[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
had been tracking him within the reservoir moving through the exit
point to the outside. He looked back at the city, then up at the forest.
He would find escape in its random chaos.
Angling himself away from his pursuers, he ran back toward the huge
reservoir building, preparing to climb one of the struts that helped
support the outside edge of the forest. But as soon as he reached the
place and put his hands on the arched strut, it seemed to melt away,
changing into a gently sloping stairway.
He hurried up the stairs without a question and entered the forest.
The ground was moist and spongy, muddying his already-soaked
shoes. The trees were small, in many cases smaller than the
underbrush that grew thick around them. A haze seemed to fill the
entire forest, and the farther he plunged into it, the hazier it became.
Derec was no expert in vegetation, but he assumed the trees were all
offspring, many generations removed, of trees that had once grown
on Earth. Spacers, though hating to mention any connection to the
planet of their ancestry, nevertheless made it a point to bring Earth
vegetation and animal life to whatever planet they colonized. Where
he gotten such information, he had no idea; the small glimpses of his
own mind were maddening in their incompleteness.
He wandered the forest, pushing through the haze and the dense
undergrowth, feeling jittery in untamed surroundings. And he knew
that these were also the feelings of a Spacer pushing through his
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A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
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r r
mind. He didn t much like the forest; he longed for the order of the
city. But for a human being, this had its place. Untamed but finite,
aesthetically pleasing without being uncontrollable. This place existed
for the aesthetics for human aesthetics.
His foot hit something hard and uncompromising, and he tripped,
going hard to soft ground, getting mud all over himself. He turned to
the object that had caused his fall and found a small section of pipe
sticking out of the ground. A fog-like haze was pumping from the pipe,
the same haze that filled the entire area, and Derec began to see a
master plan at work here.
He stood, then ducked when he saw a shadow moving through the
haze not five meters from him. It was one of the robots. He listened
and could hear them thrashing through the brush all around. They
were slowly cordoning off the entire area, boxing him in.
He took a deep breath, then scrunched up into a ball and lay on the
ground, listening as they moved near him. The forest was built over
the reservoir so that condensing water could feed up to the trees from
beneath and nourish the roots directly. Further, the haze was
probably carbon dioxide vapor feeding the forest to promote health
and growth. Where did the CO2 come from? Perhaps a bleed-off from
their industrial processes, which could also explain the heat in the
reservoir area. The set-up was sophisticated and civilized, a city built
around its ecological needs. Was it all of robot design?
A metal foot clanked down just an arm s reach away from his position.
He stifled the urge to rise up for a breath of normal air. Within
seconds, the robot moved on.
As he heard the search party sweep past, he jumped to his feet and
charged back in the direction he had come. The robots were much
faster and stronger than he was, so he was going to have to make
things happen quickly at this point.
He reached the edge of the forest in minutes, and rushed to the place
where he had climbed up. The strut was already solid again, the steps
nowhere to be seen. He looked over the edge of the forest. It was ten
meters to the ground; jumping was out of the question.
You, Derec! came a robot voice behind. Stop now! Stop!
He sat on the ground and dangled his legs over the edge of the strut.
Steps miraculously formed again. He ran down just as several robots
reached the edge of the forest, calling for him to stop.
Amidst the confusion near the water treatment facility, he saw a large
flatbed vehicle, filled with what looked like broken computers, ready
to pull out. He took the last steps in leaps and charged the machine,
the robots behind already reaching the bottom of the stairs.
The truck pulled out before he reached it, but with a burst of speed, he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
had been tracking him within the reservoir moving through the exit
point to the outside. He looked back at the city, then up at the forest.
He would find escape in its random chaos.
Angling himself away from his pursuers, he ran back toward the huge
reservoir building, preparing to climb one of the struts that helped
support the outside edge of the forest. But as soon as he reached the
place and put his hands on the arched strut, it seemed to melt away,
changing into a gently sloping stairway.
He hurried up the stairs without a question and entered the forest.
The ground was moist and spongy, muddying his already-soaked
shoes. The trees were small, in many cases smaller than the
underbrush that grew thick around them. A haze seemed to fill the
entire forest, and the farther he plunged into it, the hazier it became.
Derec was no expert in vegetation, but he assumed the trees were all
offspring, many generations removed, of trees that had once grown
on Earth. Spacers, though hating to mention any connection to the
planet of their ancestry, nevertheless made it a point to bring Earth
vegetation and animal life to whatever planet they colonized. Where
he gotten such information, he had no idea; the small glimpses of his
own mind were maddening in their incompleteness.
He wandered the forest, pushing through the haze and the dense
undergrowth, feeling jittery in untamed surroundings. And he knew
that these were also the feelings of a Spacer pushing through his
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
mind. He didn t much like the forest; he longed for the order of the
city. But for a human being, this had its place. Untamed but finite,
aesthetically pleasing without being uncontrollable. This place existed
for the aesthetics for human aesthetics.
His foot hit something hard and uncompromising, and he tripped,
going hard to soft ground, getting mud all over himself. He turned to
the object that had caused his fall and found a small section of pipe
sticking out of the ground. A fog-like haze was pumping from the pipe,
the same haze that filled the entire area, and Derec began to see a
master plan at work here.
He stood, then ducked when he saw a shadow moving through the
haze not five meters from him. It was one of the robots. He listened
and could hear them thrashing through the brush all around. They
were slowly cordoning off the entire area, boxing him in.
He took a deep breath, then scrunched up into a ball and lay on the
ground, listening as they moved near him. The forest was built over
the reservoir so that condensing water could feed up to the trees from
beneath and nourish the roots directly. Further, the haze was
probably carbon dioxide vapor feeding the forest to promote health
and growth. Where did the CO2 come from? Perhaps a bleed-off from
their industrial processes, which could also explain the heat in the
reservoir area. The set-up was sophisticated and civilized, a city built
around its ecological needs. Was it all of robot design?
A metal foot clanked down just an arm s reach away from his position.
He stifled the urge to rise up for a breath of normal air. Within
seconds, the robot moved on.
As he heard the search party sweep past, he jumped to his feet and
charged back in the direction he had come. The robots were much
faster and stronger than he was, so he was going to have to make
things happen quickly at this point.
He reached the edge of the forest in minutes, and rushed to the place
where he had climbed up. The strut was already solid again, the steps
nowhere to be seen. He looked over the edge of the forest. It was ten
meters to the ground; jumping was out of the question.
You, Derec! came a robot voice behind. Stop now! Stop!
He sat on the ground and dangled his legs over the edge of the strut.
Steps miraculously formed again. He ran down just as several robots
reached the edge of the forest, calling for him to stop.
Amidst the confusion near the water treatment facility, he saw a large
flatbed vehicle, filled with what looked like broken computers, ready
to pull out. He took the last steps in leaps and charged the machine,
the robots behind already reaching the bottom of the stairs.
The truck pulled out before he reached it, but with a burst of speed, he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]