Free Second Variety and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick Page A

--"
    "Come on!"
    They retreated, moving farther and farther away from the bunker. A few small claws followed
them for a little while and then gave up, turning back and going off. At last Tasso stopped. "We can stop
here and get our breaths."
    Hendricks sat down on some heaps of debris. He wiped his neck, gasping. "We left Klaus back
there." Tasso said nothing. She opened her gun, sliding a fresh round of blast cartridges into place.
    Hendricks stared at her, dazed. "You left him back there on purpose."
    Tasso snapped the gun together. She studied the heaps of rubble around them, her face
expressionless. As if she were watching for something.
    "What is it?" Hendricks demanded. "What are you looking for? Is something coming?" He shook
his head, trying to understand. What was she doing? What was she waiting for? He could see nothing.
Ash lay all around them, ash and ruins. Occasional stark tree trunks, without leaves or branches. "What
--"
    Tasso cut him off. "Be still." Her eyes narrowed. Suddenly her gun came up. Hendricks turned,
following her gaze. Back the way they had come a figure appeared. The figure walked unsteadily toward
them. Its clothes were torn. It limped as it made its way along, going very slowly and carefully. Stopping
now and then, resting and getting its strength. Once it almost fell. It stood for a moment, trying to steady
itself. Then it came on.
    following her gaze. Back the way they had come a figure appeared. The figure walked unsteadily toward
them. Its clothes were torn. It limped as it made its way along, going very slowly and carefully. Stopping
now and then, resting and getting its strength. Once it almost fell. It stood for a moment, trying to steady
itself. Then it came on.
    Hendricks stood up. "Klaus!" He started towards him.
    "How the hell did you --"
    Tasso fired. Hendricks swung back. She fired again, the blast passing him, a searing line of heat.
The beam caught Klaus in the chest. He exploded, gears and wheels flying. For a moment he continued
to walk. Then he swayed back and forth. He crashed to the ground, his arms flung out. A few more
wheels rolled away.
    Silence.
    Tasso turned to Hendricks. "Now you understand why he killed Rudi."
    Hendricks sat down again slowly. He shook his head. He was numb. He could not think.
    "Do you see?" Tasso said. "Do you understand?"
    Hendricks said nothing. Everything was slipping away from him, faster and faster. Darkness,
rolling and plucking at him.
    He closed his eyes.
    Hendricks opened his eyes slowly. His body ached all over. He tried to sit up but needles of pain
shot through his arm and shoulder. He gasped.
    "Don't try to get up," Tasso said. She bent down, putting her cold hand against his forehead.
    It was night. A few stars glinted above, shining through the drifting clouds of ash. Hendricks lay
back, his teeth locked. Tasso watched him impassively. She had built a fire with some wood and weeds.
The fire licked feebly, hissing at a metal cup suspended over it. Everything was silent. Unmoving
darkness, beyond the fire.
    "So he was the Second Variety," Hendricks murmured.
    "I had always thought so."
    "Why didn't you destroy him sooner?" he wanted to know.
    "You held me back." Tasso crossed to the fire to look into the metal cup. "Coffee. It'll be ready
to drink in a while."
    She came back and sat down beside him. Presently she opened her pistol and began to
disassemble the firing mechanism, studying it intently.
    "This is a beautiful gun," Tasso said, half-aloud. "The construction is superb."
    "What about them? The claws."
    "The concussion from the bomb put most of them out of action. They're delicate. Highly
organized, I suppose."
    "The Davids, too?"
    "Yes."
    "How did you happen to have a bomb like that?"
    Tasso shrugged. "We designed it. You shouldn't underestimate our technology, Major. Without
such a bomb you and I would no longer exist."
    "Very useful."
    Tasso stretched out her legs, warming her feet in the heat of