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.Suddenly, ahead, the distinctive forms of two tall,powerful humanoid robots with multiple sensory apparati crossed anintersection in the distance on their way toward the Compass Tower.They wereHunter robots, programmed with a particularly high sensitivity to patternrecognition and detail.Mandelbrot stopped abruptly. What iss the matter? Wolruf asked as she came to a belated halt and lookedup at him. Hunters, said Mandelbrot. Unless other intruders are present, our group iscertainly their quarry.And they are going right to the Compass Tower. Heaccessed the central computer. Please inform me of any general alert thathas been issued. NONE, said the central computer. PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND YOUR DUTYTASK. What is the current assignment of active Hunter robots? Mandelbrot guessedthat he could risk one suspicious question before the central computer wouldstart a trace on his transmission. IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND YOUR DUTY TASK, the central computer repeated.Mandelbrot broke the link. I can t get any significant information withoutendangering our position, he said to Wolruf. Since no general alert has beenmade, only the Hunters are a danger to us. To uss? Wolruf asked. Or only to the umanss? She looked back toward theCompass Tower. Ssee Hunterss now.Going away from uss to Tower. We ll have to assume that the alert is for our entire group.If Derec andAriel have been identified, then we certainly were included.If they have onlybeen identified as intruders, we may not have been. Mandelbrot picked upWolruf and placed her on his back, where she clung by herself. Now what? Wolruf asked. I must take one more risk, said Mandelbrot.He attempted to reach theterminal in the Compass Tower office.No response came back of any kind. Puzzling, said Mandelbrot.Page 28 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html What? I think Derec and Ariel must have left the office Even so, I would normallyreceive an acknowledgement of contact from the terminal and a request for amessage. Perrhaps the offiss is different, said Wolruf. Special arrangement forrAverry. That is probable, said Mandelbrot. In any case, they are not answering.They have probably fled, which is fortunate.We have no way to reach themthrough my comlink, however, and no way of knowing where they are. Follow Hunterss, Wolruf said softly. Iss only way. Mandelbrot noddedagreement. As long as they do not become aware of us. Mandelbrot took Wolruf to a slidewalk and they rode up to an overpass near theCompass Tower.It gave them a view of the front of the Compass Tower andseveral of its many sides.They could not watch every side, but this was areasonable start.Before long, five Hunter robots appeared from the front entrance of theCompass Tower.Two of them immediately headed for the tunnel stop thatMandelbrot and Wolruf had just used.Another pair mounted a slidewalk and tooka path roughly at a right angle to the previous pair.The last Hunter remainedon the stationary sidewalk, within the right angle formed by the routes of thetwo pairs. Good news, said Mandelbrot. They have not caught their quarry, nor arethey confident of doing so immediately. Bad newss, hissed Wolruf. They know what direction to look in.We musst urry, or will lose them. Granted. Mandelbrot was already back on the moving slidewalk, keeping asmany of the Hunters in sight as long as he could.The first pair was soon outof sight, down the tunnel stop.The second pair was moving quickly on theslidewalk and was intermittently visible between various buildings.Mandelbrotand Wolruf had now descended the overpass and were coming around a curve.Nottoo far ahead, the last Hunter was just mounting the same segment ofslidewalk. Ope e doessn t come thiss way, said Wolruf.The Hunter did not.It was going away from them and was clearly in a hurry.Instead of just standing, it was walking forward even as it rode andMandelbrot had to keep pace. Not too close, Wolruf said. Nor can we afford to lose it.Further, I speculate that other Hunters mayhave left the Compass Tower from exits out of our sight.We must remain on thealert for others.As we approach the humans, the Hunters will all begin toconverge. Then what do we do? Wolruf asked. I don t know. CHAPTER 7THE HUNTERSDerec was hobbling painfully, slowed to a walk, as Ariel finally dragged himto her destination.It was a depot of the vacuum tube cargo transportationsystem.He stopped when he saw it, pulling back on her arm. Wait a minute, he said. They had humanoid robots staffing these depots.They ll report where we ve gone. Not if no one asks.Come on. She pulled harder than he had, and he allowedhimself to follow.As they came up on the loading dock, he saw that he was wrong.A smallfunction robot was alone here now, loading cargo without supervision. What if it doesn t let us get in? He asked. Ignore it. Ariel pushed a small container aside, out of the reach of thefunction robot s extended pincers.The robot itself was a small ovoid shape with six tentacles ending in variousPage 29 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlgripping tools.Without a positronic brain, it would not interferedeliberately, or respond to the Laws of Robotics, either.As it rolled forwardafter the small box, Ariel climbed into the open, transparent capsule andreached out to help Derec climb in.Reluctantly, he stepped over the side of the capsule, in extreme pain, andslowly stretched out inside it. We have to go somewhere, he said. This thing doesn t have a console insideit.It has to be programmed on the dock console, over there. He pointed.Ariel hesitated while the function robot placed the small box inside thecapsule between her feet and Derec s head.She squatted down quickly andstretched out just as the function robot closed the trapdoor [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Suddenly, ahead, the distinctive forms of two tall,powerful humanoid robots with multiple sensory apparati crossed anintersection in the distance on their way toward the Compass Tower.They wereHunter robots, programmed with a particularly high sensitivity to patternrecognition and detail.Mandelbrot stopped abruptly. What iss the matter? Wolruf asked as she came to a belated halt and lookedup at him. Hunters, said Mandelbrot. Unless other intruders are present, our group iscertainly their quarry.And they are going right to the Compass Tower. Heaccessed the central computer. Please inform me of any general alert thathas been issued. NONE, said the central computer. PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND YOUR DUTYTASK. What is the current assignment of active Hunter robots? Mandelbrot guessedthat he could risk one suspicious question before the central computer wouldstart a trace on his transmission. IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND YOUR DUTY TASK, the central computer repeated.Mandelbrot broke the link. I can t get any significant information withoutendangering our position, he said to Wolruf. Since no general alert has beenmade, only the Hunters are a danger to us. To uss? Wolruf asked. Or only to the umanss? She looked back toward theCompass Tower. Ssee Hunterss now.Going away from uss to Tower. We ll have to assume that the alert is for our entire group.If Derec andAriel have been identified, then we certainly were included.If they have onlybeen identified as intruders, we may not have been. Mandelbrot picked upWolruf and placed her on his back, where she clung by herself. Now what? Wolruf asked. I must take one more risk, said Mandelbrot.He attempted to reach theterminal in the Compass Tower office.No response came back of any kind. Puzzling, said Mandelbrot.Page 28 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html What? I think Derec and Ariel must have left the office Even so, I would normallyreceive an acknowledgement of contact from the terminal and a request for amessage. Perrhaps the offiss is different, said Wolruf. Special arrangement forrAverry. That is probable, said Mandelbrot. In any case, they are not answering.They have probably fled, which is fortunate.We have no way to reach themthrough my comlink, however, and no way of knowing where they are. Follow Hunterss, Wolruf said softly. Iss only way. Mandelbrot noddedagreement. As long as they do not become aware of us. Mandelbrot took Wolruf to a slidewalk and they rode up to an overpass near theCompass Tower.It gave them a view of the front of the Compass Tower andseveral of its many sides.They could not watch every side, but this was areasonable start.Before long, five Hunter robots appeared from the front entrance of theCompass Tower.Two of them immediately headed for the tunnel stop thatMandelbrot and Wolruf had just used.Another pair mounted a slidewalk and tooka path roughly at a right angle to the previous pair.The last Hunter remainedon the stationary sidewalk, within the right angle formed by the routes of thetwo pairs. Good news, said Mandelbrot. They have not caught their quarry, nor arethey confident of doing so immediately. Bad newss, hissed Wolruf. They know what direction to look in.We musst urry, or will lose them. Granted. Mandelbrot was already back on the moving slidewalk, keeping asmany of the Hunters in sight as long as he could.The first pair was soon outof sight, down the tunnel stop.The second pair was moving quickly on theslidewalk and was intermittently visible between various buildings.Mandelbrotand Wolruf had now descended the overpass and were coming around a curve.Nottoo far ahead, the last Hunter was just mounting the same segment ofslidewalk. Ope e doessn t come thiss way, said Wolruf.The Hunter did not.It was going away from them and was clearly in a hurry.Instead of just standing, it was walking forward even as it rode andMandelbrot had to keep pace. Not too close, Wolruf said. Nor can we afford to lose it.Further, I speculate that other Hunters mayhave left the Compass Tower from exits out of our sight.We must remain on thealert for others.As we approach the humans, the Hunters will all begin toconverge. Then what do we do? Wolruf asked. I don t know. CHAPTER 7THE HUNTERSDerec was hobbling painfully, slowed to a walk, as Ariel finally dragged himto her destination.It was a depot of the vacuum tube cargo transportationsystem.He stopped when he saw it, pulling back on her arm. Wait a minute, he said. They had humanoid robots staffing these depots.They ll report where we ve gone. Not if no one asks.Come on. She pulled harder than he had, and he allowedhimself to follow.As they came up on the loading dock, he saw that he was wrong.A smallfunction robot was alone here now, loading cargo without supervision. What if it doesn t let us get in? He asked. Ignore it. Ariel pushed a small container aside, out of the reach of thefunction robot s extended pincers.The robot itself was a small ovoid shape with six tentacles ending in variousPage 29 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlgripping tools.Without a positronic brain, it would not interferedeliberately, or respond to the Laws of Robotics, either.As it rolled forwardafter the small box, Ariel climbed into the open, transparent capsule andreached out to help Derec climb in.Reluctantly, he stepped over the side of the capsule, in extreme pain, andslowly stretched out inside it. We have to go somewhere, he said. This thing doesn t have a console insideit.It has to be programmed on the dock console, over there. He pointed.Ariel hesitated while the function robot placed the small box inside thecapsule between her feet and Derec s head.She squatted down quickly andstretched out just as the function robot closed the trapdoor [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]