[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.and doing it nearby.Mandelbrot also turned his attention to smells, in the hope of detectingPage 36 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlchemical processing of edible substances.Far above the planet, a small spacecraft was just entering the atmosphere,still too distant to be visible from the ground.It carried only onepassenger.His name was Jeff Leong, and he had come to repay a debt of gratitude.Jeff was entering the atmosphere of Robot City in a Hayashi-Smith, which was asmall, discontinued model with facilities for ten people.It bore the exoticname of Minneapolis.The ship computer was doing the flying.Jeff had managedto rent it with his father s credit after persuading him that no one elsecould be trusted with the task of making this trip. Status report, Jeff said to the computer, watching the screen that showedhim white clouds ahead and the glittering pattern far below of urbandevelopment. EXCELLENT, said the computer. SYSTEMS ARE OPERATING EFFICIENTLY ANDWEATHER IS OPTIMAL.SELECT LANDING SITE. I don t know where to land yet, said Jeff. I never really knew thegeography of this place.Uh, scan for a big pyramid with a flat top, okay? AndI mean a.big pyramid. SCANNING.THIS MAY REQUIRE A PROLONGED PERIOD IN VERY LOW ORBIT, DEPENDING ONCLOUD COVER. Whatever it takes. Jeff leaned back and relaxed.This was much better than his last arrival on this planet.That had been anemergency crash-landing that had killed everyone else on board.He shook hishead to avoid the memories of that frantic descent. Computer, he said aloud. While you re scanning, keep watch for humans.I mlooking for a couple of them.And as far as I know, they re the only humanshere. SCANNING MODIFIED. The ship computer was not fully positronic, but it was efficient enough toaccept Jeff s orders and translate them into ship controls.He hoped that finding Derec, Ariel, Mandelbrot, and Wolruf would not take toolong.When he had left the planet in the only functioning spacecraft it had amodified lifepod that supported only one passenger he had promised to sendhelp back if he could.The craft had taken him to a space lane, and hadremained there, sending out a distress signal while keeping him alive.The ship that had rescued him had been jumping from star to star back toAurora, and he had yet to reach Nexon, where he hoped to start college.Thisrescue mission was an important matter of pride to him, since Derec and Arieland the robot medical team had saved his life.Then Derec and Ariel had senthim away when each of them would have liked to use that ship personally.He sighed and watched the screen.He expected most of the problem to be inlocating them.The Minneapolis was outfitted to take them all back to Auroratogether. PYRAMID LOCATED, said the computer. CLOSE-UP ON SCREEN.PLEASE IDENTIFY. On the viewscreen, the Compass Tower shone in the sunlight.The angle was fromabove, of course, and a little to one side.At this distance, it looked like aflawless model on a design display. That s it, said Jeff excitedly, sitting forward to look. Can you land nearit somewhere without smashing up anything? SCANNING FOR A LOW-RISK LANDING SITE IN THE AREA, said the computer. TOAVOID ALL CHANCE OF DAMAGE TO MANUFACTURED AND CONSTRUCTED PROPERTY, THISCRAFT REQUIRES MORE LANDING SPACE THAN THE AREA HAS SO FAR OFFERED. Show me the area as you scan it, said Jeff. Just try to land as close asyou can. DISPLAYING. Jeff watched the screen closely as the view pulled back to a greater heightand began to move quickly across the landscape.At first he tried to recognizeother places, such as a city plaza he remembered and the distinctive bronzePage 37 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmldome of the Key Center.He couldn t find them.Then, as the camera continuedto scan, he realized that they were covering a lot of area very quickly. Look for an open grassy region, he said. It was just outside the city.I msure it wasn t more than a few kilometers from that tower. PERIMETER OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT NOT LOCATED.SCANNING CONTINUES. He watched as block after block of city passed beneath them.The robots hadcontinued building, much faster than he had ever imagined.He couldn t affordto land on the other side of the planet.Derec and Ariel had lived close tothe tower. Listen, he said. Most of this population is robots.If they re damaged,they can be repaired.Just don t hit the buildings, cause we won t survive,either. He grinned at his own humor. CLARIFY. We have to land around here somewhere.Try to avoid the robots, but give uspriority.Watch out for humans; other than that, find a place in the citynear that tower where we can land.A park, a plaza, a big intersection.Something like that. SCANNING MODIFIED FOR MODERATE-RISK LANDING SITE.SITE SELECTED. Good, said Jeff. That was quick.See if you can reach the city s centralcomputer.Give it fair warning of our landing site so it can tell everybody toget out of the way. LINK ESTABLISHED.WARNING SENT AND ACKNOWLEDGED.CURRENT SPEED REQUIRES WIDETURN.PREPARE FOR LANDING IN APPROXIMATELY TWELVE MINUTES. Jeff grinned. Good job. Eleven and a half minutes later, Jeff stared in tense fascination at thescreen as the small ship sliced through the atmosphere at a low angle and cameshooting straight toward the skyline.The Minneapolis was versatile enough toact as both a shuttle and starship, which was why he had chosen it.He trustedthe computer, which would not allow him to come to harm if it could help it,despite being non-positronic.and yet even the computer couldn t preventevery malfunction.After all, he had just barely survived one crash here.He was gripping the sides of the chair and sweating freely as the screenshowed a broad boulevard stretching straight ahead [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl centka.pev.pl
.and doing it nearby.Mandelbrot also turned his attention to smells, in the hope of detectingPage 36 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlchemical processing of edible substances.Far above the planet, a small spacecraft was just entering the atmosphere,still too distant to be visible from the ground.It carried only onepassenger.His name was Jeff Leong, and he had come to repay a debt of gratitude.Jeff was entering the atmosphere of Robot City in a Hayashi-Smith, which was asmall, discontinued model with facilities for ten people.It bore the exoticname of Minneapolis.The ship computer was doing the flying.Jeff had managedto rent it with his father s credit after persuading him that no one elsecould be trusted with the task of making this trip. Status report, Jeff said to the computer, watching the screen that showedhim white clouds ahead and the glittering pattern far below of urbandevelopment. EXCELLENT, said the computer. SYSTEMS ARE OPERATING EFFICIENTLY ANDWEATHER IS OPTIMAL.SELECT LANDING SITE. I don t know where to land yet, said Jeff. I never really knew thegeography of this place.Uh, scan for a big pyramid with a flat top, okay? AndI mean a.big pyramid. SCANNING.THIS MAY REQUIRE A PROLONGED PERIOD IN VERY LOW ORBIT, DEPENDING ONCLOUD COVER. Whatever it takes. Jeff leaned back and relaxed.This was much better than his last arrival on this planet.That had been anemergency crash-landing that had killed everyone else on board.He shook hishead to avoid the memories of that frantic descent. Computer, he said aloud. While you re scanning, keep watch for humans.I mlooking for a couple of them.And as far as I know, they re the only humanshere. SCANNING MODIFIED. The ship computer was not fully positronic, but it was efficient enough toaccept Jeff s orders and translate them into ship controls.He hoped that finding Derec, Ariel, Mandelbrot, and Wolruf would not take toolong.When he had left the planet in the only functioning spacecraft it had amodified lifepod that supported only one passenger he had promised to sendhelp back if he could.The craft had taken him to a space lane, and hadremained there, sending out a distress signal while keeping him alive.The ship that had rescued him had been jumping from star to star back toAurora, and he had yet to reach Nexon, where he hoped to start college.Thisrescue mission was an important matter of pride to him, since Derec and Arieland the robot medical team had saved his life.Then Derec and Ariel had senthim away when each of them would have liked to use that ship personally.He sighed and watched the screen.He expected most of the problem to be inlocating them.The Minneapolis was outfitted to take them all back to Auroratogether. PYRAMID LOCATED, said the computer. CLOSE-UP ON SCREEN.PLEASE IDENTIFY. On the viewscreen, the Compass Tower shone in the sunlight.The angle was fromabove, of course, and a little to one side.At this distance, it looked like aflawless model on a design display. That s it, said Jeff excitedly, sitting forward to look. Can you land nearit somewhere without smashing up anything? SCANNING FOR A LOW-RISK LANDING SITE IN THE AREA, said the computer. TOAVOID ALL CHANCE OF DAMAGE TO MANUFACTURED AND CONSTRUCTED PROPERTY, THISCRAFT REQUIRES MORE LANDING SPACE THAN THE AREA HAS SO FAR OFFERED. Show me the area as you scan it, said Jeff. Just try to land as close asyou can. DISPLAYING. Jeff watched the screen closely as the view pulled back to a greater heightand began to move quickly across the landscape.At first he tried to recognizeother places, such as a city plaza he remembered and the distinctive bronzePage 37 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmldome of the Key Center.He couldn t find them.Then, as the camera continuedto scan, he realized that they were covering a lot of area very quickly. Look for an open grassy region, he said. It was just outside the city.I msure it wasn t more than a few kilometers from that tower. PERIMETER OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT NOT LOCATED.SCANNING CONTINUES. He watched as block after block of city passed beneath them.The robots hadcontinued building, much faster than he had ever imagined.He couldn t affordto land on the other side of the planet.Derec and Ariel had lived close tothe tower. Listen, he said. Most of this population is robots.If they re damaged,they can be repaired.Just don t hit the buildings, cause we won t survive,either. He grinned at his own humor. CLARIFY. We have to land around here somewhere.Try to avoid the robots, but give uspriority.Watch out for humans; other than that, find a place in the citynear that tower where we can land.A park, a plaza, a big intersection.Something like that. SCANNING MODIFIED FOR MODERATE-RISK LANDING SITE.SITE SELECTED. Good, said Jeff. That was quick.See if you can reach the city s centralcomputer.Give it fair warning of our landing site so it can tell everybody toget out of the way. LINK ESTABLISHED.WARNING SENT AND ACKNOWLEDGED.CURRENT SPEED REQUIRES WIDETURN.PREPARE FOR LANDING IN APPROXIMATELY TWELVE MINUTES. Jeff grinned. Good job. Eleven and a half minutes later, Jeff stared in tense fascination at thescreen as the small ship sliced through the atmosphere at a low angle and cameshooting straight toward the skyline.The Minneapolis was versatile enough toact as both a shuttle and starship, which was why he had chosen it.He trustedthe computer, which would not allow him to come to harm if it could help it,despite being non-positronic.and yet even the computer couldn t preventevery malfunction.After all, he had just barely survived one crash here.He was gripping the sides of the chair and sweating freely as the screenshowed a broad boulevard stretching straight ahead [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]