One of the birds flew lower and made an awkward kind of heavy-flapping hover. The bird had dark plumage, with blue stripes along the sides of its body. The bird stared at Matti-Jay for a moment before flapping off.
Esgee strode back and forth. As if agitated.
Matti-Jay sat up. She looked around. Out over the ocean storm clouds were forming again. The sunny day had been an illusion, really. It was going to storm again later.
The dunes here were closer to the shore. Higher, and with thicker vegetation. A stream ran through, cutting a channel through the sand, weaving back and forth.
“Better food up here?” Matti-Jay said. “Is that why you brought me?”
Of course it wasn’t. She stood and stared back the way they’d come. The whole way, Dub had held her facing ahead. She’d craned around to look back, but Dub’s body was in the way. She hadn’t been able to see much at all.
Now she could see.
The other robot, the very tall one, was far back down along the beach. The robot had six spindly legs, unlike Dub and Esgee who only had four apiece.
The big robot definitely stood over fifty meters tall. Maybe sixty, sixty-five. As high as a twenty story building.
The robot’s head was bigger than the Blue Defender’s cabin. The robot’s body bristled with antennas and arms and other things too distant for her to really make out.
Really, it was just its size.
It towered over everything.
“Where has it been?” Matti-Jay said. “Hiding out in the dunes? Lying down?”
Neither of her robot friends replied.
“Great. But it’s a bother, right? Kind of not a nice guy to have around.”
Why else would Dub and Esgee have run? They were the nice guys and this big robot was more like the dragon? Destructive and unpredictable.
“Blue Defender,” Matti-Jay said. She took a step. “What’s it going to do?”
Next thing, she was running. Sprinting back along the beach.
Blue Defender was all she had. If this robot thing destroyed it, what was left? How would she contact Charlie and the others? How would she get to them?
Dub made an odd sound. Like a bird squawking. Matti-Jay kept running.
The other robot was definitely doing something. It had three legs on the ground, but the other legs were moving up and down. It was lifting things from the beach.
Pieces of her ship.
“No!” Matti-Jay kept running. “Stop! Stop it! You hear me?”
How could it hear her? She was kilometers away.
“Stop!” she screamed.
Bad enough to be wrecked here. But at least she had somewhere warm and dry to sleep. Food to eat and a way to talk with the others.
The big robot stopped.
It turned. Toward her.
Matti-Jay slowed.
The big robot put its three raised legs back down on the beach. It took a step toward her.
“Uh-oh,” she said.
Something hit her from behind. Slammed her to the sand. It went in her mouth. She rolled and spat. Found herself staring up at Dub.
“Thanks a whole lot,” she said.
Dub said nothing. It reached out for her with the pads.
“I guess you don’t want to bother the big guy, huh?” Matti-Jay said.
Dub grabbed her up again. Lifted her high and started running.
Straight toward the dunes. Toward the stream.
In moments they were splashing along at the stream’s edge. Away from the coast. Heading into the higher dunes and thickening vegetation.
From behind came that deep hoot again.
Following them.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Small birds darted around the pine-like trees that lined the stream. The birds had dark brown plumage and long tendril feathers that trailed behind their heads. They seemed inquisitive about Dub and Esgee as the pair of robots tromped their way up the shallow stream. The birds flew around, peering and peeping, and sometimes even landing on Esgee’s head or back.
The stream’s banks were steep and the trees were small and gnarled. In places the sandy soil had fallen away, exposing thick twisted roots. The hardy trees held the old dunes together, even as the stream eroded its path.
The banks were high. Maybe ten meters. Well above the top of Dub and Esgee’s bodies. The stream was a smart place to come. It kept them well hidden.
The smell hanging in the air was sweet and fresh. A heady mix of pine sap and needles and humus and animals. So different from the stark, salty air back at the beach.
The beach where that giant robot was tearing up the Blue Defender.
Nothing Matti-Jay could do about it. Certainly not while held in Dub’s grip.
She wanted to get back there. See what she could salvage. The impression she had was that the big robot was giving chase. The way that Dub and Esgee had responded when it had first shown up suggested that there was some history there. A background of not getting on.
Was the big robot like the dragon up in orbit? Dangerous and out of control. Were most of the automatons here on Ludelle benign and helpful, like Dub and Esgee? Matti-Jay was guessing that there were an awful lot of robots around. Maybe there were a few that caused problems out of proportion to their numbers.
Matti-Jay still had no idea what any of the purpose of the robots was anyway. Scientific investigation? Clean-up? Or maybe just created for the fun of it? Like a hobby.
A ways up the stream, Dub came to a stop. Esgee took a few more strides, the water splashing around its feet. Esgee stopped too and looked around. There were long, sleek fish in the stream. They peered up through the dark surface, looking with big eyes at Matti-Jay and the robots.
From farther back through the dunes came the hooting sound again.
“That’s your big friend?” Matti-Jay said. She was growing uncomfortable with Dub’s hand pads pressed against her side. “Is it following us?”
Neither of her robots answered. They stood staring at each other. Doubtless communicating in their own way.
“Well?” Matti-Jay said. “Is there a plan?”
Another hoot, followed by a crashing, cracking sound. As if the big robot had knocked down a tree.
“You can’t outrun it, right?” Matti-Jay said. “Its stride is more like ten of yours. Even with our headstart, it’ll catch up soon.”
More crashing. The thing was just striding across the top of the dunes.
Matti-Jay glanced back, but couldn’t see around Dub’s body.
“You know,” she said, “we should at least get moving. You know, to keep at least some distance while we figure out a plan.”
Dub made a cooing sound, and Esgee responded. Esgee turned and ran into the trees on the steep bank. There was a slight gap there. Almost a path.
Sand skittered down from below Esgee’s feet as it clambered up the steep bank. Farther along something barked and darted away. A medium-sized animal, like a deer or a pig. Something happily foraging until disturbed by the racing robot.
Matti-Jay caught a glimpse of a speckled brown and white rump and maybe some small antlers. The animal vanished into the trees.
Again there came crashing from behind. Another hoot.
“So,” Matti-Jay said. “Dub? Are we just going to stand here waiting? Doesn’t seem like such a good plan to m–”
Dub jerked ahead. They splashed along in the stream for another twenty or thirty meters. Going around a slight bend to the left.
Ahead lay a small beach on the stream. On the inside curve, where it looped back to the right.
The beach was sandy and loamy, with a few rocks scattered on it, and a few patches of thicker grass. The opposite side of the stream there had a much steeper bank. Undercut with trees hanging out and roots draped in the water. A couple of trees had fallen and died, their trunks lying canted into the water. Eddies and swirls of water swung away from them.
It was just a natural bend in the river. The kind of thing that would
become an oxbow lake in a couple of hundred years if the water kept eroding away and cut off the beach. This might be an alien world, with odd vegetation and animals, and a whole missing civilization, but simple physics was the same anywhere. Water looked for the easiest way down. It cut channels to get there.
Dub stepped up onto the small, low beach. Up behind, the bank rose slowly. There were larger trees and animal paths. Dub strode into the trees and slowly climbed, following one of the paths.
Dub might have been tiny compared to the huge new robot, but Dub was still much bigger than any of the animals that had made the path. Dub’s body pressed through the trees. Branches swished and scraped. Some of them cracked. Some of them slapped into Matti-Jay’s face.
“Careful,” she said, but in a whisper.
Another loud hoot came from much too nearby. The big robot. Still crashing through the thin dune forest.
Dub moved slowly. It brought her to the top of the rise and set her down. Matti-Jay’s sides tingled from the release. Circulation returning.
Dub hunkered down, and, automatically, Matti-Jay crouched. Even though the top of Dub’s body was still above her head. They were still hidden in the trees and other vegetation. There was a little pile of black-brown animal scat against one of the trunks.
Dub’s two hand pads folded back on their arms into the slot in the front of Dub’s body. A whirring sound followed and something fell from the slot.
A meal pack.
The same as the one she’d shown the robot. A small solid plastic tray, with vacuum sealed transparent plastic over the top, holding food in place. Frankly it looked delicious.
Matti-Jay smiled. “You, my friend, need to work on your timing.”
Another pack came out and landed with a thump on the sand. Followed by another. Matti-Jay picked one up. It had the right weight and feel.
Out came one of Dub’s hands again, this time without a pad. The tips of the robotic fingers reached past Matti-Jay
“What?” Matti-Jay said. She looked around, following the line of the hand.
Dub was pointing at a blocky artificial structure. It was like the one she’d seen from the dunes during her first, ill-fated expedition to see the lay of the land.
White, with sheer sides. Three or four stories high. Flat walls. No windows, though. Just flat, slightly metallic sides. A small structure sticking up from the roof, and some cables draped around.
Hidden down in a dune valley. Some creepers growing over the sides. Some dune sand piled around the seaward side. As if the landscape was slowly burying the building.
This one, though, had a door. Or at least an opening, in the side. Dark and rectangular. There was a wide open sandy area in front of the door. Big enough to put up another building.
“You want I should go in there?” she said.
Dub said nothing. The arm withdrew. Another meal pack dropped from the slot.
“You know,” she said, “This is good.” With Blue Defender probably wrecked, this looked hopeful. A source of food.
Assuming, of course, that Dub had actually made something edible. Not toxic.
“Don’t know how I’m going to cook it, though.” Matti-Jay looked at the pack. It even had its label. Beef Lasagna.
Crashing came from nearby.
Something burst up through the trees.
Matti-Jay saw it. The big robot. Coming right at them.
How had she not seen it?
Dub tapped her shoulder. Pointed again at the blocky building.
“You think I–”
Something swung through the trees. Heavy and big. It smacked Dub aside.
Smashing through Dub’s body. Breaking it into hundreds of pieces. Thousands.
“No!” Matti-Jay screamed
The big robot stomped on. It swung back around.
Matti-Jay jerked back.
Dub was gone. Just pieces. Just broken bits. Components and metal and struts and screws. She swallowed.
Dub’s head slammed onto the ground beside her.
The big robot came around. Big leg swinging again.
Matti-Jay rolled. The leg whipped by. Missing by a fraction of an inch.
Matti-Jay grabbed one of the meals. She scrambled. Raced downslope.
Heading for the blocky structure.
Chapter Thirty Nine
The interior of the blocky building was cold. Cold and dark. Dark and damp. And it stank of decay.
Matti-Jay could barely see more than a couple of meters inside the doorway. The floor was gritty with sand and leaves. The debris thinned out a little way in.
Abandoned and decaying and damp. Like some old building in any dead community. Trails of sand and leaves lay there, where stormy rain had blustered in, creating momentary creeks. Dried out now.
Matti-Jay gasped for breath. She’d sprinted down the slope. Stumbling and shoving through branches. The big robot was still up on the hill. Picking over the remains of Dub.
Matti-Jay crouched rested her hands on her knees, half-crouched over. Her muscles ached. Somehow she still had the meal Dub had made her. Clasped in her fingers.
She let it go. The meal pack landed with a quiet thump.
Matti-Jay stepped back out through the door. A fine drizzle had started, wetting her hair and clothes. That weather she’d seen earlier, coming through from the bay.
The big robot dominated the skyline. Even though it was crouched at the top of the nearby dune. Right where Matti-Jay had started.
The big robot looked so imposing this close up. Red and gray-red panels on its sides. Long antennas sticking up from all around. The mounts where its legs joined into the body were huge. Bigger than the whole of Dub’s body.
At least, bigger than Dub’s body had been.
The big robot seemed to have extra appendages. Reaching down and picking things up. Pieces of Dub’s body.
Matti-Jay closed her eyes. She sniffed.
How could she be feeling sad about Dub? It was a robot.
Who’d helped her. Protected her from the cats. Made her new boots. Made her meals.
Everything was wrong now. Everything.
The rain grew harder. Beginning to pelt in. A rumble of thunder came from the distance.
She’d lost her shelter too. The Blue Defender. Lost contact with the others.
Matti-Jay stood. Took a deep breath. The rain was heavy. Soaking through her clothes. Rivulets ran down her back.
Quiet fell up on the dune.
Matti-Jay looked around. The rain drove in at her eyes. Stinging.
The big robot moved. Raising itself up. Pieces of Dub fell from its appendages.
The big robot moved. Coming down the dune toward her.
Matti-Jay gasped. She stumbled back. Bumped into the wall.
Where was the door?
The robot hooted at her. It was coming fast.
Chapter Forty
The building was solid against Matti-Jay’s back. She scrambled.
The sound of the robot was loud. Over the rain. Another peel of thunder rolled in. Loud and close.
The robot kept coming down the dune. Its legs smashed through the branches of the gnarly trees. Sand and grasses flew from its feet. The robot came at her fast. Real fast.
Matti-Jay grabbed at the building’s door. The edge was sharp against her hand. She scrambled around. Looked for the door.
Where was it?
The thumps of the robot’s feet on the ground were loud. Getting louder.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
Focus.
Matti-Jay’s feet slipped. The sandy ground was slick with rain already. She pulled herself forward. Hit her knees.
The robot hooted. It had to be just a few meters back.
Thunder cracked.
The rain was hard. Like a waterfall. How had it gotten so strong so quickly?
Matti-Jay glanced back.
The big robot was right there.
Coming at her.
Matti-Jay jerked forward.
Scrambled through the door. In through the sandy floor. Through the leaves.
Her hand bumped the meal pack. She grabbed it. Kept moving.
Into the dark. Dull shapes around her. Another wall? A stairway?
It was so dark. The robot clanked and growled near the door. Something banged. The robot. Trying to get inside?
It was bigger than the doorway.
Matti-Jay stopped. She couldn’t see anyway. There was even less light with the robot blocking the opening.
Matti-Jay stopped. She had no idea what was ahead of her. For all she knew there was some hole in the floor. Or some half-shelf that would bang her head. She could fall. Get knocked out. Anything.
Breathing hard, she stood. Watched back at the doorway.
Was the robot going to break its way in? At least maybe that would give her more light. She could figure out her next move.
She was soaked. Cold. Grubby from scrambling on the ground. Her hand throbbed. Had she cut it when she’d grabbed at the door? She hadn’t even felt it then.
The robot clanked around the doorway. It had lowered itself right into the gap. Its body blocked the space.
The thing’s body had to be about as high as the building itself. Some appendage reached through the doorway gap.
The doorway was about human-sized. Did that mean anything?
Why would she even think of that now? Clearly here was another leftover machine out to wreak destruction.
Out to kill her.
Her focus needed to be on staying alive. Not on comparing architecture.
The appendage reached around. Groping. Unsighted.
Right now the robot’s size was to its disadvantage. Just too big to get at her.
Matti-Jay slid her feet back. Her new boots scraped on the floor. She was away from the main area of debris but there was still sand on the floor. She put her hand back. Reaching out behind. Checking for anything as she moved.
How long was that appendage? Four, five meters? Could it extend any more?
Matti-Jay slitted her eyes. She needed them to adjust to the darkness. Needed to be able to find her way around.
The appendage swung around right in front of her. She felt wind from its passage. There was a set of fingers on the end.
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