Rendezvous on a Lost World by A. Bertram Chandler

Author:A. Bertram Chandler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2016-08-08T00:00:00+00:00

We met again at breakfast.

It was a good meal. The chilled grapefruit juice had a fresh tang to it, could have come straight from the squeezer. The omelets were light and delicious. The toast was crisp, and there were butter and honey to go with it. It was hard to believe that the food was synthetic.

Alan said as much, told us that the raw materials must have been brought from the fertile inner planet. Old Jim said, in a peculiarly smug voice, that he didn’t think so, that a really competent engineer and chemist could duplicate anything of an organic nature. “Anything,” he repeated. “Anything, no matter how complex.”

We looked at him with dawning suspicion. He seemed to have shed years during the night.

“What do you mean?” demanded Alan.

“Our host is a remarkably competent engineer,” he replied.

“One would expect an intelligent machine to be just that,” said Alan shortly.

“Which one was it?” asked Dudley with interest.

“The redhead,” said Jim.

“You are rather a filthy swine,” remarked Alan tiredly.

Jim took no offense, merely grinned and said, “Just an investigation. The only way to find things out is to investigate. Of course, it’s a known fact that even we humans can build the female principle into machines. Ships, for example. Many a Grade A, chromium plated bitch have I sailed in. And I assure you, Alan, that these serving wenches are essentially female. And I’m not talking about only the physical aspect of it, either.”

“I’m not interested,” snapped Alan.

“I suppose you intend to wait until our host plays Jehovah and makes mates for us out of spare body cells, so we can increase and multiply and replenish the planet.”

“I’m still not interested.”

“You should be,” Jim told him. “There’s so much to learn. How does that thing of old Kipling’s go? ‘I heard about women from her.’” He repeated, with what seemed unnecessary emphasis, “There’s so much to learn.”

I thought, Jim’s old. Old in years and old in sin. There can’t be much left for him to learn about women. Or machines...

“I don’t know that I’d fancy it,” said Dudley doubtfully.

“You should try anything once,” Jim told him cheerfully.

“Even so, a machine.”

“What’s a flesh and blood woman but a machine, a machine that derives its energy from the combustion of hydrocarbons in oxygen? What’s a flesh and blood woman but a machine that responds in various ways to the pressing of various buttons?”

“Then what are we but machines?” I asked him.

“What, indeed?” he countered.

“It’s been a long time since I...”began Dudley.

“Then do it now,” said Jim.

Alan, his face like a thundercloud, said nothing.

“You’ll learn plenty,” Jim assured us.

But, I thought, one does not go with women for educational benefits, even though these are often, too often, thrown in free, gratis and for damn all. And I knew Jim’s reputation. In spite of his age he was one of the more notorious wolves in the Rim Runners service. Perhaps once, many, many years ago, he had gone to a woman as a pupil to a teacher, but if he ever had done so he must long since have forgotten all about it.

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