Robert Scheckley by A Call to Arms

Author:A Call to Arms [Arms, A Call to]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-09T05:41:01.662000+00:00

Vlast squealed involuntarily and tumbled backward, crying, "Help! It's got me!"

Dureena had no time to attend to Vlast. She dropped the flashlight-things were happening too fast for it to be of any use. She followed up her kick with a stride and then a plunge into the darkness where she knew the thing was. She could hear it scrabbling around on its back, making audible clicking sounds now as it tried to right itself.

And then she was on it. It was smaller than she had imagined, perhaps the size of a large cat.

Her hand closed on its head. She wrenched, releasing and focusing her energy with a shout that echoed throughout the corridor. The creature's metallic head came off in her hand. The thing quivered, its limbs twitched, and it expired. Vlast scooped up the flashlight. After he'd recovered enough to realize he was not injured, he managed, with shaking hands, to turn it on their assailant.

They examined the creature that had been stalking them. It was a small, spiderlike metal thing. Smoke arose from its interior circuits.

"I've heard of these things," Vlast said. "It's a vermin catcher. A lot of storage facilities use them nowadays . It's battery-operated, with motion sensors to detect rats or anything else that scurries around in the darkness. They're supposed to be programmed not to attack something as large as a person."

"The owners of this storage facility wanted to keep out vermin of any size," Dureena commented. Throwing the mechanical remains off to one side, she continued , "Shall we get on with it?"

Another short walk brought them to an anteroom lit by ceiling glowbulbs. It seemed to have been a receiving dock of some sort. There were benches, and an unmanned desk with a dusty communicator and a keyboard . Behind the desk, a closed metal door apparently led to the storage area itself.

"At last!" Vlast breathed. "I can't tell you how long I've waited for this moment. Imagine it, Dureena! The lockers must lie just behind that door. And the treasure of Myost awaits us."

"First we have to get through the door," Dureena pointed out.

"I don't suppose it just pushes open," Vlast said, giving the door a shove. It was immovable.

"I was afraid not." He studied the door. "No handle or locking device. No visible hinges.

Nothing but a single big steel plate. Damnation! Could we have come this far for nothing?"

"Obviously," Dureena said "the door isn't meant to be operated manually."

"How, then?"

"Whoever comes here must communicate with it by the computer." She studied it. Though it was covered with dust, its ready light was on. She tapped a key. A program came up on the screen.

It read, "Entry level. Authorized personnel only. Password required."

"This may not be too difficult," Dureena said. She sat down in front of the computer, rested her fingers on the keyboard, thought for a moment, then typed, "Password."

There was a hum of small servos kicking into life, and the metal door slid smoothly open.

"How did you know that?" Vlast asked.

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