Free The Rings of Tantalus by Edmund Cooper Page A

hitting typewriter keys.”
    ” We got to Tantalus,” Kwango pointed out.
    Before Conrad could reply, there was a knock at the door.
    “Come in.”
    It was Lieutenant Smith.
    “I thought you were supervising the others,” said Conrad somewhat coldly.
    “I don’t need to any more. It’s late and I doped their drinks.” She smiled. “They will have a very good night’s sleep.”
    “I hope they won’t be bloody sleepy in the morning.”
    “No problem. Pep shots in the coffee… Talking of drinks…”
    “Help yourself,” said Conrad.
    Indira got her drink and sipped it gratefully. It was nice to be able to drink out of a glass once more instead of squeezing the fluid into your mouth from one of those dreadful bulbs.
    “How is Pushkin?”
    “Fit and well. I’ll give him a thorough check-over tomorrow.”
    “Did he utter anything of interest?”
    “He did. When he was just coming out of S.A. he said: Tell them I’ll do it. Tell them I want to do it.’ Then he passed out. Later, after I had given him basic orientation he asked: ‘Who betrayed me?’ I asked him what there was to betray. After that he laughed and said: ‘Do you think I am entirely stupid.’ Then he passed out again. I gave him a shot of adrenalin because his heartbeat was not so good. When he came back to consciousness, he was perfectly rational. He knew who he was, he knew who I was, and he knew why we were on Tantalus. He did not seem to be aware of his previous utterances. I judged it wise not to remind him… He has had his first meal—a huge one— and is now sleeping like a baby. He will be fit for light duties tomorrow and normal duty in a couple of days.”
    There was a brief silence, then Kwango said: “This boy Alexei begins to sound interesting.”
    Conrad turned to Indira. “What is your opinion?”
    She shrugged. “People say strange things when they come out of S.A… It could relate to this situation, or it could relate to the murder of his wife, or some other situation we don’t know about.”
    Conrad yawned. “I’ll talk to him alone tomorrow. There are a lot of bloody things to do tomorrow. I’m going to get the chopper out and take a look at the rings. You, Kurt, will take the hover car and explore within a radius of ten kilometres, keeping your eyes open for Khelad’s apelike creature. And you, Indira, will have the hardest task. I want you to stay here and keep an eye on the four. You can let them out two at a time, accompanied by robots. I think Zonis and Uhlmann should be the first out. Let them go and get more samples. If you want to keep Pushkin occupied, let him inspect the exo-skeletons. If you can spare a robot, Pushkin might begin assembling two or three. I have no doubt we shall need to use them pretty soon… Yes, tomorrow is going to be a very full day.”
    “What about Khelad?” asked Indira.
    “Ah, yes, Khelad. Keep him monitoring the screen as long as seems reasonable. He is a very intriguing fellow, is our Ahmed. He is trying very hard to be liked.”
    “Do you think he really saw that creature?” asked Kwango.
    “No way of knowing. Ahmed is a clever lad with a fine sense of timing.”
    Kwango finished his second drink. “Boss, you make a mistake. You told our new friends that the robots had been reprogrammed for homicide, if necessary. You know it can’t be done, I know it can’t be done. Pretty soon they are going to catch on.”
    “So they are,” said Conrad tranquilly. “They were given the basic course in robotics before they joined us.”
    “Then why the hell did you make the statement?” said Indira. “The saboteur—if there is one—is going to think you are pretty damn stupid.”
    “Harsh words,” said Conrad. He swirled his whiskey round in the glass and sniffed at it appreciatively. “If somebody wants to have a go at us, the robots will kill without hesitation. Matthew has override circuits. I have explained the situation to him. I have told him that, in a crisis