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.This vessel does not appear to have hyperwavecommunications only simple carrier-wave radio.That agreed with Derec s experience on the asteroid, but it raised a puzzle.How had the aliens found the asteroid? Derec had assumed along with Monitor 5that they had intercepted the distress message sent on his behalf.But withoutPage 66ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmla hyperwave viewer, that was clearly impossible.Perhaps Wolruf could shed some light but it would have to wait. Okay.Whatabout the key? Do you know where it is? Within limits.I believe it is concealed beneath one of the deck tiles of thecommand center.The last time he had been in the command center, Derec had been in too muchpain to pay attention to his surroundings. Let s go see, Derec said,starting off. How did you find it? he called back over his shoulder. Aranimas showed the key to me and questioned me about it, the robot said. When he left with it, I was not able to see precisely what disposition hemade of it.However, the time he was gone limited the radius of concealmentto this deck, and the sounds I heard were consistent with the removal andreplacement of a floor tile.They reached the command center then, and Derec saw that the deck was a mosaicof several hundred hexagonal metal tiles the size of a dinner plate.Thesurface of each tile had a pattern of small holes, but there was no obviousfingerlift in fact, no obvious way to lift an individual tile.All six edgeswere flush with the adjoining tiles. Any idea where I should start? The strategy of concealment would argue against obvious positions such as thecenter and corners.Beyond that, I cannot say. You can t detect it under the deck? It s not giving off some kind of radiosignal, or generating a magnetic field? Not that I am able to detect.That, too, was consistent with what had happened on the asteroid.If the keyhad declared its presence in any measurable way, the robots scans would haveturned it up long before the raider ship arrived. All right, Derec said slowly.He turned to Wolruf, who had been a silentspectator since joining them. We need a place to lock up Aranimas.Wolruf glanced nervously back toward where they had left the Erani. Therr arrsome lockers outside, on the side passage, which would be large enough Derec nodded. Alpha pick up Aranimas and go with Wolruf.She will show youwhere to put him.Wolruf, make sure it s something Aranimas can t open from the inside.Thenboth of you come back here. He caught the look of apprehension in Wolruf seyes and added. I know you don t like the robot. Maybe  u surprise Wolruf like  u surprise Aranimas. I promise you, it ll be all right, Derec said, patting the caninoid s arm. No surprises.I ll be waiting for you here.When the robot was gone, Derec lowered himself to his hands and knees toexamine the holes in the tiles.They proved to be tapered pits barely ahalf-centimeter deep.There seemed to be no way of hooking anything into oneto lift the tile.Derec wondered if he would have to build some sort ofvacuum clamp before he could locate the key.Then he realized that the openings were about the diameter of the tip ofAranimas s stylus.Of course, Derec thought as he fumbled for the instrument.Let s hope this feature doesn t work only for Aranimas, tooHe touched the conical tip to one of the openings, and the tile seemed toseize hold of the stylus and stand it straight up.Gripping the stylus withone and then both hands, Derec tried to lift the tile straight up.The tiledid not budge.But when he used the stylus as a lever, he was easily able totip the tile back, like peeling the lid off a can.Underneath was a smallhexagonal compartment empty.No beginner s luck, eh? he thought.When he replaced the tile, the stylus camefree.Very nice, he thought, touching the stylus to the adjacent tile.Thetrick wasn t done with magnetics; the stylus seemed to actually bond to thetile.Perhaps a metallic affinity, followed by a little shot of current tojostle the atoms and break the bonds.Cute trickThere was a humming sound behind him, and Derec whirled.Half a dozen metersPage 67ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmldown the central corridor, a circular platform was descending from theceiling, suspended on four slender wires.And standing on the platform was a woman a young human female, no more than ayear or two olderfile:///D|/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Robot%20City%201%20-%20Odyssey.txt (51 of 91) [2/9/03 10:57:09 AM]file:///D|/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Robot%20City%201%20-%20Odyssey.txt than Derec but a good eight centimeters taller.The broad-shouldered sashblazer she was wearing was cut in an aristocratic style, but showed many daysof wear.Her expression was one of surprise, even shock.Her mouth worked as thoughtrying to form a word. You? she said disbelievingly as the platform reached floor level. Here?Wild thoughts filled Derec s head, and reason had to fight for control.Thatwould sure help explain Aranimas s success if he had had a human consort allalong to guide him You d better tell me real fast who you are and what you re doing here, hesaid, slowly coming to his feet. I don t have a lot of time to decide whatto do about you. What to do about me? she echoed angrily. I don t know why I owe you anyanswers, not after what you did.The meaning of the condition of the girl s clothes finally impressed itself onDerec.She was a prisoner, just as he.But Derec realized that to her, hemight be the one who seemed to have thrown in with the raiders. I only helped Aranimas to buy time and save my neck.The robot s mine now,and Aranimas can t hurt you, Derec said. We re going to get of here.The hostility faded from her face, leaving behind bewilderment. But what areyou doing here? How long have you been on board?Derec took a step toward her. It doesn t take long to tell.Five days ago Iwoke up in a survival pod on the surface of an asteroid.I was found by acolony of robots mining the asteroid.Aranimas raided the colony and took meprisoner. That s enough.No sense muddying the waters with details even Idon t understand yet, he thought.She was looking at him curiously. So you weren t looking for me. I didn t know anyone else was on the ship, he said, throwing his hands inthe air. Wolruf told me that they had captured a couple of human ships, butshe left the impression the crews were all gone. I think Aranimas kept me alive because he was interested in my robots, shesaid. Are you the one that repaired Capek? Was that its old name? It answers to Alpha now.Yes, I m the one who fixedit. You did a rotten job, she said with a hint of childish petulance. Itdoesn t remember me.The new arm is ugly, too [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]