[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

proposing the most natural solution in the world.
 We ve got two scientific whizzes to figure his com-puter setup and reprogram the robots. The
program-ming can t be all that complicated; it s twenty years behind the times. Alex and Kate are not. If
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Reinhardt s managed to arrange things so that he can run this ship all by himself, the five of us plus
Vincent ought to be able to do likewise without working up a mental sweat. And while Kate and Alex
are working on navigation and cybernetics, three of us are left to take care of Reinhardt and his steel
dog.
He paused for breath, then rushed on.  Think of it! Reinhardt won t mind in the long run. Not once he s
been besieged for information on his new drive system and the null-g field. He ll thank us for dragging him
back home. The government will be delirious because they ll have theCygnus back and can use it to
recoup their colossal investment, even if they just turn it into a museum. The established research institutes
will have two decades of new data to pore through. See, he concluded brightly,  everybody eventually
benefits. Even Reinhardt.
 He d disagree with you, Harry.
Booth frowned at Durant.  He would today, sure, but not once we re back on Earth. Not if he s been
tell-ing us the truth. And if he hasn t been, it s our duty to take him back. He can face acclamation or
trial, it s all the same to me. We we could be heroes.
 We could also be dead, Holland pointed out.
Durant turned away from them.  I don t believe what I m hearing. Leaving aside the fact that Rein-hardt
is considering the greatest experiment in the his-tory of modern astrophysics, he d never consent to
relinquishing his authority over theCygnus. Never.
 You can believe you re hearingthis, Alex, Hol-land said firmly.  My job is to get you all off this ship
alive. That s my responsibility and that s what I intend to do the greatest experiment in the history of
modern astrophysics notwithstanding. Once we re safely away, we ll see about monitoring any crazy
schemes Reinhardt has in mind.
He turned to the reporter.  As for your suggestion, Harry, I suggest you cool it. Don t bait the bull.
 I ve done that plenty of times. Booth spoke proudly.  And I m still hanging around.
 We re all aware of your accomplishments and your heroic, investigative-reporter background, Holland
re-plied soothingly,  but don t push that man. That s an order. You re not operating alone now. I have to
think of everyone. You ought to, too. I don t want to see any of us left behind.
Booth glared at him momentarily. Then he seemed to think things through and relaxed, nodding
agree-ment.We still have time, he told himself. He was cer-tain that he could eventually convince
Holland that his, Harry Booth s, plan was best for all concerned.
If he could convince Holland, then Pizer would au-tomatically go along. McCrae could be persuaded.
Durant . . . Alex would be a problem. His judgment was blinded by Reinhardt s visions. But he was only
one man, and more inclined to fight with his intellect than with a weapon. Weapons were likely to be
im-portant in the upcoming discussions, Booth knew.
Not only would they return as heroes, he would be reporting the greatest story in a hundred years.
ghost ship cygnus returns!. . . reported by Har-rison G. Booth. No ... HARRISON G. BOOTH
REPORTS ... return of the ghost shipCygnus.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
That sounded better. He returned his attention to the viewport, much pleased with himself.
Reinhardt entered the pressurized cylinder, Maximil-lian following close behind. Ahead, the probe ship
could be seen locking into theCygnus s reception ter-minal.Soon it will all begin, Reinhardt mused.The
culmination of my life s work. The answer to one of science s greatest mysteries will be revealed.
The possibility he might die did not concern him. If it had, he would have returned to Earth long ago. He
feared only ignorance, not death. The latter he knew for what it was: a cessation of the flow of certain
fluids, the degradation of internal electric impulses which conveyed stimuli, and the eventual dissolution of
various organic molecular structures into dust.
He shook his head sadly. He could not fathom other men s fear of dying. Why, how could they be so
con-cerned with existing, when for the most part their exis-tence was a waste? They contributed nothing,
achieved nothing, merely took up space. Everything they did, every action of their meager lives, was
geared toward inefficient utilization of their environment for petty per-sonal ends. Yet they continued to
insist their way of life constituted a civilization.
The cylinder moved toward the probe terminal.
10
VINCENT drifted silently alongside Bob. Both machines traveled as slowly as possible so as to
mini-mize the noise produced by their repellers. Bob s tend-ed to grind from time to time.
Vincent was going to see the evidence that would confirm Bob s incredible revelation. The older robot
had insisted, so that no doubt would be left in the minds of Vincent s human crewmates.
They slowed to a halt by a closed door. Bob repeated the admonition for silence, then activated the
door. It slid back soundlessly. They drifted into a large room. Bob reclosed the door behind them.
They were gazing into a roughly circular chamber lit by many-colored lights. Deeper lights, powerful
preci-sion lasers, were firing down at a cylindrical platform. The platform turned slowly as the lights
played upon it. Several humanoid robots were working at nearby consoles or over the round table.
When they moved, Vincent caught a glimpse of their stations, computer consoles of the most intricate
design. As the platform-table continued to revolve, the watching robots had a clear view of what rested
atop it.
Several humanoid shapes lay within indentations in the platform. Their heads were the same as those of
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
the humanoids operating the instrumentation, but the bodies lying in the indentations were not. Vincent s
sensors informed him that they were not, as he had hoped, superb replicas of human forms. Theywere
human forms. What lay behind the mirrored faceplates that covered each skull, he preferred not to
speculate on.
Lasers flashed at regular intervals, and other devices functioned. All were conducted by the robed,
face-plated shapes at the consoles. It was a compact sym-phony of remote surgery, advanced
cybernetics and complete moral dessication.
 These poor creatures are what s left of the original human crew, Bob whispered as softly as he could.
 They are kept alive by a technique of Reinhardt s I don t pretend to understand.
 They are humans, then? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]