Free The Island of Hope by Andrei Livadny Page A

cut through his thoughts. She continued to remove dishes.
    "Morning, Yanna," the robot answered in a low pleasant voice. His lips fashioned of metal and plastic moved in unison with his words. He turned to the boy. "Morning, sir! May I ask your na-"
    Simeon lunged onto him.
    He vaulted, his feet kicking the lifeless face. The machine tumbled to the floor. He punched the steel breast with such force that he his knuckles exploded with pain. His other hand closed around whatever passed for the robot's throat, trying to strangle him.
    "Run!" he shouted desperately, hoping that Yanna would understand his plan and escape while he was pinning the robot to the floor.
    The girl didn't move. The momentary fright in her face gave way to surprise.
    "What are you doing?" she demanded. "Release Andor, now!"
    The lying robot struggled a few times as if checking the strength of his opponent, then jumped to his feet.
    Simeon was thrown into a corner, but so gently and accurately that he wasn't hurt. Horrified, he squeezed his eyes shut, shrinking into the wall. He was ready to die.
    Instead of a gunshot, he heard the same voice rumbling over his head. "Sir, may I inquire about the reason for your discontent?"
    Simeon forced his eyes open. The robot was kneeling beside him.
    "I hope you didn't hurt yourself?" he asked.
    Simeon heard a sob behind as Yanna couldn't take the strain.
    Simeon was staring at the android kneeling beside him. He couldn't believe it. The Universe had collapsed. He had just struck a robot, but the latter hadn't killed him in return! This was too illogical — beyond his comprehension. Himself, he'd learnt to walk and to shoot at the same time.
    "Simeon!" Yanna's voice broke, her breathing uneven. "Andor won't hurt you. Trust me." She walked over to the android and took him by the hand. "Look, he isn't scary. Andor is my teacher. He used to feed me when I was a baby. He told me about people."
    That was apparently too much for her. Yanna burst into tears.
    Simeon would have loved to believe her, but he couldn't help feeling the way he did. A robot was a robot. Standing next to one scared the hell out of him. Simeon glanced over the robot's chromium-plated body but saw no sign of a weapon. It looked like Yanna was telling the truth. The thought puzzled him. An unarmed robot! This glaring contradiction with all his life experience confused him. It was so absurd that he almost burst out laughing.
    "I can't harm a human," the flat voice broke the silence, "even if you ordered me to do so, Sir."
    Andor rose and demonstratively stepped aside.
    Simeon felt he was going mad. He didn't lose sight of the android for a second. He was shaking. There was hell in his heart.
    "What is sir ?" he asked, scrambling back to his feet, just to say something.
    "It's a polite form of addressing human males," Andor quietly explained. "A woman is addressed lady ."
    Simeon felt sorry for himself. Why had this creature had to come and stand between them? "I'm off," he said coldly, picking up his suit.
    Yanna startled as if he'd struck her. "But why?" she demanded. "You don't believe me, do you?"
    "I don't know," he turned round and went out.
    Having returned to the central room, he picked up his MG and squeezed its cold plastic hard.
    Yanna walked in.
    "I'm short of oxygen," Simeon said gloomily, avoiding looking at the android that lurked in the doorway. It was obvious Yanna liked this machine for some reason, and now, holding a weapon, he was afraid of upsetting her even more by shooting the robot down.
    "Come here," Yanna called in a low voice.
    There were four other doors leading out of the airlock, and the girl opened one of them. Simon saw tall racks piled with sealed containers. Simeon followed her and froze, rooted to the floor.
    Talk about Aladdin's cave.
    Fascinated, he stared at the neat stacks of spacesuits, sorted by size. A unified model, used by Earth commandos. Until now he had only heard his father speak about it.
    "Are they in