Perihelion

Chapter 6. On The Run

His legs burned painfully and his back felt oddly stiff as he tried to hurry down the hallway. She was already ahead of him now and pulling him, rather than the reverse. Behind them, Euler was hesitating, his decision-making slowed by Derec’s accusation.

Ariel pulled Derec around a corner and down another hallway. “They’ve been reprogrammed,” Derec called to her, panting. “They must have been. If the robots had evolved new priorities themselves, they would still have the same personalities.”

“Shut up and come on!” She turned another corner.

Derec stumbled after her, forcing his legs to stretch out. “Look for an elevator!”

They skidded around another corner, trying to gain traction on the clean, polished floor. Her grip had slid to his hand, and their arms were fully outstretched as she pulled him along after her. She turned another corner, continuing a zigzag pattern.

“Do you know where you ‘re going?” Derec asked, as quietly as he could.

Ariel slowed to a halt at another intersection of hallways. No pursuit was evident yet, but in a building this size, the Supervisors could certainly marshall a large number of function robots to detect their presence. Some humanoid robots would undoubtedly be around to join the chase, also.

“No, I don’t know where I’m going,” she said.

Derec looked behind them and down the four halls that met where they were standing. “Where is everybody?” He gritted his teeth against the pains shooting through his legs and his back.

“Come on.” Ariel started again, then noticed he was still looking down the other hallways. She leaned back to grab his hand and pull him after her.

They turned several more corners, always looking for doorways or main hallways.

“There!” Ariel shouted, as they rounded one corner. “Isn’t that an elevator?”

“Worth a try,” he gasped, wheezing as his chest heaved for air. “Hit the button. I think we’re in real trouble.”

They waited anxiously, looking behind them as they waited. At last the door opened, and again the elevator was empty. They got inside and Ariel hit the bottom button.

Derec fell back against the wall for support and closed his eyes. “I hope nobody’s waiting for us when the door opens.”

“What did you mean, we’re in real trouble?”

“Two things. The way Euler acted, I think Avery reprogrammed all the Supervisors while we were gone. That means the whole city is operating under different rules. I’m also guessing that as soon as our presence was reported in Euler’s positronic brain, the central computer reported right to Avery, wherever he is.”

“Then why isn’t anyone chasing us?”

“I’m afraid…he’s ordered Hunter robots after us. And the others are simply staying at their regular duties.”

The elevator door opened into dim light. No one was waiting for them, however. Derec stepped out first, looking around.

They appeared to be in a small tunnel stop. In most of the others, the multiple tracks were visible from the loading area. Here, a wall isolated the siding, keeping it out of the sight of travelers passing on the main trunk.

Derec edged toward the siding and looked around. He could feel the rush of air moving past him from one side to the other as it blew in from the main tunnel. Ariel followed him.

“I pushed the ‘wait’ button,” she said. “They won’t be able to call this elevator back up.”

He nodded approval. “Come on.”

They crowded into the single platform booth waiting on the siding. He started to punch a code into the console, then hesitated.

“What’s wrong? We have to get away from here as fast as we can.” She tugged on his arm.

He entered a code for a tunnel stop just a short distance away and the booth started to move. “The tunnel computer is a branch of the central computer. As soon as someone asks, it will report our destination.”

“What?”

“That’s right.” He nodded grimly. “We have to get away from here and get out quick. If we ride too long, we’ll have a welcoming committee by the time we stop.”

The transparent booth followed the siding around a curve and onto one of the parallel tracks in the main tunnel. Derec looked around anxiously at the stolid robots riding nearby booths, but none showed any interest in them. On the other hand, the robots presented their customary expressionless aspects while riding the booths, and if one was scared enough -as Derec was now-they seemed stern.

A paranoid might easily imagine that they were secret escorts, not incidental travelers.

He shook his head angrily. That line of thought would make him as crazy as Avery.

Suddenly the booth slowed and swung into another siding. This was an ordinary stop, with a loading area fully visible from the main tunnel. That stop under the Compass Tower was the only disguised one Derec had ever seen.

“Nobody’s waiting for us,” said Ariel as the booth came to its carefully calculated stop. She stepped out onto the empty loading platform.

He came out behind her. “If Hunter robots are on the way, they may just be getting the coordinates now. They can pick up our trail here, though, without going to the Compass Tower at all. I-hey!”

“Derec, what is it now?” She wailed.

He whirled and leaned back into the platform booth. After a quick glance down the way they had come, he entered a series of further coordinates, punching codes as fast as he could remember them.

“Derec, let’s go.” She looked down the main tunnel anxiously herself. “What are you doing?”

“That’ll help.” He stepped out of the booth and it immediately took off down the siding.

“What did you do?” She asked as they stepped onto the moving ascent ramp.

“They’ll have to check all the destinations I entered.” He grinned, then winced at the pain in his legs. ”Maybe we got off here; maybe we rode on. They can’t know.”

“Do you think it’ll matter? Won’t they just call out more Hunters to cover every stop?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “If nothing else, it’ll spread out their resources some.”

They rode up into the sunlight and stepped out onto the street. He looked around, feeling totally exposed. As the only humans on the planet except for Avery, they could be spotted instantly virtually anywhere they were.

“Our only chance is if the Hunters are the only ones alerted to the chase,” he said, eyeing an approaching humanoid robot suspiciously. It was alone, with a number of varied function robots moving about on the street near it.

Ariel followed his gaze and lowered her voice. “When we were looking for Jeff, the whole planet cooperated in the alert, didn’t they?”

“They had the First Law giving them an extra push in that case,” said Derec. “In this case, I don’t know what they’ll do. If even the Supervisors have been reprogrammed, then new priorities may be in effect for the entire population.”

The humanoid robot walked past them without interest. Down the block, a couple of others were crossing the street away from them. They just didn’t react to Derec and Ariel’s presence.

“Shouldn’t we get out of here?” Ariel looked back down the tunnel stop. “We’re just standing around.”

“I’m thinking!” Derec whispered hoarsely. His legs were throbbing painfully. “We have to know where we’re going. We can’t just run down the sidewalk. I won’t last. “

“I’ve got it. Come on!” She grabbed his hand and started pulling him again.

He clenched his teeth at the shooting pains in his back and his legs as he hurried after her.

Mandelbrot was walking briskly down the sidewalk toward the Compass Tower with Wolruf trotting alongside. They were coming from the regular tunnel stop closest to the pyramid. Suddenly, ahead, the distinctive forms of two tall, powerful humanoid robots with multiple sensory apparati crossed an intersection in the distance on their way toward the Compass Tower. They were Hunter robots, programmed with a particularly high sensitivity to pattern recognition and detail.

Mandelbrot stopped abruptly.

“What iss the matter?” Wolruf asked as she came to a belated halt and looked up at him.

“Hunters,” said Mandelbrot. “Unless other intruders are present, our group is certainly their quarry. And they are going right to the Compass Tower.” He accessed the central computer. “Please inform me of any general alert that has been issued.”

“NONE,” said the central computer. “PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND YOUR DUTY TASK.”

“What is the current assignment of active Hunter robots?” Mandelbrot guessed that he could risk one suspicious question before the central computer would start a trace on his transmission.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND YOUR DUTY TASK,” the central computer repeated.

Mandelbrot broke the link. “I can’t get any significant information without endangering our position,” he said to Wolruf. “Since no general alert has been made, only the Hunters are a danger to us.”

“To uss?” Wolruf asked. “Or only to the ‘umanss?” She looked back toward the Compass Tower. “Ssee Hunterss now. Going away from uss to Tower.”

“We’ll have to assume that the alert is for our entire group. If Derec and Ariel have been identified, then we certainly were included. If they have only been identified as intruders, we may not have been.” Mandelbrot picked up Wolruf and placed her on his back, where she clung by herself.

“Now what?” Wolruf asked.

“I must take one more risk,” said Mandelbrot. He attempted to reach the terminal in the Compass Tower office. No response came back of any kind. “Puzzling,” said Mandelbrot.

“What?”

“I think Derec and Ariel must have left the office Even so, I would normally receive an acknowledgement of contact from the terminal and a request for a message.”

“Perrhaps the offiss is different,” said Wolruf. “Special arrangement forr Averry.”

“That is probable,” said Mandelbrot. “In any case, they are not answering. They have probably fled, which is fortunate. We have no way to reach them through my comlink, however, and no way of knowing where they are.”

“Follow Hunterss,” Wolruf said softly. “Iss only way.” Mandelbrot nodded agreement. “As long as they do not become aware of us. “

Mandelbrot took Wolruf to a slidewalk and they rode up to an overpass near the Compass Tower. It gave them a view of the front of the Compass Tower and several of its many sides. They could not watch every side, but this was a reasonable start.

Before long, five Hunter robots appeared from the front entrance of the Compass Tower. Two of them immediately headed for the tunnel stop that Mandelbrot and Wolruf had just used. Another pair mounted a slidewalk and took a path roughly at a right angle to the previous pair. The last Hunter remained on the stationary sidewalk, within the right angle formed by the routes of the two pairs.

“Good news,” said Mandelbrot. ‘They have not caught their quarry, nor are they confident of doing so immediately.”

“Bad newss,” hissed Wolruf. ‘They know what direction to look in. We musst ‘urry, or will lose them.”

“Granted.” Mandelbrot was already back on the moving slidewalk, keeping as many of the Hunters in sight as long as he could. The first pair was soon out of sight, down the tunnel stop. The second pair was moving quickly on the slidewalk and was intermittently visible between various buildings. Mandelbrot and Wolruf had now descended the overpass and were coming around a curve. Not too far ahead, the last Hunter was just mounting the same segment of slidewalk.

“‘Ope ‘e doessn’t come thiss way,” said Wolruf.

The Hunter did not. It was going away from them and was clearly in a hurry. Instead of just standing, it was walking forward even as it rode and Mandelbrot had to keep pace.

“Not too close,” Wolruf said.

“Nor can we afford to lose it. Further, I speculate that other Hunters may have left the Compass Tower from exits out of our sight. We must remain on the alert for others. As we approach the humans, the Hunters will all begin to converge.”

“Then what do we do?” Wolruf asked.

“I don’t know.”