'We need to talk about what you just said,' Laura quickly typed, 'but right now I've got to ask you something.' Laura glanced up at the robot — then at the gantry separating from the rocket on the launch pad.
Red beacons flashed all up and down the metal frame. 'I'm on the computer center roof, and—'
<You're not on the computer center roof,> the computer interrupted.
Laura felt her anxiety skyrocket. 'Yes, I am.'
<That's in the restricted area!>
'Thirty seconds to launch. Thirty seconds.'
'Mr. Gray said to find some place where I could watch the launch, so I thought—'
<Laura, get up. Run as fast as you can to the side of the computer center opposite the launch pads. Curl up on the ground. Close your eyes. Jam your thumbs in your ears. And open your mouth as wide as you can. Go… NOW!>
'But why?' she typed. 'I don't understand what—'
<You're too close! I can't stop the launch safely now! Go! Run as fast as you can!>
'Fifteen seconds,' the loudspeaker said.
Laura threw the portable down and bolted toward the opposite side of the roof. All of the air shafts were pointed away from the launch pads — shielded by concrete. Why hadn't she noticed that before?
'Ten seconds, nine, eight' — she'd never make it—'seven, six, five' — she was flying toward the edge—'four, three, two, one.'
There was silence, and then the gates of hell opened behind her.
She saw her long shadow in the hot light that burned her exposed arms and neck. The air around her shook as she came up on the edge of the roof with terrifying speed. The night flared with the radiant fire of a furious chemical burn.
'A-a-ah!' she shouted, the high-pitched scream cut off by a crashing roar of the rockets' blasts.
She was in the air — flying and falling. She had time to look beneath her at the sloping wall. Her feet touched concrete and she raced down the steep incline, but only for two steps. On her third, her toe dragged and all was lost. Her heart and lungs froze as one inside her chest. And she fell… tumbling, petrified, in an unending series of jarring, scraping, uncontrollable blows.
Laura woke to pain from a dozen places. Her ears were ringing, each tone like the jab of an ice pick against her eardrum. Her head, her left knee, and her right shoulder and arm all ached. The inventory of her injuries grew with each jolt and sway. She was being carried.
Her eyes shot open. She was appalled at how far below her the ground was. She looked up into the face of a Model Eight.
A kind of scream she'd never made before erupted from her lungs and tore with painful force past her larynx. Her kicking brought more pain — pain from her injuries, and pain from the tightening of the robot's grip. Reason prevailed over fear, and with the greatest of efforts Laura managed to lie perfectly still, her fate in the machine's arms.
Without turning her head, she tried to determine where she was. The robot was walking slowly parallel with the wall of the computer center. There was no one anywhere in sight. High in the sky above she could see three smudgy streaks of smoke brightly lit the crisscrossing beams of powerful spotlights. The stench of exhaust filled the air. The rockets were gone, but not long gone.
'Would you…' she croaked from her dry throat, then was wracked by coughs that sent still more pain shooting through her body. 'Would you put me down?' she managed, but the robot showed no sign of having heard her.
'Please?' He continued on, totally unfazed.
Laura looked around again. He was not taking her toward the jungle, but toward the computer center entrance.
She remembered seeing the Model Eight on the lawn returning from its patrol of the beach. She looked back up at his face, just two feet away. 'Hightop.' His pace slowed, and he glanced down at her, then resumed his purposeful stride.
She heard the sound of screeching tires and looked up at the road by the computer center entrance. From the car emerged a lone figure.
It was dark, but she knew who it was and she relaxed in the robot's arms, allowing the pain to again stab at her.
'Laura!' Gray shouted from some distance — sprinting toward her.
'I'm o-kay,' she replied, while staring straight up at the sky, wincing at the jabs of pain caused by the effort.
She knew he had arrived when the robot stopped.
'Give her to me please, Hightop,' Gray said in a normal tone.
The robot carefully lowered her toward Gray's waiting arms.
'Wait!' Laura said, and Hightop froze.
Laura looked up into the expressionless face directly above her. It had two shiny black lenses for eyes. A slightly raised and vented triangle for a nose. Thin metal pores surrounded by raised fringes where a mouth should be. Ears covered in black foam like over a microphone.
She again got the distinct impression of a man inside a space suit. Only the scale of the machine defied the description.
Laura brought the tips of her fingers to her lips and kissed, then raised them to the robot's cheek. The light gray membrane gave slightly under her fingertips. It was so smooth, so soft… but it was unexpectedly cold to the touch.
Hightop handed her gently to Gray, and Laura tried not to cry out in pain.
Gray stared down at her through eyes sick with worry. He held her high in his arms and tight to his body, his face close to hers. He lowered his forehead onto her shoulder and rested it there for a moment — his head next to hers. He then opened his eyes and started for the road.
He carried her in silence — his eyes straight ahead.
After a short distance, Laura said, 'I can probably walk,' although she wasn't entirely sure. Gray continued on without responding, every bit as talkative as the robot. 'How did you know where I was?' she asked.
'The computer,' he replied without looking down.
'Did the launches go all right?'
'What the hell were you doing in the restricted area?' he shot at her, his teeth bared in anger. He shook his head, his eyes still fixed on some far-off point. 'On the roof of the goddamn computer center, for Christ's sake?'
'You can put me down right now,' she said in a tone as loud and as unfriendly as his had been. Gray didn't bother to look at her.
'Put me down!' she said, kicking her feet.
With his jaw set firmly, Gray stopped. She half expected him to dump her straight onto the grassy lawn, but he lowered her gently to her feet.
She hurt all over, but she could put weight on her feet and she tried as best as she could to straighten up.
'You didn't answer my question!' he snapped.
'You told me to get a good view of your little fireworks show!' she shot back. He glared at her. 'I broke one of your little rules, so sue me!'
'Why do you think we call this the restricted area? Because I'm some kind of security freak? We're less than half a mile from pad A!' he shouted, throwing his arm up in the direction of the nearby launch facility. 'The radiant heat alone could've given you first-, maybe second-degree burns. And God forbid we had to abort at low altitude or something went wrong on a pad!'
His outburst changed Laura's mood entirely. Rather than feeling her anger feed off his, she felt it wash away. 'I'm okay,' she said softly as she reached up to put a hand on his arm.
Gray opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Slowly he filled his lungs with air, which he then expelled noisily. He calmed, seemingly exhausted by the effort.
With a sudden jerk of his head he looked up to the sky. A heartbeat later Laura heard the sound of jet engines through the thick cotton in her ears. Sharp whines rose to a sudden roar, which caused both of them to
