Read Online Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition by CD Moulton - Free Book Online
Authors: CD Moulton
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why
it could be sure no one would search there. It could shield
internally against the magnetic field, which was immense, but the
magnetism would also divert signs of the fusion reactors. The
problem was, anything containing any iron or other magnetic
material quickly added to the mass of the huge magnet. The
attraction for those materials now was tremendous, so the asteroid
was a perfect globe from the bombardment, and anything larger than
a cubic meter would stand out starkly against it.
Of course, we
wouldn't be expected to look there, either.
As we
approached the asteroid a heat laser was focused on us. It wasn't
strong enough to break TR's shields, so we went in closer, where a
fusion missile was shot at us. We were able to locate the area the
missile came from and slagged the little ship-like object that was
attacking us.
"Oh goody!" TR
exulted. "We got it! Shall we go back to Flimt now or to EC for a
well-deserved vacation? We were so good, maybe Maita will make a
special medal for us!"
"Why, I think
we should pat ourselves on the back and take the vacation! That
thing knows we won't fall for that! It decoyed us as much as it
ever will already!"
"You forget. It
doesn't know it's us. It may think all it has to do is outsmart the
locals, who don't know anything about it."
"You've got a
point. Where is the damned thing, though? It's not on that
lump."
"I'm a saucer
ship! I don't have points!"
We waited
twenty one hours for all the floaters to return with their data.
Nothing on any asteroid large enough to hide it.
"It once
disguised itself as an asteroid," TR suggested. "And one time Maita
almost turned it into one with a bombardment – or one of its
decoys, anyhow. It may have learned a lot."
We waited
another sixteen hours while the floaters did a quick sensor scan of
all the smaller asteroids.
"We can now say
definitely it isn't in the asteroids, and it isn't on any moon, and
it isn't on Worfeq," I said. "It isn't on any station or satellite.
It isn't likely it's on Flimt, but I don't see where else it could
be. It hasn't left the system.
"Damn! I
thought it would be easy!"
"We have to
stop at this point and go through a lot of old records," TR said.
"There has to be something we're overlooking in all of this. It
doesn't make sense as it is!"
TR called up
the full recordings of the first encounter Maita and crew had with
the robot brain. There was a lot of information at hand, because
Maita was always extra thorough in these things. Proof the care was
smart was the fact we were looking through it for clues right
now.
/Tlesson taken
by brain-servos through satellites/
/Tlesson people
migrate to New Home/
/Maita
discovers New Home and agrees to help Tlessons/
/Brain
emplacements destroyed in all of Old Home Tlesson system/
/Brain fought
in asteroid belt/
/Brain fought
in asteroid/
/Brain
satellite destroyed/
/Brain falls
into gas giant, where it is destroyed/
/Emplacements
on Old Home taken and servos destroyed or deactivated./
/Tlessons
homecoming planned/
/Brain found on
moon/
/Brain decoyed
and destroyed second time/
/Maita apprised
Brain alive in system/
/Maita, TR,
Tab, Z, Thing return to system and destroy Brain/
"Whoopee!" TR
said sarcastically (Damn it, HOW?). "It's been declared destroyed
three times!"
"Oh, for the
galaxy's sake!" I cried.
"I take it that
means you know where it is?"
"Look at item
eight in your little history. Bring up the whole file for
study."
"Eight?
Satellite is destroyed.... Oh, no! We can't go into a gas giant's
atmosphere to look for that thing! There's no visibility, the
damned planet produces fusion reactions to make our sensors
useless, it's far too big to search.
"It's a matter
of volume, not area. The pressure wouldn't get too much until it
was several thousand kilometers down.
"Damn!"
"Bring up the
file!"
TR put it on
the screen, but there really wasn't much. The ship carrying the
brain was damaged and had dropped into the atmosphere of the
it could be sure no one would search there. It could shield
internally against the magnetic field, which was immense, but the
magnetism would also divert signs of the fusion reactors. The
problem was, anything containing any iron or other magnetic
material quickly added to the mass of the huge magnet. The
attraction for those materials now was tremendous, so the asteroid
was a perfect globe from the bombardment, and anything larger than
a cubic meter would stand out starkly against it.
Of course, we
wouldn't be expected to look there, either.
As we
approached the asteroid a heat laser was focused on us. It wasn't
strong enough to break TR's shields, so we went in closer, where a
fusion missile was shot at us. We were able to locate the area the
missile came from and slagged the little ship-like object that was
attacking us.
"Oh goody!" TR
exulted. "We got it! Shall we go back to Flimt now or to EC for a
well-deserved vacation? We were so good, maybe Maita will make a
special medal for us!"
"Why, I think
we should pat ourselves on the back and take the vacation! That
thing knows we won't fall for that! It decoyed us as much as it
ever will already!"
"You forget. It
doesn't know it's us. It may think all it has to do is outsmart the
locals, who don't know anything about it."
"You've got a
point. Where is the damned thing, though? It's not on that
lump."
"I'm a saucer
ship! I don't have points!"
We waited
twenty one hours for all the floaters to return with their data.
Nothing on any asteroid large enough to hide it.
"It once
disguised itself as an asteroid," TR suggested. "And one time Maita
almost turned it into one with a bombardment – or one of its
decoys, anyhow. It may have learned a lot."
We waited
another sixteen hours while the floaters did a quick sensor scan of
all the smaller asteroids.
"We can now say
definitely it isn't in the asteroids, and it isn't on any moon, and
it isn't on Worfeq," I said. "It isn't on any station or satellite.
It isn't likely it's on Flimt, but I don't see where else it could
be. It hasn't left the system.
"Damn! I
thought it would be easy!"
"We have to
stop at this point and go through a lot of old records," TR said.
"There has to be something we're overlooking in all of this. It
doesn't make sense as it is!"
TR called up
the full recordings of the first encounter Maita and crew had with
the robot brain. There was a lot of information at hand, because
Maita was always extra thorough in these things. Proof the care was
smart was the fact we were looking through it for clues right
now.
/Tlesson taken
by brain-servos through satellites/
/Tlesson people
migrate to New Home/
/Maita
discovers New Home and agrees to help Tlessons/
/Brain
emplacements destroyed in all of Old Home Tlesson system/
/Brain fought
in asteroid belt/
/Brain fought
in asteroid/
/Brain
satellite destroyed/
/Brain falls
into gas giant, where it is destroyed/
/Emplacements
on Old Home taken and servos destroyed or deactivated./
/Tlessons
homecoming planned/
/Brain found on
moon/
/Brain decoyed
and destroyed second time/
/Maita apprised
Brain alive in system/
/Maita, TR,
Tab, Z, Thing return to system and destroy Brain/
"Whoopee!" TR
said sarcastically (Damn it, HOW?). "It's been declared destroyed
three times!"
"Oh, for the
galaxy's sake!" I cried.
"I take it that
means you know where it is?"
"Look at item
eight in your little history. Bring up the whole file for
study."
"Eight?
Satellite is destroyed.... Oh, no! We can't go into a gas giant's
atmosphere to look for that thing! There's no visibility, the
damned planet produces fusion reactions to make our sensors
useless, it's far too big to search.
"It's a matter
of volume, not area. The pressure wouldn't get too much until it
was several thousand kilometers down.
"Damn!"
"Bring up the
file!"
TR put it on
the screen, but there really wasn't much. The ship carrying the
brain was damaged and had dropped into the atmosphere of the
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