The Trilisk Ruins by Michael McCloskey Read Free Book Online Page B

It seemed
that he had done the same sorts of things back then as he did now,
wandering around through parts unknown with a rifle on his
shoulder. He fell asleep quickly with old memories of his childhood
adventures knocking around in his head.
    It was night when he climbed back into
the refueled copter and took to the air. Switching on his scanning
equipment, Joe searched for lifeforms. The devices he had were for
his usual job of cataloguing new species. Joe increased their
helpfulness by setting the computer to screen out creature types
which had already been catalogued; anything he detected would be
either new species or humans.
    Joe set a search pattern into the
computer and then let the copter fly itself over the dense expanse
of spiny trees. He realized that the search was going to be long
and perhaps futile. He thought about ways to increase his chances
of finding the smugglers. He remembered that the commander had
allocated one of the new satellites to gather data for his
search.
    Joe linked into the satellite network
to look over the information that had been obtained from orbit. He
looked over the raw maps, searching for anything that would give
him an idea. Something caught his eye—an electromagnetic anomaly on
the surface. It didn’t look like any kind of spaceship, but some
form of power generator was functioning on the planet—a big
one.
    Suddenly Joe had an idea. If this power
source was so prominent to him, it might be seen by the smugglers
as well. Which meant they might show up there. Since the robots
were wasting their time just sitting at the refueling station,
perhaps he should put them to use. He could set up an ambush at the
power source, tell the robots to wait there and then continue his
search. Joe liked the plan. If he couldn’t find the smugglers, he
might get lucky and get them to come to him.
    Joe hailed the robots waiting at the
refueling platform and set up a rendezvous near the odd readings.
They would meet close enough to walk towards it without alerting
anyone there. He broke the copter out of its current search pattern
and headed out.
    At the rendezvous Joe found that
finding a spot to set the little copter down in the middle of the
night was difficult. In the end he had to have the robots set the
hovercar down first and clear away a few trees before he could
land.
    Once on the ground, Joe converted the
second Series Seven to a combat program and designated them simply
One and Two. They each had an assault rifle of standard UNSF issue
and plenty of ammunition. Joe gave a backpack of miscellaneous gear
to Two to carry.
    “ There are no other UNSF
personnel on this continent,” Joe told them. “If we encounter
anyone, it’s safe to assume that they’re smugglers operating here
illegally. Shoot to kill.”
    “ We are to allow no
surrender, sir?” asked One.
    “ The smugglers waived their
surrender opportunity in an encounter with a UNSF ship in orbit of
this planet. We are now authorized to use lethal force in
apprehending them.”
    “ Yes, sir,” both robots
responded simultaneously. Joe waited the last half hour until
daylight, pacing about impatiently. Finally he decided that the
light had increased to a level that would be safe for him to walk
in.
    “ One of you to each flank,”
Joe said. He took a bearing using his satellite link and headed out
through the trees, cradling his rifle. The robots moved to either
side, holding their rifles in similar fashion.
    Joe remained linked with the
automatons, making use of their scanning information so he would
know if they detected any human signatures. Joe picked his way
through the spiny forest. The small battle group had made it
perhaps a hundred meters into the forest when a transmission came
in.
    “ This is Two. I am falling
out of formation due to inordinate difficulties negotiating the
terrain,” a voice said over the link.
    Joe rolled his eyes. “This wouldn’t
happen if I’d been assigned one of the Veer Leviathans,”