The Robot Brains. ee-2 Read online

"If the Brains come," he said, "let them be afraid."

  Paul looked at him.

  "There will be no more shooting, please," he said. "I don't want any more killing."

  - 40 -

  They had visitors the next day.

  Christian was standing on deck and smoking his cigar.

  Suddenly he was no longer alone. A voice said:

  "At last, Captain!"

  He turned and saw many big bald heads. The Brains! One of them was Waldo. He raised his decapitator. There was a flash - and nothing happened. Paul's energy barrier protected Christian.

  Waldo was shaken.

  There is a Watcher here," he said - and then Paul came up on deck.

  Waldo spat. All the Brains were standing and looking at Paul

  "You must return to the future," said Paul quietly. "If you don't. I shall have to use force."

  Waldo laughed.

  "It is well known," he said, "that the Watchers do not kill. You can do nothing. We are not afraid of you!"

  Christian was angry. He threw away his cigar and raised his automatic.

  "I am not a Watcher," he said," and I kill."

  Paul turned his head.

  "It is useless to shoot, Captain," he said. "My energy barrier works both ways - it will protect them, too"

  "I'll kill you one day!" shouted Waldo to Christian. "You shan't always escape me."

  Paul looked at Waldo.

  "Your time machine is in the hands of the Watchers," he said. "You are free only while you remain here - and I shall make this age unbearable for you."

  Waldo was looking at him with angry eyes.

  "You Watchers have done what you liked too long," he said. "You have upset our plan - but that won't save you. We'll see what happens -»

  Paul interrupted: "I shall not allow you to interfere with the natural course of history. Return to your own time, and I'll do what I can to help you."

  "Help!" Waldo spat. "We want no help from the Watchers. You will see what will happen - we shall destroy Earth completely!"

  Paul looked troubled, and Christian said: "Switch off your barrier and shoot them!"

  "He won't do that!" Waldo laughed. "A Watcher will never kill!" He touched the crystal on his belt and disappeared with the rest of the Brains.

  Christian turned to Paul.

  "You heard what he said - the'll destroy Earth. There won't be any future if we don't kill them. There is no other way."

  Paul sighed unhappily.

  "There must be another way," he said.

  He went down into the cabin. He took some wires out of his metal box and began making some complicated device

  "It will be good if you inform your government of this new threat of the Brains," he said to Christian. "It will take me some time to build the weapon which I am making, and who knows what the Brains may do during this time."

  "This weapon which you are making - will it stop the Brains?"

  "Yes, it will stop them."

  Christian ran up on deck, jumped on the shore and hurried to the nearest telephone.

  - 41 -

  The Imperial Technical Institute occupied a very large territory; hundreds of specialists worked in its laboratories and workshops; and its stores contained materials for production of anything from shampoo to an atomic bomb.

  The Brains came there at night. The guards were decapitated at once, and behind the Institute's massive walls the Brains began making weapons of destruction.

  They worked hard. In the stores of the Institute they found all the necessary materials. The Brains were very many, and they all were clever specialists, so their work went on very fast.

  - 42 -

  Christian was back in London. He was speaking to the Prime Minister and the head of Military Intelligence. He had just finished telling them about Paul's meeting with the Brains, when the telephone rang. The Prime Minister took up the receiver and listened. Then he put down the receiver.

  "Operation Finish," he said, "is starting now."

  The Old Man jumped up.

  "Have they found the Brains?" he asked

  "Yes," said the Prime Minister, walking to the door. "We must go to the Headquarters of the Operation. Captain Christian, you may go with us."

  They hurried along the corridor and up a staircase. They entered a room and went up to a large table in the middle. There were several officers of high rank near the table. On the table there was a large map, and two girls moved coloured pieces of plastic on it, as the radio-telephone announced coordinates.

  "Good!" exclaimed the Prime Minister, rubbing his hands. "Now we can finish this business without Mr. Paul. The enemy has seized the Imperial Technical Institute, and they are all there now. And that is just what we want."

  He looked at Christian.

  "This plan has been ready for some time," he said to the captain, "but we had to wait for the right moment. A jet plane loaded with an atom bomb is standing not far from the Institute. We are now evacuating people from the area around the Institute. As soon as all the people are evacuated - we shall strike."

  The radio-telephone brought reports every minute.

  "Section E-one cleared. Transport moves along route North-East."

  "Section A-ten cleared. Section E-three cleared. Section…"

  Christian thought that perhaps the Brains would leave the Institute long before the end of the evacuation. The Prime Minister watched the map and every now and then looked at the clock on the wall

  The radio-telephone continued bringing new reports.

  "Section M-eleven cleared. Transport for the last section is ready."

  Tension was growing in the operation room. It seemed that the time had stopped. Then -

  "Final clearance," announced the radio-telephone. "Repeat final clearance."

  The Prime Minister said: "Connect me with the airfield."

  "Waiting, sir," said the operator and gave him the phone.

  "Commodor Bateson?" said the Prime Minister into the phone. "This is the Prime Minister speaking. Begin the last phase of Operation Finish."

  He sat down, smiling nervously.

  "Well, gentlemen, we can only wait now. The flight will take seven minutes."

  They were the longest seven minutes in Christian's life. Now, he hoped, was the end of the Brains.

  The pilot's voice sounded on the radio: "Approaching target area."

  A pause. Then -

  "Bomb is thrown!"

  The Prime Minister stood up. He was very excited. Second after second passed. Then the radio spoke again.

  "It's the operator speaking. The bomb did not explode…»

  The Prime Minister's face turned grey. It seemed that he was ready to burst into tears.

  Christian left the operation room. He was very sad. Once again the Brains had shown that they were clever. People could do nothing against them. The only hope was Paul.

  - 43 -

  The Brain's answering attack came very soon.

  In New York, the Security Council of the United Nations was in session. The conference hall was full of delegates. They were discussing the latest events. The Secretary-General stood up.

  "Senor Mendez has the floor," he announced.

  Mendez, a big man with dark hair and moustache, rose and looked around the hall at the faces of outstanding politicians. Bright sunlight came in through the large windows. Outside the sky was clear and blue.

  "We must attack again," said Mendez, "but not from the sky - from the ground…"

  It seemed to him that it was very hot in the hall. Or was it only his imagination? He touched his collar.

  "…a big attack from the ground…" he continued.

  It was really hot. The temperature in the hall was quickly rising.

  "…use heavy tanks…"

  Mendez could not speak any longer. The people in the hall had also noticed the rise of the temperature. They were jumping up from their seats and running to the doors. The glass walls began to melt. A woman screame
d: her dress suddenly began to burn…

  In a few minutes the great building of the United Nations was burning. The New York firemen could not put out the fire because the water in their pipes was turning into steam. Nobody could do anything… and many of the world's outstanding statesmen perished in the great fire.

  - 44 -

  The tanks were moving forward. There were three rows of them, the most modern heavy tanks with powerful guns. They were making a circle around the buildings of the Imperial Technical Institute.

  The commander was watching them through field-glasses from his observation post. He was a thin, grey-haired veteran, very sure of himself and very proud of his tanks.

  The commander smiled to himself, remembering the bomb which had not exploded. Such things sometimes happened to bombs. But he was sure that nothing could stop his tanks. He continued watching them through his field-glasses. They were already near the Institute. Another second or two - and he was going to give the signal to open fire.

  Suddenly something was wrong. The first row of tanks stopped. They began to change their shape. They were melting, like ice.

  The commander seized his microphone. "Open fire!"

  The second and third rows of tanks stopped, too. The commander saw through his field-glasses that they were melting. They were melting very quickly In a few minutes there were no more tanks. There were great pools of melted metal in their place.

  - 45 -

  Captain Christian threw the end of his cigar into the Thames and stepped down into the cabin. Paul was still working on his apparatus. It was a small box with wires, and it was difficult for Christian to believe that it could be an effective weapon against the Brains.

  "Have you read the report about the tragedy in New York?" Christian asked.

  Paul nodded.

  "Do you understand how the Brains did it?"

  "They have modernized their decapitation weapon. They release the energy of the air by remote control."

  "Can your energy barrier hold out against that?"

  "Yes."

  "Then you must teach our scientists to erect this energy barrier. The Brains may attack with their new weapon again."

  Paul shook his head.

  "No, Captain, I will not interfere. The people of your time are not ready for such a weapon. But my apparatus is nearly ready - the Brains will not bother you any longer."

  Paul connected his apparatus to the energy source. A high-pitched sound came from the little box. It was getting higher and higher. It was resounding in the captain's head. Christian felt that he wanted to scream. The sound was getting still higher… higher… then Christian could not hear it any more. But the needle moving across the dial on the machine told him that the sound was still coming from the little box.

  Paul explained: "I have built a high-frequency oscillator. It broadcasts sound waves which cannot be heard by a human ear. The sound is continuous and will last indefinite time."

  "Well?"

  "The structure of the Brains' ear is different from yours. -They will hear the sound, and it is impossible for them to stop it. From this moment they will always have this noise in their heads. I don't think they will be able to stand it for a long time.. and to escape from this noise, they must return to the future."

  Christian shuddered.

  "For me a few seconds were enough!" he said.

  "Quite so," said Paul. "So the Brains will have to return to their time. When they return, I shall destroy their time machine, and you can live in peace."

  Christian went up on deck and lit a cigar. He was sure that the Brains would strike back. He only hoped that Paul's energy barrier would be effective enough to hold out against their attack.

  - 46 -

  Waldo trembled and screamed and held his big head with his small hands. That high-pitched note was sounding in his head without stopping. He felt sharp pain, a red curtain was hanging before his eyes. He could not think clearly

  The Brains suffered greatly. Their science could find nothing to stop that terrible noise in their heads. They could not stand that noise any longer. Some of them went mad and killed each other.

  Where was the source of the noise? If the Brains knew where the noise was coming from, they could try to stop it. Waldo was sure that it was the Watcher's work. But where was the Watcher?

  This was all Christian's fault, Waldo thought; Christian brought the Watcher here - and suddenly Waldo understood. The Watcher and his terrible transmitter were on the captain's yacht.

  He turned to the other Brains and shouted:

  "The yacht! The noise is coming from the yacht! We must attack at once. We must go there and destroy the transmitter - or perish!"

  The grey dwarfs seized their weapons.

  "Destroy the transmitter, Christian and the Watcher!" shouted Waldo. Every weapon must be used on the yacht!"

  "But the energy barrier," said one of the Brains. "How can we break the Watcher's energy barrier?"

  "We shall overload it. We shall use all the power of our weapons, and the barrier will collapse."

  - 47 -

  Christian was sitting in his chair in the cabin and smoking his cigar. Paul was lying on the bed and reading.

  Suddenly a brilliant flash lit the cabin, and the yacht shook

  "They are here," said Paul and stood up. "They will try to break the energy barrier. But don't worry - we are safe here."

  "I am going on deck," said Christian

  "Put on your dark glasses to protect your eyes," said Paul

  Christian put on a pair of sun-glasses and went up the steps. Now he could see the energy barrier - a sphere of light, fifty yards across

  He was surrounded by bright light. It seemed that a thousand lightnings were flashing outside the energy barrier at the same time. The air was filled with loud roar, the energy barrier was shaking as the Brains were trying to break it with their heat weapons. The water in the Thames was boiling hot, the yacht began going down and soon settled on the dry river-bed

  The attack stopped, and the Brains disappeared

  "I don't think they will try again," said Paul

  "We must get out of here and go to a high place on the bank of the river," said Christian. "The water will come here soon."

  "We'll go at once," said Paul

  Together they left the yacht and went up to the high bank - and then the water came in a great wave that completely covered the yacht

  "I shall visit my own time," said Paul, "to make sure that the Brains have returned there."

  He touched the crystal at his belt and disappeared. In a few minutes he was standing near Christian again.

  "Only a few of the Brains have returned," he said, "and Waldo is not among them. I don't know where the other, are… in another time, I suppose."

  So it was not the end, Christian thought sadly.

  "Have you are idea where they can be?" he asked.

  Paul sighed unhappily.

  "No. I suspect that they are preparing some new attack in another time. But where? It is clear that they are trying to change the course of history and become the only masters of Earth. And if they manage to change history, then, of course, our race will diappear."

  The captain tried to remember all that he knew about the Brains. The Brains had decided to stop all progress by murdering research scientists. Then they concentrated on the satellite bases. Evidently, Fox was right, that the main task of the Brains was to prevent mankind from flying into space.

  The future of the human race lay among the stars. But this future had a beginning - when the first star ship left Earth

  "Of course!" exclaimed Christian. "The first star ship - that's what the Brains will try to destroy now!"

  Paul looked at him.

  "You are right," he said. "If the Brains destroy the star ship, there will be no star colonies… only the Brains and their giant women. Yes, you are right."

  "We must stop them!" said Christian. "Do you know the time period?"

  P
aul nodded.

  "We must hurry," he said.

  He touched the crystals on Christian's belt and on his own.

  Again there was darkness before Christian's eyes.

  And then they saw the star-ship.

  - 48 -

  The Third World War had ended long ago, and Earth lay ruined. The continents were lifeless and covered with radioactive dust. The water in the oceans was poisoned.

  Far in the north, in a valley which was surrounded with mountains, a few hundred people who had survived were struggling for existence. They ate what they could grow in half frozen ground and what they could get from a small number of animals which they took care of, and they were always half hungry.

  From time to time storms brought death to the valley - clouds of radioactive dust - and then men fell ill and died, and women gave birth to monsters. Not long ago a new danger had appeared: the giant mutated insects had found a way into their valley.

  These weak and hungry people worked at their rockets…

  They had made flights to Mars and Venus, but found that it was impossible for humanity to live on these planets. They had to go to the stars. And they had built a new rocket: the new star-ship was now standing in the valley, pointing its nose to the sky.

  In the shadow of the great ship a man raised his eyes and smiled.

  "This is our last chance," he said. "Somewhere in space we'll find another earth - and then we can start again."

  The woman standing near him said:

  "And if we don't find it?"

  "We must find," he answered. "There are millions of stars in space - certainly one of them must have a planet like Earth. Maybe, it will take us a long time to find it -»

  "A long, long time," said the woman.

  "The ship can remain in space indefinitely long," said the man. "Our children will be born in it, and their children, and the ship will go on. And at last, one day, men will land on a planet and built a new world."