A ROBOTS TALE

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time of year. The clans used rapeseed oil for cooking and lighting, the gold resembled maturedwheat from later in the season, he only surmised; he didn't know.Further down the coast upon the hills, stood the white giants, tall, waving back at him, hecouldn't make out their form, he only knew they stood, in their ranks, much taller than the coniferson the island, this only served to intrigue him more, what wonders lay across the waters?The rumblings in his stomach told him it was almost time for eating, he rose, picked up the reedgrass basket holding the shellfish he had been tasked to collect and turned for the village.“Rusk!” came a call, he turned, it was Eric, a good friend, he stood a good six inches taller thanRusk and was thicker set, with short-cropped hair, he beckoned frantically for Rusk to approach.“I’ve found another one, quick, come see.” Rusk quickened his step as he followed Eric alongthe foreshore for a couple of hundred paces or so and stopped. Eric beamed and gestured to acopper coloured mass, it was partially covered with barnacles and seaweed, but it was unmistakablythe head unit of a robot, the dark hollow eyes stared back at them; Rusk shuddered; his appetitegone, how could this inanimate and lifeless object fill him with such dread and fascination? It wasprobably a relic from the purges, a dismantled automaton cast into the sea.“That’s some find fella.”Eric smiled and puffed his chest out, “Cheers.”“Best not mention this Eric,” Rusk cautioned, “You know what The Grandfather would say.”Eric nodded; he knew exactly what the consequences of bringing a robot into the village would be.“We’d never hear the end of it,” he said, “I for one want to know more about them, why are theelders so cautious?” Rusk felt uncomfortable, he was keeping his secret from a good friend.The two friends put the head unit in the marram grass above the high-water mark in the dunes.They looked at each other, despite the excitement of the find, they had to stay silent.“That’ll keep for another day.” Said Eric.Rusk paused, looking back over the water toward the far shoreline, then slinging the grass basketover his shoulder, the shellfish rattling, he turned to follow Eric back to the village, deep in thought.The oil lamps glowed in the clan’s main hall, where everyone was required to eat the mainevening meal together, this promoted fellowship and equality. After the meal, The Grandfatherwould tell tales of the yester yore, before the robots had taken the mainland. He told of great hallsthat belched poisonous black smoke into the sky, where the electrickery was created, lightning thatmade light and made machines move.It was widely thought that this electrickery made the metal men work, but seldom mentioned.34
Men had control of these forces then, where clean water came into the houses through metalspouts, whenever it was needed, light shone from the rafters, small suns in the very room and muchneededwarmth, at the request of a hand.Rusk had heard the stories before and was soon lost in thought, the earlier find had re-ignited hishunger and curiosity of what lay across the water and he daydreamed of ways to traverse thenarrows. The coracles used by the clans to fish the offshore rocks would not be able on their own tocarry a man across the channel when the tides were running, it was treacherous and even at a lowneap tide, it would take several hours to cross, not enough time before the tide turned, making thetrip deadly.He needed a larger craft, one with the ability to capture the breeze. The only two vessels availableto the clan were the trimarans used for rescues if someone got into difficulties whilst fishing, vital tothe community and indispensable.He knew that the narrowest point of crossing was to the west of the island, the distance betweenthe two shores was probably less than a mile, but that was pretty much the length of the island fromwhere he was situated and there were belligerent clans en route, anyway, the rip tides around ‘theneedle rocks’ were renowned for their ferocity.The prevailing winds generally came from the south-west and if strong enough would blow himdiagonally across the narrows into the larger of the estuaries beyond. If he could perfect a way ofharnessing the wind, he might be able to cross before the tide turned. It was well known that thelargest estuary had the unusual phenomenon of double high water, especially when the moon was atits fullest, or darkest, the high spring tides, this would be the optimum time and the most hazardousto venture forth. If he could time it correctly, the incoming tide would take him to the shore, but thetiming would be crucial, for if he was caught on the ebb it would be disastrous, and he'd be takenout to the channel and most probably capsized.But still, he needed a vessel capable of the trip, sadly there were only the two trimarans.The clans never ventured far from shore deliberately, partly for fear of these phantoms calledbots, although as far as Rusk knew, no one had laid eyes on one for years, and partly because therewas no point, why endanger yourself if all you needed was close to the shoreline, mackerel andflatfish could all be caught close to shore and bass, pollock and bream at the rocky south of theisland, shellfish and seaweed, were all available on the ebbtide.The fish stocks over the past twelve or fifteen years had multiplied enormously.Everything Rusk needed was right there on the White Isle, abundant food, warm shelter, friendsand the clan, although his parents had since died, his mother in childbirth and his father of illness ashort time later, he always regarded the clan as his family, but still, the yearning was in him.He was leaving, that much was decided upon, it just came down to details.35
Page 3 and 4: A ROBOTS TALEBYone1nchrobot
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTSNo. 9 .....................
Page 7: Humans by their very nature have al
Page 10 and 11: Tom, Beatrice's partner was often a
Page 12 and 13: The day's task completed, 9 went to
Page 14 and 15: OSTRACISEDIt was only a matter of t
Page 16 and 17: owners did not want the destruction
Page 18 and 19: mechanical maladies resulting in hi
Page 20 and 21: TROPHIES54 was an old model, one of
Page 22 and 23: As daylight filtered through the fi
Page 24 and 25: “You wanna take it up with Joe, g
Page 26 and 27: “What both, not likely, I’ll le
Page 28 and 29: Suddenly in reasonable proximity to
Page 30 and 31: the least, but there was something
Page 32 and 33: what was happening, he tried again
Page 34 and 35: ANTEBELLUMUromys Rex slaved in the
Page 36 and 37: Perhaps the planet needed saving fr
Page 38 and 39: 30
Page 40 and 41: The actual conflict was not the arm
Page 44 and 45: It was obvious this adventure would
Page 46 and 47: It has to be said, even among the h
Page 48 and 49: A DANGEROUS NAVIGATIONRusk had thou
Page 50 and 51: A feeling of slight trepidation mad
Page 52 and 53: He waited in the dwindling light, b
Page 54 and 55: "Quiet!" whispered Rusk, "Voices, c
Page 56 and 57: uncomfortable and tried not to star
Page 58 and 59: and trusted evolutionary data, it w
Page 60 and 61: A mission update was communicated w
Page 62 and 63: articulated lower appendages around
Page 64 and 65: The First Law: A robot may not inju
Page 66 and 67: There was no eye, it was hard and s
Page 68 and 69: arms around him and they both lie d
Page 70 and 71: Towards the centre of the conurbati
Page 72 and 73: “These must be maintenance robots
Page 74 and 75: use) very basically, the simulation
Page 76 and 77: “I have no idea, I really don’t
Page 78 and 79: Anisoptera followed, as commanded.T
Page 80 and 81: Both 54 and the Triumvirate had a m
Page 82 and 83: “Thank God.” Briar breathed a l
Page 84 and 85: Following the decision to eradicate
Page 86 and 87: THE IRON DIVISIONSThe elders sent e
Page 88 and 89: The three ocean-going debris rakes
Page 90 and 91: to see, and slowly the full enormit
Page 92 and 93:
84
Page 94 and 95:
THE BOY FLINTIt was a couple of hou
Page 96 and 97:
Again, the rakes stopped their head
Page 98 and 99:
This was the command for Flint and
Page 100 and 101:
A STRATAGEMMecha had underestimated
Page 102 and 103:
reverse back out into the surf and
Page 104 and 105:
RETREATThe boy Flint retreated as o
Page 106 and 107:
Both he and Flint readied themselve
Page 108 and 109:
“You made it then!”Flint felt a
Page 110 and 111:
rake some way offshore, weighed anc
Page 112 and 113:
The ramparts were now full of peopl
Page 114 and 115:
To the north of the island, the dis
Page 116 and 117:
human being, he had more than most,
Page 118 and 119:
Flint cringed, he wanted nothing mo
Page 120 and 121:
An hour or so past, it was around m
Page 122 and 123:
They were led away through a fairly
Page 124 and 125:
He sat down on the damp leaves and
Page 126 and 127:
As it stood there Anisoptera descen
Page 128 and 129:
THE BLACKWATERRusk and the rest of
Page 130 and 131:
“And the metal bird, what of that
Page 132 and 133:
“You must think this scheme rathe
Page 134 and 135:
He had lost focus on the mission to
Page 136 and 137:
length, it’s bow pointed like a k
Page 138 and 139:
As the river opened up to an estuar
Page 140 and 141:
The astonished group all stood to f
Page 142 and 143:
receiving frequency, the constant t
Page 144 and 145:
“I didn’t mean me!” he compla
Page 146 and 147:
The metal ranks slavishly heeded th
Page 148 and 149:
They crept slowly down the tunnel,
Page 150 and 151:
A TRAGIC REUNION54 could ‘feel’
Page 152 and 153:
There were no signs of any robot mo
Page 154 and 155:
Rusk tore the Five Banger from Flin
Page 156 and 157:
AN UNDERSTANDINGThe march to the Gr
Page 158 and 159:
“We’ve found them,” it was th
Page 160 and 161:
STRANDEDThe humans had made their e
Page 162 and 163:
“What do you think, Flint, should
Page 164 and 165:
“We’d better get to the boats b
Page 166 and 167:
Uromys Rex had ordered the retrieva
Page 168 and 169:
and his death, he was well-liked in
Page 170 and 171:
FRIENDS REUNITEDWinter passed, and
Page 172 and 173:
“What, how?” Jay was visibly sh
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A ROBOTS TALE

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