Read Online Bill 3 - on the Planet of Bottled Brains by Harry Harrison - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Harry Harrison
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the computer simulation had to be up to some sort of crappy playing around. Basically the entire thing did not bear looking at. Bill sighed heavily.
“I really think we should get moving,” Brownnose said.
“First tell me how you got here.”
Brownnose opened his mouth. Just then there was a crackling sound behind Bill. It was a startling noise, and unexpected, and he whirled, reaching for a weapon he no longer had and wondering just how in hell he was going to fight when he didn't even have a body.
What hideous sight bruised Bill's eyes when he turned around? What soul-shaking horror awaited him? He gurgled unphonetically when he realized that he was looking at a reindeer. A plain, old-fashioned, medium-sized reindeer with fairly young-looking horns. It was picking its way delicately along a ledge that ran just a few yards below the summit. When the reindeer saw them it shivered violently, but could not break into a run because of the narrowness of the ledge upon which it was walking. It picked its way delicately along, keeping its big brown eyes on them, its sharp little hooves making crackling sounds on the snow. At last it reached a place where the path broadened. With a flick of its tail it bounded off. In a few moments it was out of sight.
“Out of sight!” Brownnose said. “They like the high cold elevations, you know.”
“Who does?”
“Reindeer, Bill.”
“How,” Bill asked with ferocious impatience, “could a moth-eaten bowby reindeer get inside this computer?”
Brownnose thought about it. “Maybe the same way we did.”
Bill made hideous grating sounds and clenched his fists. “And would you like to tell me exactly how we did get here?”
“They didn't explain to me all the details.”
“Just tell me in broad outlines.”
“Bill, you're acting downright crazy. Do you want to get out of here or don't you?”
“All right,” Bill said gloomily, instantly descending from the craggy heights of anger to the dismal depths of despair. “Though I got a terrible crappy feeling that I'm going to regret this.”
He followed Brownnose down the slope. It was tough going for a while, though not nearly so tough as it had been for Bill to get up the other side. He struggled along in hip-deep snow, and envied the way Brownnose seemed to glide through the snow. But it bothered him, watching Brownnose move, because there was something graceful and inhuman about the way Brownnose slithered along. Bill asked himself, when is a klutz not a klutz? When he's controlled by a computer, he answered himself.
Still, he followed, because there wasn't anywhere else to go. Maybe if he made believe that the computer was Brownnose, he'd get a chance to escape. Or at least get the last laugh on the computer.
“It's right down here,” Brownnose said, directing them towards a clump of trees dark against the snowy landscape.
“What's right down here?” Bill asked.
“Help,” Brownnose said.
They went down through a snow-filled gulch, then scrambled up the icy rocks on the other side. Bill was so busy trying to get up the steep and slippery slope that he didn't look up until he had reached the next crest. He saw Brownnose, or the thing that was pretending to be Brownnose — there may not have been much difference between the two — but surely there was some difference — saw Brownnose motion, waving both arms in a curiously boneless gesture. A computer-animated Motion. Bill pretended not to notice, because he didn't want Brownnose to know that he'd caught on to him.
Looking up now, Bill could see, from the far ridge, four black dots moving across the snowy landscape. There was another, larger black dot behind them. “What's that?” Bill asked.
“Those are friends,” Brownnose said. “They are going to help us.”
“That's great,” Bill said. He looked around. There was nothing on either side but icy peaks and snowy fields and five black dots moving toward them and slowly growing in size. There
“I really think we should get moving,” Brownnose said.
“First tell me how you got here.”
Brownnose opened his mouth. Just then there was a crackling sound behind Bill. It was a startling noise, and unexpected, and he whirled, reaching for a weapon he no longer had and wondering just how in hell he was going to fight when he didn't even have a body.
What hideous sight bruised Bill's eyes when he turned around? What soul-shaking horror awaited him? He gurgled unphonetically when he realized that he was looking at a reindeer. A plain, old-fashioned, medium-sized reindeer with fairly young-looking horns. It was picking its way delicately along a ledge that ran just a few yards below the summit. When the reindeer saw them it shivered violently, but could not break into a run because of the narrowness of the ledge upon which it was walking. It picked its way delicately along, keeping its big brown eyes on them, its sharp little hooves making crackling sounds on the snow. At last it reached a place where the path broadened. With a flick of its tail it bounded off. In a few moments it was out of sight.
“Out of sight!” Brownnose said. “They like the high cold elevations, you know.”
“Who does?”
“Reindeer, Bill.”
“How,” Bill asked with ferocious impatience, “could a moth-eaten bowby reindeer get inside this computer?”
Brownnose thought about it. “Maybe the same way we did.”
Bill made hideous grating sounds and clenched his fists. “And would you like to tell me exactly how we did get here?”
“They didn't explain to me all the details.”
“Just tell me in broad outlines.”
“Bill, you're acting downright crazy. Do you want to get out of here or don't you?”
“All right,” Bill said gloomily, instantly descending from the craggy heights of anger to the dismal depths of despair. “Though I got a terrible crappy feeling that I'm going to regret this.”
He followed Brownnose down the slope. It was tough going for a while, though not nearly so tough as it had been for Bill to get up the other side. He struggled along in hip-deep snow, and envied the way Brownnose seemed to glide through the snow. But it bothered him, watching Brownnose move, because there was something graceful and inhuman about the way Brownnose slithered along. Bill asked himself, when is a klutz not a klutz? When he's controlled by a computer, he answered himself.
Still, he followed, because there wasn't anywhere else to go. Maybe if he made believe that the computer was Brownnose, he'd get a chance to escape. Or at least get the last laugh on the computer.
“It's right down here,” Brownnose said, directing them towards a clump of trees dark against the snowy landscape.
“What's right down here?” Bill asked.
“Help,” Brownnose said.
They went down through a snow-filled gulch, then scrambled up the icy rocks on the other side. Bill was so busy trying to get up the steep and slippery slope that he didn't look up until he had reached the next crest. He saw Brownnose, or the thing that was pretending to be Brownnose — there may not have been much difference between the two — but surely there was some difference — saw Brownnose motion, waving both arms in a curiously boneless gesture. A computer-animated Motion. Bill pretended not to notice, because he didn't want Brownnose to know that he'd caught on to him.
Looking up now, Bill could see, from the far ridge, four black dots moving across the snowy landscape. There was another, larger black dot behind them. “What's that?” Bill asked.
“Those are friends,” Brownnose said. “They are going to help us.”
“That's great,” Bill said. He looked around. There was nothing on either side but icy peaks and snowy fields and five black dots moving toward them and slowly growing in size. There
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