Read Online Captain Future 26 - Earthmen No More (March 1951) by Edmond Hamilton - Free Book Online
Authors: Edmond Hamilton
Tags: Sci Fi & Fantasy
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can’t make a mistake.”
ORDERS ARE CANCELED
The figure of Simon Wright disappeared into the next room. A moment later Grag heard other footsteps. “I’m waiting — oh, I thought you were Simon, Master.”
“What’s wrong, Grag?”
“Simon says he ordered me to get a ton of that ore. Now I have to go back for it.”
“Nonsense. I distinctly heard him tell you to do nothing but dig it up. And you can’t go back because I have something else for you to do.”
“But he said —” began the robot.
“Never mind what he said,” roared the figure of Roger Newton. “I’m the one that’s giving you orders. I want you to take off your right arm and dissolve it in an acid mixture.”
“What?”
TRUE SIMON WRIGHT APPEARS
It was at this moment that Simon Wright stepped into the room. Grag turned toward him pathetically. “He wants me to dissolve my right arm in acid,” he complained. “But you told me to go back after that ore. What am I supposed to do?”
“Quite a problem, isn’t it?” observed Simon Wright. And just then Roger Newton, accompanied by his wife, stepped into the room.
The dazed robot’s eyes shifted from one Roger Newton to the other. The newcomer caught Simon Wright’s glance, and smiled.
“So, Otho, you still retain your childhood passion for disguises?”
The false Roger Newton grinned in delight. “You should have heard the way I fooled him, Master — first as Simon, then as yourself. He didn’t know what to do.”
GRAG SEES BIG LIGHT
A light of understanding was dawning in the robot’s photoelectric eyes.
“Why, it’s that rubbery son of a test tube,” he roared. “That mess of colloid, that white-faced imitation of a man!”
“Imitation yourself,” returned Otho. “You’re nothing but a collection of rusty rivets, a refugee from a scrap yard. You have a muddled brain to go with your metal body. You’re —”
Otho’s flow of insults was cut short as Grag roared and lunged at him. But almost as the robot’s fingers reached him, the android had slipped aside and flashed into the next room. With a bellow of rage, Grag followed.
Roger Newton’s wife was laughing so hard that tears were starting from her eyes.
STAY FRIENDS DESPITE JOKES
Suddenly she stopped short.
“But suppose Grag catches him?”
“He’ll give Otho a walloping that he well deserves. But he won’t harm him.”
Simon Wright nodded. “They insult each other like deadly enemies, but in actuality, there’s a great deal of affection between them. They’re going to be the best comrades in the world.”
“I’m so pleased.” She smiled. “I don’t think I’m going to be lonely from now on. Now that Otho’s here, even Grag seems more human. And when they start to insult each other — it’s as good as being back on Earth watching a show.”
“I thought Otho would please you. I’m glad, for your sake, if for nothing else, that we decided to make him differently from Grag. And I think,” he added, “that none of us will ever regret making either of them.”
Years later, Simon Wright was to remember those prophetic words.
THE END
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ORDERS ARE CANCELED
The figure of Simon Wright disappeared into the next room. A moment later Grag heard other footsteps. “I’m waiting — oh, I thought you were Simon, Master.”
“What’s wrong, Grag?”
“Simon says he ordered me to get a ton of that ore. Now I have to go back for it.”
“Nonsense. I distinctly heard him tell you to do nothing but dig it up. And you can’t go back because I have something else for you to do.”
“But he said —” began the robot.
“Never mind what he said,” roared the figure of Roger Newton. “I’m the one that’s giving you orders. I want you to take off your right arm and dissolve it in an acid mixture.”
“What?”
TRUE SIMON WRIGHT APPEARS
It was at this moment that Simon Wright stepped into the room. Grag turned toward him pathetically. “He wants me to dissolve my right arm in acid,” he complained. “But you told me to go back after that ore. What am I supposed to do?”
“Quite a problem, isn’t it?” observed Simon Wright. And just then Roger Newton, accompanied by his wife, stepped into the room.
The dazed robot’s eyes shifted from one Roger Newton to the other. The newcomer caught Simon Wright’s glance, and smiled.
“So, Otho, you still retain your childhood passion for disguises?”
The false Roger Newton grinned in delight. “You should have heard the way I fooled him, Master — first as Simon, then as yourself. He didn’t know what to do.”
GRAG SEES BIG LIGHT
A light of understanding was dawning in the robot’s photoelectric eyes.
“Why, it’s that rubbery son of a test tube,” he roared. “That mess of colloid, that white-faced imitation of a man!”
“Imitation yourself,” returned Otho. “You’re nothing but a collection of rusty rivets, a refugee from a scrap yard. You have a muddled brain to go with your metal body. You’re —”
Otho’s flow of insults was cut short as Grag roared and lunged at him. But almost as the robot’s fingers reached him, the android had slipped aside and flashed into the next room. With a bellow of rage, Grag followed.
Roger Newton’s wife was laughing so hard that tears were starting from her eyes.
STAY FRIENDS DESPITE JOKES
Suddenly she stopped short.
“But suppose Grag catches him?”
“He’ll give Otho a walloping that he well deserves. But he won’t harm him.”
Simon Wright nodded. “They insult each other like deadly enemies, but in actuality, there’s a great deal of affection between them. They’re going to be the best comrades in the world.”
“I’m so pleased.” She smiled. “I don’t think I’m going to be lonely from now on. Now that Otho’s here, even Grag seems more human. And when they start to insult each other — it’s as good as being back on Earth watching a show.”
“I thought Otho would please you. I’m glad, for your sake, if for nothing else, that we decided to make him differently from Grag. And I think,” he added, “that none of us will ever regret making either of them.”
Years later, Simon Wright was to remember those prophetic words.
THE END
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