[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"Wait till you get to Mars with us, and you'll see something worth watching.
Unless you're in a hurry to meet your friend, Mr. Armstrong."
"I guess I won't be able to get to him," said Mel. "He doesn't know anything
about me."
"After that message you sent?" asked Hakin. "Come, my Young Friend, the man
can surely read."
"But the message wasn't sent," Mel reminded him.
"Oh, there is something of which I have neglected to inform you, O Worried
One," said Hakin carelessly. "After the Powerful One secured my release from
the criminals our noble Captain was blaming his own lack of intelligence for
paying so little heed to our warning. Bolam and I encouraged his feeling of
remorse for a time, and then said that would forgive him if he would send that
message for you. By now this John Armstrong must have received a radiogram
informing him that you are on your way to Mars."
"Gee, you're a couple of swell guys," said Mel huskily. "I never thought "
"Let this be a lesson to you, Young Friend," said Hakin gravely. "Always
think. Take nothing for granted. Like Rover here, let your mind be prepared
for everything. Even when he is asleep, this sensible beast remains on guard.
Do you not, Rover?"
Hakin stretched out a four foot arm to scratch the do, head. Mel said slowly,
"I suppose I
have been taking thin for granted. Ever since I got on the ship, I thought I
shot off whoever was trying to kill me.
Now I'm not so sure any more."
"Do you have any idea who it is?" asked Bolam.
"I don't know. I haven't the slightest idea why any one would want to get me
out of the way."
Page 28
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Who is John Armstrong?"
"He was my father's partner. My father was an inventor."
"Alas, Unfortunate One," said Hakin.
"Don't get him wrong, Hakin, his inventions worked, and he sold them. Mr.
Armstrong was more the absent minded professor type, with his head in the
clouds. He and my father were working on robots, trying to figure out better
methods of control. I'll bet those training robots you own use is one of the
inventions they worked out."
"Surprise would be out of place," said Hakin. "Go on, Young Friend."
"That's why you might think I should have known that the training robot
wouldn't attack a human being. But it's been a long time since I heard my
father talk about robots."
"Never mind apologizing," said Bolam. "What I'm trying to find out is why some
one wants to take your life. When did the first attack take place?"
"When I was fifteen," said Mel. "And it wasn't exactly an attack. Nobody hit
me over the head, or anything like that. I had left this farmer I had been
working for and held own a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant, not far from a
spaceport. I used to get my meals free. I remember being hungry one day and
taking a synthetic roast beef sandwich.
After a couple of bites, I realized there was something wrong. I
found out later what it was. The sandwich was poisoned."
"What did you do?"
"I tried to tell the restaurant owner that there was something wrong with the
sandwich, but he got angry. He said he served nothing but the best. Anyway, I
knew that it couldn't be a mistake, and it was clear that somebody had tried
to poison me. And I had no idea who it was. I was scared, and I ran away,
without even waiting to collect my week's pay."
"The wisest thing you could have done," said Bolam.
"It took me a while to find another job. This was in a factory making
transistors on an assembly line. I
was an office boy. One day, when I went on an errand to deliver something to a
foreman, somebody tried to drop a crate on my head. It just missed me by an
inch or two."
"You didn't see the man who did it? You still didn't know why?"
"No. The whole thing was a mystery to me. I hardly knew anybody in the place,
outside the office, and I didn't have any fights with anybody."
"It was obviously," said Bolam, "not a personal enemy in the sense that
someone hated you. It was simply that you had to be got out of the way."
"Why should any one want me out of the way?"
"Suppose we guess. You say that your father had a partner. When he died, what
happened to the business?"
"I don't know," said Mel. "I was too young to think of such things."
"Somebody thought of them. How about your father's friend, Armstrong?"
"I haven't any idea what happened to him. He was travelling for a long time. I
tried to send him letters, but they were always returned. Then I heard he had
settled on Mars, and I thought that if I could get to see him, I'd learn what
everything was all about. But I had been forced to change my job so often that
I couldn't save up any money to pay for the passage. That's why I had to stow
away."
"Mr. Armstrong interests me," said Bolam. "When we get to Mars, we'll see what
we can learn about him. Mean while, you should be reasonably safe on this
ship. Especially if you stay in our circus quarters.
And if Rover remains with you."
Rover looked at him at the sound of his name, and Mel felt a thrill of
confidence. Rover had a nose for danger. It wouldn't be easy to get to him
while the dog was around.
Hakin said, "In the meantime, My Muscled Partner, shall we proceed with our
Page 29
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
animal training? We did not bring thy kabror with us merely that he might
perfume the ship."
"Why did you bring him along?" asked Mel curiously.
"He can be taught to do clever tumbling tricks. And he is practically
odorless, unless one permits a fragment of the wrong kind of food to fall into
his clutches."
The kabror had long finished his biscuit, and there was only a faint odor now
in the space around his cage. Hakin unlocked the cage, and the animal hopped
out. He seemed, as Lakin had said earlier, to be an affectionate beast, but
Mel could not help drawing away from him, just in case.
"He knows already how to sit and how to leap into the air on command," said
Hakin. "He is an apt pupil. Of much higher intelligence than the striped
beast. Sit down, O Fragrant One."
The kabror sat down on its one hind leg.
"Up, O Martian Rose!" commanded Hakin. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
"Wait till you get to Mars with us, and you'll see something worth watching.
Unless you're in a hurry to meet your friend, Mr. Armstrong."
"I guess I won't be able to get to him," said Mel. "He doesn't know anything
about me."
"After that message you sent?" asked Hakin. "Come, my Young Friend, the man
can surely read."
"But the message wasn't sent," Mel reminded him.
"Oh, there is something of which I have neglected to inform you, O Worried
One," said Hakin carelessly. "After the Powerful One secured my release from
the criminals our noble Captain was blaming his own lack of intelligence for
paying so little heed to our warning. Bolam and I encouraged his feeling of
remorse for a time, and then said that would forgive him if he would send that
message for you. By now this John Armstrong must have received a radiogram
informing him that you are on your way to Mars."
"Gee, you're a couple of swell guys," said Mel huskily. "I never thought "
"Let this be a lesson to you, Young Friend," said Hakin gravely. "Always
think. Take nothing for granted. Like Rover here, let your mind be prepared
for everything. Even when he is asleep, this sensible beast remains on guard.
Do you not, Rover?"
Hakin stretched out a four foot arm to scratch the do, head. Mel said slowly,
"I suppose I
have been taking thin for granted. Ever since I got on the ship, I thought I
shot off whoever was trying to kill me.
Now I'm not so sure any more."
"Do you have any idea who it is?" asked Bolam.
"I don't know. I haven't the slightest idea why any one would want to get me
out of the way."
Page 28
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Who is John Armstrong?"
"He was my father's partner. My father was an inventor."
"Alas, Unfortunate One," said Hakin.
"Don't get him wrong, Hakin, his inventions worked, and he sold them. Mr.
Armstrong was more the absent minded professor type, with his head in the
clouds. He and my father were working on robots, trying to figure out better
methods of control. I'll bet those training robots you own use is one of the
inventions they worked out."
"Surprise would be out of place," said Hakin. "Go on, Young Friend."
"That's why you might think I should have known that the training robot
wouldn't attack a human being. But it's been a long time since I heard my
father talk about robots."
"Never mind apologizing," said Bolam. "What I'm trying to find out is why some
one wants to take your life. When did the first attack take place?"
"When I was fifteen," said Mel. "And it wasn't exactly an attack. Nobody hit
me over the head, or anything like that. I had left this farmer I had been
working for and held own a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant, not far from a
spaceport. I used to get my meals free. I remember being hungry one day and
taking a synthetic roast beef sandwich.
After a couple of bites, I realized there was something wrong. I
found out later what it was. The sandwich was poisoned."
"What did you do?"
"I tried to tell the restaurant owner that there was something wrong with the
sandwich, but he got angry. He said he served nothing but the best. Anyway, I
knew that it couldn't be a mistake, and it was clear that somebody had tried
to poison me. And I had no idea who it was. I was scared, and I ran away,
without even waiting to collect my week's pay."
"The wisest thing you could have done," said Bolam.
"It took me a while to find another job. This was in a factory making
transistors on an assembly line. I
was an office boy. One day, when I went on an errand to deliver something to a
foreman, somebody tried to drop a crate on my head. It just missed me by an
inch or two."
"You didn't see the man who did it? You still didn't know why?"
"No. The whole thing was a mystery to me. I hardly knew anybody in the place,
outside the office, and I didn't have any fights with anybody."
"It was obviously," said Bolam, "not a personal enemy in the sense that
someone hated you. It was simply that you had to be got out of the way."
"Why should any one want me out of the way?"
"Suppose we guess. You say that your father had a partner. When he died, what
happened to the business?"
"I don't know," said Mel. "I was too young to think of such things."
"Somebody thought of them. How about your father's friend, Armstrong?"
"I haven't any idea what happened to him. He was travelling for a long time. I
tried to send him letters, but they were always returned. Then I heard he had
settled on Mars, and I thought that if I could get to see him, I'd learn what
everything was all about. But I had been forced to change my job so often that
I couldn't save up any money to pay for the passage. That's why I had to stow
away."
"Mr. Armstrong interests me," said Bolam. "When we get to Mars, we'll see what
we can learn about him. Mean while, you should be reasonably safe on this
ship. Especially if you stay in our circus quarters.
And if Rover remains with you."
Rover looked at him at the sound of his name, and Mel felt a thrill of
confidence. Rover had a nose for danger. It wouldn't be easy to get to him
while the dog was around.
Hakin said, "In the meantime, My Muscled Partner, shall we proceed with our
Page 29
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
animal training? We did not bring thy kabror with us merely that he might
perfume the ship."
"Why did you bring him along?" asked Mel curiously.
"He can be taught to do clever tumbling tricks. And he is practically
odorless, unless one permits a fragment of the wrong kind of food to fall into
his clutches."
The kabror had long finished his biscuit, and there was only a faint odor now
in the space around his cage. Hakin unlocked the cage, and the animal hopped
out. He seemed, as Lakin had said earlier, to be an affectionate beast, but
Mel could not help drawing away from him, just in case.
"He knows already how to sit and how to leap into the air on command," said
Hakin. "He is an apt pupil. Of much higher intelligence than the striped
beast. Sit down, O Fragrant One."
The kabror sat down on its one hind leg.
"Up, O Martian Rose!" commanded Hakin. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]