He was about to say something to that effect when Benjamin’s head jerked up suddenly. The chim put a hand to his ear, listening to a small receiver. A look of alarm spread across his face.
The other chims must have heard the same report, for they stumbled to their feet, staring up at Robert in growing panic.
“Captain Oneagle, Central reports acoustic signatures to the northeast. Gasbots!”
“Estimated time of arrival?”
“Four minutes! Please, captain, will you come now?”
“Come where?” Robert shrugged. “We can’t possibly make the caves in time.”
“We can hide you.” But from the tone of dread in his voice, Benjamin clearly knew it was useless.
Robert shook his head. “I’ve got a better idea. But it means we have to cut our little debate short. You must accept that I’m out here for a valid reason, Chim Benjamin. At once!”
— The chim stared at him, then nodded tentatively. “I — Idon’t have any choice.”
“Good,” Robert said. “Now take off your clothes.”
“S-serr…”
“Your clothes! And that sonic receiver of yours! Have everybody in your party strip. Remove everything! As you love your patrons, leave on nothing but skin and hair, then come join me up in those trees at the top of the scree!”
Robert did not wait for the blinking chim to acknowledge the strange command. He turned and took off upslope, favoring the foot most cut up by pebbles and twigs since his early morning foray had begun.
How much time remained? he wondered. Even if he was correct — and Robert knew he was taking a terrible gamble — he would still need to get as much altitude as possible.
He could not help scanning the sky for the expected robot bombers. The preoccupation caused him to stumble and fall to his knees as he reached the crest. He skinned them further crawling the last two meters to the shade under the nearest of the dwarf trees. According to his theory it wouldn’t matter much whether or not he concealed himself. Still, Robert sought heavy cover. The Gubru machines might have simple optical scanners to supplement their primary homing mechanism.
He heard shouting below, sounds of chims in fierce argument. Then, from somewhere to the north, there came a faint, whining sound.
Robert backed further into the bushes, though sharp twigs scratched his tender skin. His heart beat faster and his mouth was dry. If he was wrong, or if the chims decided to ignore his command…
If he had missed a single bet he would soon be on his way to internment at Port Helenia,’ or dead. In any event, he would have left Athaclena all alone, the sole patron remaining in the mountains, and spent the remaining minutes or years of his life cursing himself for a bloody fool.
Maybe Mother was right about me. Maybe I am nothing but a useless playboy. We’ll soon see.
There was a rattling sound — rocks sliding down the boulder scree. Five brown shapes tumbled into the foliage just as the approaching whine reached its crescendo. Dust rose from the dry soil as the chims turned quickly and stared, wide-eyed. An alien machine had come to the little valley.
From his hiding place Robert cleared his throat. The chims, obviously uncomfortable without their clothes, started in tense surprise. “You guys had better have thrown everything away, including your mikes, or I’m getting out of here now and leaving you behind.”
Benjamin snorted. “We’re stripped.” He nodded down into the valley. “Harry an’ Frank wouldn’t do it. I told ’em to climb the other slope and stay away from us.”
Robert nodded. With his companions he watched the gasbot begin its run. The others had witnessed this phenomenon, but he had not been in much shape to observe during the one opportunity he’d had before. Robert looked on with more than a passing interest.
It measured about fifty meters in length, teardrop-shaped, with scanners spinning slowly at the pointed, trailing end. The gasbot cruised the valley from their right to their left, disturbed foliage rustling beneath its throbbing gravities.
It seemed to be sniffing as it zigzagged up the canyon — and vanished momentarily behind a curve in the bordering hills.
The whine faded, but not for long. Soon the sound returned, and the machine reappeared shortly after. This time a dark, noxious cloud trailed behind, turbulent in its wake. The gasbot passed back down the narrow vale and laid its thickest layer of oily vapor where the chims had left their clothes and equipment.
“Coulda sworn those mini-corns couldn’t have been detected,” one of the naked chims muttered.
“We’ll have to go completely without electronics on the outside,” another added unhappily, watching as the device passed out of sight again. The valley bottom was already obscured.
Benjamin looked at Robert. They both knew it wasn’t over yet.
The high-pitched moan returned as the Gubru mechanism cruised back their way, this time at a higher altitude. Its scanners worked the hills on both sides.
The,machine stopped opposite them. The chims froze, as if staring into the eyes of a rather large tiger. The tableau held for a moment. Then the bomber began moving at right angles to its former path.
Away from them.
In moments the opposite hill was swathed in a cloud of black fog. From the other side they could hear coughing and loud imprecations as the chims who had climbed that way cursed this Gubru notion of better living through chemistry.
The robot began to spiral out and higher. Clearly the search pattern would soon bring it above the Earthlings on this side.
“Anybody got anything they didn’t declare at customs?” Robert asked, dryly.
Benjamin turned to one of the other neo-chimps. Snapping his fingers, he held out his hand. The younger chim glowered and opened his hand. Metal glittered.
Benjamin seized the little chain and medallion and stood up briefly to throw it. The links sparkled for just a moment, then disappeared into the murky haze downslope.
“That may not have been necessary,” Robert said. “We’ll have to experiment, lay out different objects at various sites and see which get bombed. …” He was talking as much for morale as for content. As much for his morale as for theirs. “I suspect it’s something simple, quite common, but imported to Garth, so its resonance will be a sure sign of Earthly presence.”
Benjamin and Robert shared a long look. No words were needed. Reason or rationalization. The next ten seconds would tell whether Robert was right or disastrously wrong.
It might be us it detects, Robert knew. Ifni. What if they can tune in on human DNA?
The robot cruised overhead. They covered their ears and blinked as the repulsor fields tickled their nerve endings. Robert felt a wave of déjà vu, as if this were something he and the others had done many times, through countless prior lives. Three of the chims buried their heads in their arms and whimpered.
Did the machine pause? Robert felt suddenly that it had, that it was about to …
Then it was past them, shaking the tops of trees ten meters away… twenty… forty. The search spiral widened and the gasbot’s whining engine sounds faded slowly with distance. The machine moved on, seeking other targets.
Robert met Benjamin’s eyes again and winked.
The chim snorted. Obviously he felt that Robert should not be smug over being right. That was, after all, only a patron’s job.
Style counted, too. And Benjamin clearly thought Robert might have chosen a more dignified way to make his point.
Robert would go home by a different route, avoiding any contact with the still-fresh coercion chemicals. The chims tarried long enough to gather their things and shake out the sooty black powder. They bundled up their gear but did not put the clothes back on.