken care of, he reduced current in his rationalization pack. But the pleasant calm of abstraction did not last long. Peter the Meter began flooding his allocated frequency with eureka signals from an infrared photometer. And once again the source of disturbance was at a remote distance in the sky.
Oh Bigboss, he invoked Himself. Not another Totemic-non-Totemic complication! ”

“ Finally fearful of damage to instruments, Bigboss gruffly radioed "cut-the-comedy" impulses, then trained his rearward lens on Minnie. She had inched furtively forward and was now menacing his upper section with her drill head.
He considered wielding his blaster but rejected that expedient as an excessive and unnecessary ostentation. Instead he countered by raising his extensible vise. The lesser show of strength sufficed to discourage Minnie's ambition, for the moment at least. ”

“ Again Chancellor Vrausot erupted in a series of violent hisses and clicks. "But that might only encourage them to attack!"
"Precisely. So the only course left is Number Five. That is to condition our prisoners to report indications of an interstellar culture in the Tzarean Shoal—nothing precise, nothing definite. Our prisoners will say they made no visual observations. We thus present the aliens with neither the temptation of our actual weakness, nor the fear of our pretended strength. ”

“ Apprehensive now, she assigned her meager rationalization capacity to the task of deducing the reasons behind the startling change. And many sine wave peaks passed before the judgment was handed back up to her main circuits for storage on a memory drum:
Bigboss had justifiably been the Supreme Being! For He had, indeed, been Supreme. The workers had voices, of course. But they were isolated voices that could be heard by other members of the clan only because they were passed along by Bigboss.
Minnie's drill head sagged until it rested on the ground. ”

“ Rested, although no nearer a definite plan for resubjugation of the telepuppet team, Stewart cautiously watched the robots from behind an outcropping. To this concealed vantage point he had led Carol, Director Randall and McAllister while the automatons had been occupied with recharging.
"You're going to try some more voice commands on the OC?" Carol's voice came softly through the earphones as she squirmed to find more comfort within the folds of her oversized sheath.
"We're not doing anything," Stewart said firmly, "until that thing is well occupied with transmission." ”

“ Kavula advised.
The Chancellor fumed at his pilot's insolence. "They'll do better at close range," he promised. "Meanwhile, I want this ship stripped for action. I've reached my decision. One close pass is all it should take. We strike after sunup."
Desperately, Mittich hurried over and swung his small arms imploringly. "You can't do this thing!"
"Oh, quit being such a floundering minnow! Nothing's going to happen. They're quite defenseless, I'm convinced."
"If that's the case, then you are under injunction of the Curule Assembly to make peaceful contact!"
"Drown peaceful contact!" ”

“ Later you tell me you sighted an alien ship on Aldebaran Four-B. If you put two and two together, you come out with something that looks like a logical four."
He fished for his pipe, stuck it between his teeth, but forgot to light it. "If we have hostile aliens working in our direction and planning on surprising us, would they interfere with our robots? Of course not. For then we would send a trouble-shooting gang out here to put the puppets back on their strings. And we might discover them and mess up their strategy. ”

“ Stewart rose and wiped dust from his helmet's view plate.
The monstrous robot lay motionless, darkened ports evidencing its lifelessness. Close by, the Mineral Analyzer stumbled around in looping circles, one of its gyros atilt. The other puppets continued their work, unaware that when all stored energy was depleted there would be no opportunity to recharge their batteries. ”

“ Perplexed, Bigboss pondered this inadequacy of communication between him and his servitor—until a rationalization circuit came up with the recommendation: Tap in on Grazer's direct video system.
He did.
And Bigboss went momentarily irrational as motor circuits fought one another to express the exultation flooding from his evaluation pack. He leaped three meters high. His upper command section turned up a hundred revolutions per minute in triumphant delirium. ”

“ Because we found evidence of bustling subspace travel and communications that indicated a vigorous culture of star-traveling Hyadeans!"
McAllister swore. Mortimer came forward, perplexed. "But—"
Randall motioned for silence. "Let him finish."
"We got the hell out of there," Stewart said, "without even having seen a Hyadean. We figured that if there was another intelligent race in this part of the galaxy, it might be a hostile one. And our worlds had to know about it. We couldn't chance being captured. ”