He sighed and watched the screen. He expected most of the problem to be in locating them. The Minneapolis was outfitted to take them all back to Aurora together.
“PYRAMID LOCATED,” said the computer. “CLOSE-UP ON SCREEN. PLEASE IDENTIFY.”
On the viewscreen, the Compass Tower shone in the sunlight. The angle was from above, of course, and a little to one side. At this distance, it looked like a flawless model on a design display.
“That’s it,” said Jeff excitedly, sitting forward to look. “Can you land near it somewhere without smashing up anything?”
“SCANNING FOR A LOW-RISK LANDING SITE IN THE AREA,” said the computer. “TO AVOID ALL CHANCE OF DAMAGE TO MANUFACTURED AND CONSTRUCTED PROPERTY, THIS CRAFT REQUIRES MORE LANDING SPACE THAN THE AREA HAS SO FAR OFFERED. “
“Show me the area as you scan it,” said Jeff. “Just try to land as close as you can.”
“DISPLAYING.”
Jeff watched the screen closely as the view pulled back to a greater height and began to move quickly across the landscape. At first he tried to recognize other places, such as a city plaza he remembered and the distinctive bronze dome of the Key Center. He couldn’t find them. Then, as the camera continued to scan, he realized that they were covering a lot of area very quickly.
“Look for an open grassy region,” he said. “It was just outside the city. I’m sure it wasn’t more than a few kilometers from that tower.”
“PERIMETER OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT NOT LOCATED. SCANNING CONTINUES.”
He watched as block after block of city passed beneath them. The robots had continued building, much faster than he had ever imagined. He couldn’t afford to land on the other side of the planet. Derec and Ariel had lived close to the tower.
“Listen,” he said. “Most of this population is robots. If they’re damaged, they can be repaired. Just don’t hit the buildings, ‘cause we won’t survive, either.” He grinned at his own humor.
“CLARIFY.”
“We have to land around here somewhere. Try to avoid the robots, but give us priority. Watch out for humans; other than that, find a place in the city near that tower where we can land. A park, a plaza, a big intersection. Something like that.”
“SCANNING MODIFIED FOR MODERATE-RISK LANDING SITE. SITE SELECTED.”
“Good,” said Jeff. “That was quick. See if you can reach the city’s central computer. Give it fair warning of our landing site so it can tell everybody to get out of the way.”
“LINK ESTABLISHED. WARNING SENT AND ACKNOWLEDGED. CURRENT SPEED REQUIRES WIDE TURN.PREPARE FOR LANDING IN APPROXIMATELY TWELVE MINUTES.”
Jeff grinned. “Good job.”
Eleven and a half minutes later, Jeff stared in tense fascination at the screen as the small ship sliced through the atmosphere at a low angle and came shooting straight toward the skyline. The Minneapolis was versatile enough to act as both a shuttle and starship, which was why he had chosen it. He trusted the computer, which would not allow him to come to harm if it could help it, despite being non-positronic…and yet even the computer couldn’t prevent every malfunction. After all, he had just barely survived one crash here.
He was gripping the sides of the chair and sweating freely as the screen showed a broad boulevard stretching straight ahead. The ship was going to land along the pavement-did this thing have wheels? In a panic, he couldn’t remember.
It must have; the computer wasn‘t stupid.
The streetfronts of a thousand buildings shot by in a blur, first below and then on both sides. The ship touched down and streaked along the empty street, suddenly decelerating sharply.
Everyone was out of the way; the city’s central computer had done its part. The boulevard was as flat and straight as only a city of robots would construct. The ship came to a halt.
Chapter 9. Welcome Back
Jeff lay back in the chair panting heavily, with sweat running down his face and arms. That was a lot more frightening than he had expected…but a lot better than last time. The ship computer had been flawless.
Next time, he’d shut off that stupid viewscreen. Who needed to see that, anyhow?
“LANDING COMPLETED,” said the computer cheerfully.
“Shut up,” Jeff muttered.
He didn’t want to stay in this can. Shakily, he got up and moved to the door. “Exit access,” he instructed.
The door unlatched and opened. A flexible ladder extended from it. Jeff held the sides of the ladder firmly, turned, and climbed down.
On the street, he drew in a deep breath and looked around. It was Robot City, all right; it had the slidewalks, the tunnel stops, the clean, organized buildings and streets. On the other hand, it was totally unfamiliar.
A couple of humanoid robots were just now coming into view ahead. The central computer would have removed the alert, of course. He turned and looked behind him. A few more robots appeared, riding the slidewalks along the side of the boulevard.
The nearest robot approaching him was remarkably tall and full-chested.
“Excuse me,” said Jeff. “I’m in need of assistance.”
The Hunter robot took him firmly by the upper arm.
“Hey! Wait a minute. What are you doing?” He pulled back, but the robot didn’t let go.
“I am detaining you,” said the Hunter. “You are in custody and will remain so at least until you have been positively identified.” It turned and began to walk.
“I’m Jeff Leong. That’s no mystery.” He hurried alongside, walking awkwardly, almost sideways.
“I am programmed to locate and detain two humans among the four intruders known to be in Robot City. You will not be harmed. However, you must come with me.”
“And if I don’t?” He demanded, looking up at the robot’s expressionless face.
“You will come willingly or unwillingly. You will not be harmed. I prefer that you not resist.”
The robot continued walking, dragging Jeff along with it. They stepped onto a slidewalk and went on walking.
“Who are you looking for?”
“The two humans named Derec and Ariel,” said the Hunter ”Also an alien robot named Mandelbrot and a small living creature of undetermined type.”
“Hold it. You think I’m Derec? Is that it?” Jeff tried to pull back again, to no avail.
“I am instructed to take you into custody pending identification,” said the Hunter impassively.
“It’s not necessary.” Jeff managed to turn enough so he could walk straight ahead, at least. “Look, other robots know me. Contact the medical team. What was their name? Some kind of hospital. A Human Medical Center, or something like that. They can tell you who I am. Call them through the central computer.”
The robot did not respond.
”Are you calling them?”
It still did not respond.
“Not programmed for that, I suppose,” said Jeff. He sighed. “Welcome back to Robot City, Jeff.”
They walked along the moving slidewalk for quite some time. Jeff’s belongings were still stashed in the ship, of course; he had intended to grab his personal luggage after getting directions to Derec and Ariel. Resigned to a long and probably frustrating interrogation by more robots, he marched along in step.
A certain amount of foot traffic and vehicular traffic went by, but Jeff was sure that it was less than he remembered from his previous visit. Somewhat belatedly, he was recalling just how many unexplained oddities this city had had. Then, lost in thought, he was not paying particular attention to the details around him until he heard a screech of tires coming up right behind him.
Jeff flinched and whirled around. The Hunter holding him turned its head but did not break stride.
A humanoid robot was just leaping out of the cab of a large, halted vehicle.
“Mandelbrot!” Jeff shouted. “Tell this robot who I am, will you? It thinks-”
He was interrupted as the Hunter spun completely around, at the same time yanking him to the side away from Mandelbrot. The robot’s hold on him did not loosen even for a moment.
“You are harming the human,” said Mandelbrot to the Hunter, in a remarkably unemotional voice. He stepped onto the slidewalk and approached them.