Second Variety and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick Read Free Book Online Page A

grunted.
    "It had tagged you about as far as it was going to."
    "Give me one of your cigarettes," the woman said. "I haven't had an American cigarette for
weeks."
    Hendricks pushed the pack to her. She took a cigarette and passed the pack to the two soldiers.
In the corner of the small room the lamp gleamed fitfully. The room was low-ceilinged, cramped. The
four of them sat around a small wood table. A few dirty dishes were stacked to one side. Behind a
ragged curtain a second room was partly visible. Hendricks saw the corner of a cot, some blankets,
clothes hung on a hook.
    "We were here," the soldier beside him said. He took off his helmet, pushing his blond hair back.
"I'm Corporal Rudi Maxer. Polish. Impressed in the Soviet Army two years ago." He held out his hand.
    Hendricks hesitated and then shook. "Major Joseph Hendricks."
    "Klaus Epstein." The other soldier shook with him, a small dark man with thinning hair. Epstein
plucked nervously at his ear. "Austrian. Impressed God knows when. I don't remember. The three of us
were here, Rudi and I, with Tasso." He indicated the woman. "That's how we escaped. All the rest were
down in the bunker."
    "And -- and they got in?"
    Epstein lit a cigarette. "First just one of them. The kind that tagged you. Then it let others in."
    Hendricks became alert. "The kind? Are there more than one kind?"
    "The little boy. David. David holding his teddy bear. That's Variety Three. The most effective."
    "What are the other types?"
    Epstein reached into his coat. "Here." He tossed a packet of photographs on to the table, tied
with a string. "Look for yourself."
    Hendricks untied the string.
    "You see," Rudi Maxer said, "that was why we wanted to talk terms. The Russians I mean. We
found out about a week ago. Found out that your claws were beginning to make up new designs on their
own. New types of their own. Better types. Down in your underground factories behind our lines. You
let them stamp themselves, repair themselves. Made them more and more intricate. It's your fault this
happened."
    Hendricks examined the photos. They had been snapped hurriedly; they were blurred and
indistinct. The first few showed David. David walking along a road, by himself. David and another David.
Three Davids. All exactly alike. Each with a ragged teddy bear.
    All pathetic.
    "Look at the others," Tasso said.
    The next picture, taken at a great distance, showed a towering wounded soldier sitting by the
side of a path, his arm in a sling, the stump of one leg extended, a crude crutch on his lap. Then two
wounded soldiers, both the same, standing side by side.
    "That's Variety One. The Wounded Soldier." Klaus reached out and took the pictures. "You
see, the claws were designed to get to human beings. To find them. Each kind was better than the last.
They got farther, closer, past most of our defenses, into our lines. But as long as they were merely
machines, metal spheres with claws and horns, feelers, they could be picked off like any other object.
They could be detected as lethal robots as soon as they were seen. Once we caught sight of them --"
    “Variety One subverted our whole north wing," Rudi said. "It was a long time before anyone
caught on. Then it was too late. They came in, wounded soldiers, knocking and begging to be let in. So
we let them in. And as soon as they were in they took over. We were watching out for machines..."
    we let them in. And as soon as they were in they took over. We were watching out for machines..."
    "Your line fell to --"
    "To Variety Three. David and his bear. That worked even better." Klaus smiled bitterly.
"Soldiers are suckers for children. We brought them in and tried to feed them. We found out the hard
way what they were after. At least, those who were in the bunker."
    "The three of us were lucky," Rudi said. "Klaus and I were -- were visiting Tasso when it
happened. This is her place." He waved a big hand around. "This little cellar. We...