[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Hello, Derrec. 1 trrust 1 now have your full attention?
Aranimas? Derec gasped.
Verry good. Now forr my second question. Do you know what
plutonium is?
Obliquely, as if in his peripheral vision, Derec felt Eve and SilverSides
come back to life and tap into the transmission. Behind them, every
robot in the city slowly began to revive and join in.
Radioactive metal, Derec answered via commlink. Very poisonous.
Explosively fissionable in large quantities.
Excellent, Aranimas answered. Now forr my thirrd question. Do you
know what will happen when 1 dump five tons of plutonium rreactorr
waste on yourr city?
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
Derec was suddenly terrified and fully awake. You can t! he
screamed on both voice and commlink. You ll kill every living thing
for a hundred kilometers around!
Leaving the rrobots unharrmed, Aranimas noted. Goodbye, Derrec.
Like a light going out, his image vanished.
Derec leapt to his feet. Wait, Aranimas! We can make a deal! The
only answer was silence. Derec leaned over the edge of the balcony
and caught SilverSides attention... SilverSides! Did you monitor that
transmission? The silver robot s grim expression told him everything
he needed to know.
Pulling himself back from the edge, Derec turned to Avery and
Wolruf, who were still staring at him with confused looks on their
faces. Dad, can we put the civil war on hold for a while? We ve got a
real problem.
CHAPTER 24
THE WEAPONS SHOP
Derec gave Avery and Wolruf a full update on the situation as they
traveled to the Compass Tower. For a few minutes Avery held out the
hope that Aranimas was bluffing, but Wolruf only shook her head.
E never lied an e never laughed, she said. Don think e s got it in
im to bluff.
Eve caught up with them just before they entered the tower. I still
can t locate Lucius, Eve reported. I did manage to raise Mandelbrot,
though. He said that half a dozen younglings broke off from the mob
and tried to seize the ship, but someone named BlackMane kicked the
stuffings out of them. The ship is secure and Ariel is unhurt.
Avery raised an eyebrow and looked at Derec. Then we still have a
back door.
Derec looked disgusted. It s our fault that Aranimas is here. I won t
leave the kin to pay for our mistake.
Avery nodded. Right decision. I was just testing.
Derec s face flushed red to the roots of his blond hair. Will you
kindly knock it off with this testing crap? Every time I turn around
you re testing, testing, testing! I am sick to death of being tested!
Sorry. Avery shrugged. It s a character flaw.
SilverSides caught up with the four of them as they started up the
slidewalk to Central Hall. Well, I ve persuaded the mob to disperse,
she announced cheerfully as she bounded onto the slidewalk behind
them.
How d you manage that little feat? Derec asked.
SilverSides hung her head and looked at Derec with big puppy-dog
eyes. Er, actually I, uh, told them that the spirit of the FirstBeast was
coming down from the sky, and that you two were only his
representatives, not worth fighting. They ve gone back to their dens to
fetch their best weapons and prepare for a glorious battle.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
All right, Avery said. One crisis at a time. Derec, have the city
supervisors managed to find Aranimas s ship yet?
Derec activated his commlink for the barest moment. Yes. They re
setting up a giant viewscreen in the atrium. Speaking of which He
turned to SilverSides. Uh, SilverSides? As you might remember, the
Central Hall security robots are specifically programmed to seek out
and destroy you in this form.
Oh. Right. With a shrug and a shudder, the robot invoked its shape-
changing abilities. By the time they reached the top of the slidewalk,
Adam was back as a silver copy of Derec.
Gamma 6 greeted them as they came off the slidewalk and escorted
them past the security robots and into Central Hall. Alpha and Beta
were in the atrium, supervising the last details of setting up the giant
screen. As they crossed the cold terrazzo floor of the cavernous room,
Adam sped up a bit to catch up with Avery.
Friend Avery, Adam said softly, with a hint of embarrassment in his
voice. I just wanted to assure you that I no longer feel
confrontational. My earlier behavior was a side-effect of the
SilverSides imprint, and I now realize that my thinking was in serious
error. It will not happen again.
Friend Adam, Avery replied, every bit as softly, that was your last
mistake. I m still packing the laser. Screw up again and you re slag.
I understand.
A few moments later they entered the atrium and came to a halt
before Central s main I/O console. The hall lights dimmed slightly,
and the giant viewscreen flared to life.
We have located the Erani ship, Beta said. The viewscreen took a
dizzying swing through the local starfield and came to rest on a
misshapen yellowish blob. Magnification jumped, and the by-now-
familiar profile of Aranimas s ship appeared. In accordance with
your request, we have scanned the ship for radioactive emissions.
This area, Beta used a red laser pointer to pick out one battered hull
on the underside of the ship, appears to contain a significant amount
of plutonium, as well as other dangerously radioactive materials.
That s an ancient Terran dump ship, Avery whispered. They used
to load them up with nuclear waste and fire them into their sun.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]