F. L. Wallace

“ The caretaker sighed when Danny finished. "Then you really are a music robot."
"What else? Did you ever hear any human make music?"
The caretaker shook its head and walked to the piano. "But why didn't they tell me you're supposed to play here?"
"Do they tell you anything about music? You're just the caretaker, you know."
A spark of suspicion remained. "Why do you need to practice? Other robots don't."
"They're made the way they are," said Danny. "They never get any worse, or better. But composers are different. We have lots to learn." ”

“ Docchi stared speculatively at Nona. She was curled up but she wasn't resting. Her body was too tense. "Get her attention," he said.
Jordan gently touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes but she wasn't looking at them. On the panel the needle of a once useless dial rose and fell.
"What's the matter with the poor dear?" asked Anti. "She's shaking."
"Let her alone," said Docchi. "Let her alone if you don't want to return to the asteroid." No one moved. No one said anything. Minutes passed and the ancient ship creaked and quivered and ran away from the fastest rockets in the system. ”

“ Amantha and Ethan watched him in silence.
The pilot got up and began to stretch lazily without seeming to notice them. The laziness disappeared and the stretch changed into a jerk that seemed to elongate his body. He sprang out of the compartment and went leaping down the corridor. When he came to the hatch, he didn't hesitate. The ladder was too slow. He jumped.
He landed on the sand, sinking in to his knees. He extricated himself and went bounding over the field.
"Never saw canalberries take so long," muttered Amantha. "Don't know what's wrong. Nothing's as good as it used to be." ”

“ The other two stumbled as police fired at their feet.
Emily alone was not hit. She was close and moving too fast. She escaped the tangle guns, but ran directly into the arms of a burly officer. He laughed and grabbed her as if she were a robot. She bit him.
He swore at her and swiftly looked around. The guests couldn't see. He hit her solidly in the middle. She gasped for breath. He took out his tangle gun and fired into her mouth.
Jadiver sicklily knew he had been wrong about the tangle gun; it could kill if the person who used it had sufficient experience and brutality. ”

“ To such a brain, leaving the Solar System would be like stepping off the edge of a flat world, because it couldn't be aware of stars.
"Now that it knows about the Galaxy, the drive will work anywhere. With Nona to direct it, even Sirius isn't far away."
"Doc," said Jordan carelessly, "you'd better be figuring a way to get off the ship. Remember, we're going faster than man ever went before." He chuckled. "Unless, of course, you like our company and don't want to leave."
"We've got to do some figuring ourselves," interposed Docchi. ”

“ Docchi was standing at the scanner, his face furrowed as if thought alone would move dials. He inclined his head toward the image. "Take the ship off," he said impatiently. "I've hypnotized myself with it. We don't need to keep staring at it."
The ship vanished. "Now what?"
"They'll beat us to the stars. Let them. We don't have to be first. A planet of our own will do." Doubt and hope struggled for Docchi's face and Jeriann couldn't say which won. "Explore the Centauri system," he said. ”

“ Danny squirmed. The caretaker took hold of both arms and looked closer. "Why, it's human." It squeezed harder as if to test.
Tears came to Danny's eyes. "I belong here," he said stubbornly.
"During a synthony," conceded the robot. "Then it's all right for you to be here, in the audience. Other times you must stay out. Away from the piano."
"But I belong here," said Danny. "Honest. I'm a composer."
"Recomposer," corrected the caretaker. "Robots don't compose. They recompose."
"I can recompose too," said Danny desperately. "I'm going to be a real musician." ”

“ It was a Godolphian axiom that all travelers were crazy.
Cassal looked up. Not an air taxi in sight; Godolph shut down at dusk. It would be pure luck if he found a taxi before morning. Of course he could walk back to the hotel, but was that such a good idea?
A Godolphian city was peculiar. And, though not intended, it was peculiarly suited to certain kinds of violence. A human pedestrian was at a definite disadvantage.
"Correction," said Dimanche. "Not simple assault. He has murder in mind." ”

“ Fact and fancy mixed together to chill the minds and hearts of men. For myself, and others like me, it's a distinct advantage to have our existence doubted. A victim paralyzed with fear, too shocked and demoralized to cry out, is easier to subdue.
But the strength I was so confident of is meaningless here. Crouched in the shadow of the boulder, the only shade on the arid plain, it suddenly dawned on me that the creatures who rule this planet knew about me from the beginning, when I thought I was hidden. It amused them, I think.
I can't go back to the city and find the farmer. He's their meat. ”

“ The robot grasped the invitation and seemed unable to focus. It tried to examine the markings invisible to human eyes. It passed a trembling hand across a troubled forehead.
"Didn't you come in half an hour ago?" it asked in bewilderment.
Someone had—the person to whom the invitation had been issued. The robot, of course, had remembered.
"Nonsense," said Jadiver sharply. "Do you feel right? Are you sure of your equilibrium?"
If it was sure, he had miscalculated badly. Robots were so much more or less than humans. ”

“ Most of us did."
"This special planet sounds strange," murmured Taphetta.
"Not really," said Emmer. "Fifty human races reached space travel independently and those who did were scattered equally among early and late species. It's well known that individuals among my people are often as bright as any of Halden's or Meredith's, but as a whole we don't have the total capacity that later Man does, and yet we're as advanced in civilization. The difference? It must lie somewhere in the planets we live on and it's hard to say just what it is." ”

“ Docchi closed his eyes and his mind to the whispered consultation of Anti and Jordan, to the feeble ultimatum to the ships behind them. The rocket lurched slightly though the vibration from the exhaust did not change. There was no cause for alarm, the flight of a ship was never completely steady. Minor disturbances no longer affected Docchi.
When he had it straightened out in his mind he looked around. "If we were properly fueled and provisioned I would be in favor of heading for Alpha or Proxima. Maybe even Sirius. Distance doesn't matter since we don't care whether we come back." ”

“ Dimanche interrupted his thoughts. "I suppose you know what she thinks of you."
"She made it plain enough," said Cassal wearily. "A teddy bear. A brainless, childish toy."
"Among the Huntners, women are vigorous and aggressive," said Dimanche. The voice grew weaker as the ship, already light-years away, slid into unfathomable distances. "Where words are concerned, morals are very strict. For instance, 'dear' is never used unless the person means it. Huntner men are weak and not over-burdened with intelligence." ”

“ On the other hand, yesterday the tank surface had repelled his own thoughts. It should work.
"Can you put an impenetrable surface around us?"
"Won't work," said Gowru, wiping his lips. "It has to be a closed surface, and if it's strong enough to stop anything it's also strong enough to shear through any material in the way. Up here we'd topple to the ground as soon as a gust of wind came along."
That was an aspect of the shield he hadn't guessed at. He fought frantically for control of his mind. "Then put it around the whole temple, grounds and all. Exclude the soldiers." ”

“ The counselor pretended to frown. "Do you remember how to build it?"
"I've forgotten," she confessed.
"So you have," said Borgenese. "And I assure you Putsyn is going to forget too. As a convicted criminal, and he will be, we'll provide him with a false memory that will prevent his prying into the past.
"That's one machine we don't want until humans are fully and completely civilized. It's been invented a dozen times in the last century, and it always gets lost."
He closed his eyes momentarily, and when he opened them, Luise was looking at Luis, who was staring at the floor. ”

“ He watched Erica suspiciously as she pattered about in a state of dishabille that did nothing to enhance her beauty but, perversely, made her more exciting. That she had been uncertain as to his identity the last time meant little and he could forgive it. Man and wife were not thereby distinct species, separate to themselves, unattracted or repelled by all others of the opposite sex. For himself, he had only to remember the stewardess.
But it was important to know what her true feelings toward him were. Laughter at the wrong time could be disastrous to a man's ego! ”

“ Cameron swallowed his words and subsided without a sound.
"Biocompensation," continued Docchi evenly. "You may know about it, but in case information on it has been suppressed, let me explain: The principle of biocompensation has long been a matter of conjecture. This is the first age in which medical technology is advanced enough to explore it. Every cell, every organism, tends to survive, as an individual, as a species. Injure it and it strives for survival according to the seriousness of the injury. We accidentals have been maimed and mutilated almost past belief. ”