'Wonderful,' came the robot's voice.
'You don't sound happy.'
'Things could be better.'
'Do you want to ride up here in the cab?' I asked.
'If you want me to.'
'As a matter of fact, you might be of some help.' I scratched my beard stubble. 'Trouble is, you probably can't squeeze through the access tube.'
'If you're talking about that hatch at the front end of the trailer, you're probably right,' Arthur said. 'Actually, I may be able to do more good back here. I have some of the ship's sensors activated.'
'Do you know where we are?'
'Only generally. What we want to do is to find an access terminal that will allow us to plug into the computer network that runs Microcosmos.'
I looked at Sam, who chuckled. 'Uh, I think we were on our way to one when we got lost,' I said.
'I know all about it, I was listening in. Yes, that's where that maintenance robot was taking us, I think, though you were probably wise to play it safe, even if we did get lost. No matter, there must a terminal around here somewhere.'
We meandered for a while longer, touring the guts of the machine that was Microcosmos.
Presently Bruce announced: 'I have made contact with an Artificial Intelligence who seems to act in the capacity of a supervisor, of sorts.'
'I'm linked with it, too,' Arthur said through the intercom circuit, which I'd left open.
'It's a subsystem coordinator. Get off the line, Bruce. I'll handle it.'
'Very well,' Bruce said.
Moments passed until I grew impatient. 'What's up, Arthur?'
'Hold your pants on,' Arthur said peevishly. 'I'm being routed up through the hierarchy.'
More time passed in silence.
'Okay,' Arthur finally said with a sigh. 'You may find this hard to believe-I did-but the artificial brains in charge of running the machinery of Microcosmos don't seem to know about Prime. At least I couldn't get any sort of recognition out of them. However, they do seem to know about the Goddess. She seems to swing a lot of influence around here-which makes sense when you think about all the trouble we've been having.'
'Exactly,' I said. 'And that may mean we'll never get off this pancake alive.'
'Don't give up hope, dearie. We do have some friends on this world. I've managed to get a message to the industrial facility where we hid out before. I got a reply. It looks like they'd be delighted to have us back, and we can travel there under their auspices.'
'They can guarantee us safe passage?' I asked skeptically.
'Practically. The situation has grown into a sort of an internal political tussle. I don't think the Goddess will want to interfere, at least not at this point.'
'Okay,' I said. 'How do we get to the plant from here?'
'I've arranged for transportation. We're taking the train. And if you take that ramp to the right, we should reach the station in about ten minutes.'
I followed Arthur's directions, and ten minutes later on the dot we entered a high-ceilinged chamber bathed in red light. The layout of the place was complex, but you could see that a wide, slightly concave track or raised platform ran through the middle of it all. Suddenly things started shooting by at phenomenal speed-odd machinery, huge wrecking cranes like the one that had collared us, unidentifiable gadgets and doodads, all skimming along and levitating slightly above the track.
'What do we do now?' I asked Arthur.
'Sit tight.'
A few moments later a gigantic crane arm reached out of a crimson shadow, picked the rig up, swung it out over the track, and lowered it down. A force caught us, and we were whisked away along the track at tremendous acceleration. It nearly broke my neck.
Eventually the G-forces fell off and our speed steadied.
'I nearly got killed back here,' Arthur complained over the intercom. 'All this loose junk… and that stupid damned automobile!'
'You okay?' I asked.
'I'll live.'
'I thought you weren't alive in the conventional sense.'
'I wouldn't be able to stand it.'
Our speed was fantastic; everything outside was a blur. We shot through another huge chamber in the blink of an eye, entered a tunnel and sped through it, hurtling toward a mote of pink light.
'Jake?' It was Darla.
'Yeah?'
'Did Arthur say what I thought he said?'
I nodded. 'Yeah, it's back there.'
Darla was thunderstruck. 'Jake, how?'
'I don't know,' I said.
'But…' She groaned, exasperated. 'Which one is it? The one Carl created, or the one…?'
'You were saying?'
'Oh, Jake, I'm confused.'
'You're confused.' Then I remembered something Prime had told me. Everything will be returned to you.
We plunged headlong into darkness, periodically flashing in and out of eye-stabbing light. Our speed must have been something close to five hundred kph, but I didn't feel like asking Bruce to confirm it. I kept my grip tight on the control bars and my left foot heavy on the brake pedal; there was no telling when I might suddenly regain control.
'Arthur,' I called. 'How far?'
'How far to the plant? Oh, I don't know. At this speed we'll be there in a few more minutes.'
He was right. It wasn't long before we began to decelerate at a mercifully gentle rate.
'Now, if I can't get the spacetime ship started again,' Arthur went on, 'you can make a dash for the central portal. The plant is about a half day's drive from it, as the crow flies.'
'We'd never make it,' I told him. 'Any chance of taking the train to a point near enough to the portal so that we'd have at least a fighting chance?'
'I'll work on it,' Arthur said. Then he heaved a mortal sigh and lamented, 'This was a peaceful world before you humans arrived.'
I asked, 'Was anything at all going on before we arrived?'
'No. And that's just the way I like it.'
'Sorry, but coming here wasn't our idea.'
'I know, I know,' he acknowledged grudgingly.
We had come to a full stop inside another station, and another crane lifted us off the track and deposited us on a high ramp. I started the engine and drove off, again following Arthur's directions.
'How the hell can you see outside?' I interrupted.
'I told you, I'm partially hooked into the ship's sensorium. Seeing through walls is child's play.'
'Oh, sure,' I said.
'Never mind. Make the first right.'
I did, running up a wide ramp that went through a large rectangular opening. We entered an area that looked like a loading dock, and something about it was familiar.
'We should be here,' Arthur said.
'I am in contact with the plant foreman,' Bruce said.
'Put him on,' I said.
There was a pause. 'Some difficulty in audio reception,' Bruce informed us. 'Possibly due to our position. I suggest proceeding directly to the Display Area.'
