She looked at him hesitantly; more than ever she reminded him of La-Cor, his sister.
‘I forgive you,’ she said. ‘Warrior, may I ask you a question?’
‘Of course you may.’
‘Warrior. You are to command the warriors of Sangrel, are you not?’
‘I am.’
And that feeling of unease returned to Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. Just why was he being sent to command the city?
‘Warrior, if you saw injustice in Sangrel, you would address it, would you not?’
‘Of course I would,’ answered Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. He felt more confident now. This he was sure of.
‘Then I am pleased,’ replied Jai-Lyn. ‘For I know that I can trust you. Look, we are approaching Sangrel…’
She pointed out of the window. Over the high heads of the crops, Wa-Ka-Mo-Do saw the hilltop town of Sangrel. Old stone and iron buildings clustered within walls that gathered the town to safety at the top of the steep slopes and cliffs of Sangrel Mound. The town commanded a view for miles around, and in turn it commanded respect of those who looked up at it.
‘It has been a pleasure to travel with you, warrior.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do looked down at the young robot, at her cheap but beautiful body, and worried at how she would fare in the city of Ka with its predominantly male population. All those whalers with their thick metal bodies, all that current surging within them, looking for release…
‘It has been a pleasure to travel with you too, Jai-Lyn,’ he said, and he took her hand. ‘Remember, you have a friend in Sangrel. If you ever find yourself in need whilst in Ka, just mention that you know the commander of Sangrel.’ He gripped her hand all the tighter as he spoke.
‘No one would ever believe me,’ laughed Jai-Lyn, gently disengaging her hand. ‘And besides, your duty will lie elsewhere.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. ‘But, for friendship’s sake, if nothing else, if there is ever a need, you will promise to send me a message?’
He felt the surge of electricity in her hand.
‘Friendship? Oh my master, thank you!’
‘Then you promise?’
‘I promise.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do felt a little happier.
‘Then I vow that I will do what I can to aid you.’
‘Don’t make such a vow, warrior!’
‘It is done.’
She gazed at him, golden eyes shining.
‘Thank you,’ said Jai-Lyn. ‘Thank you, my master.’
The note of the engine changed. The train was decelerating, magnetic motors slowing it rapidly to a halt.
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do was approaching his command.
Karel
Morphobia Alligator might have been smiling at Karel, but Karel couldn’t tell. If Morphobia Alligator did have a mouth, it was hidden behind the long tapering point that extended down from his head like an elongated chin.
‘You think I’m from the Top of the World?’ he was saying, and there was something about the timbre of his voice that wasn’t quite normal. ‘Yes, yes, that is right. You would think that, of course. You see the aluminium in my body and so you naturally assume that’s where I would come from.’ He held his arms wide as he spoke, each of them twice as long as he was tall. He shook them, sending a sine wave sinuating to each hand and back again to his body. ‘No, No. I’m not from the Top of the World.’
‘Then where did you find aluminium?’ asked Karel. ‘There is no such metal anywhere else in the whole of Shull!’
‘Karel, Karel! Shull is riddled with it! Yes, Yes! I noted limestone hills to the south of here that are doubtless full of aluminium, but the quantities therein will be too diffuse to be mined! The same is true of the lands around your former home. What they lack, though, is this hot, wet climate that will lead to the chemical weathering, which concentrates the metal as stone erodes. The central coast of Yukawa is rich in aluminium! It has such a climate! Yes, Yes!’
‘Yukawa? I’ve never heard of it.’
‘Yukawa is probably the most advanced state on Penrose,’ said Morphobia Alligator. ‘They have certainly heard of Shull, yes, yes!’
‘Are you from Yukawa then? Do all the robots in Yukawa look like you?’
‘No, No! I’m not from Yukawa, Karel. No land can lay claim to a pilgrim.’
Karel felt the familiar anger rising within him.
‘Don’t play games with me, pilgrim. I have just learned that my wife is a prisoner, way south of here in Artemis City. Why am I wasting my time with you?’
Morphobia Alligator shook his arms again in that sine wave pattern. Karel wondered if he was being laughed at.
‘Why are you here, Karel? Why are you here? Because if you’re left to your own devices you will rush towards Artemis City in such a great temper and you will probably get yourself killed or captured in the process. Yes, yes! It’s true, isn’t it, yes, yes? I’m right!’
Karel calmed himself. Morphobia Alligator was speaking the truth, and they both knew it. A long arm snaked around his shoulder and gently turned him.
‘Come, look out over this seascape with me, Karel. Though you do not have the mental capacity, the senses, the learning to enjoy it as I do, you may still gain some small measure of peace as we speak.’
‘I don’t want to gaze at the scenery, I want to see my wife.’
‘But which way would you go, Karel? South, straight into Kavan’s arms, or west to Presper Boole and the Northern Road? Or maybe north, to where the past lies?’
Karel pushed the arm from his shoulder. He looked out across the grey waters.
‘I don’t know, Morphobia Alligator. You tell me, which way should I go?’
‘Ah! A pilgrim would not presume to tell you what to do, Karel. No, no! Your mind is a special thing; it is free to make its own decisions. Not many robots on this planet could say the same.’
‘So I’ve heard. I have free will, and what difference has that made to me? My child is dead and my wife a prisoner. I was captured by Artemis and forced up here to the top of Shull, where I watched as two armies destroyed each other, and then I was abandoned to my own devices. Believe me, my life these past few months has not been of my choosing. Free will has made precious little difference to my circumstances, Morphobia Alligator. Dare you say any different?’
He gazed at the other robot in challenge, noted the odd glow to his eyes. Was there any part of Morphobia Alligator that was normal? The other robot answered in that strange voice.
‘Dare I say any different? Long ago we won a battle and lost a war over robots like you. But Penrose is changing. For centuries the robots on this planet have woven the minds of their children to believe definite things and to possess definite skills. Some patterns of mind were more appropriate to the world than others, and those robots and their descendants prospered, so that now this world is a suitable place for robots with certain mindsets to live.’
What Morphobia Alligator said was true. Karel thought of Artemis, and how their state of mind had enabled the conquest of Shull.
‘But all of that is changing,’ continued the other robot. ‘A new species has arrived on Penrose. Animals! They stand like robots, they walk and think and talk like robots, but they are animals!’
‘Animals?’ said Karel, disbelievingly.
‘Yes, yes! Animals! I speak the truth, Karel. Animals! They have not yet visited Shull, but they will. They are clever, these creatures. They build ships to bring them here, ships that carry them across the stars from their own planet, many, many miles away. They use materials that we have never seen, plastics and alloys manufactured by processes we cannot begin to guess at! These animals are rich in knowledge and learning and metal. They have strong machinery that rips apart the land and rocks without effort, they have delicate devices that can change the
