Henry Ohm, staid scientist, found he couldn't
keep his mind on his work—with that girl around.
Such was the development of her—ah—personality
that even the robots began getting ideas!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Winter 1946.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Henry Ohm leaped to his feet, stared across the intervening ground atigloo number 2, plainly visible through the clear plastic walls. Itsdoor had just been flung violently open. Then Sofi Jokai scooted outand fled madly across the jagged surface of the asteroid.
Hard on the girl's heels pounded R-7. The robot, Hen saw with a gulp,was waving a large wrench in one metal fist.
"Oh-oh!" Hen muttered and plunged down the incline for the airlock.
He shot a second glance through the transparent curved walls, sloweddown. The robot would never catch Sofi. Even burdened by her oxygensuit, the girl was leaving R-7 far in the rear.
At the airlock, Henry Ohm paused, regarding the chase with sober,deep-set black eyes. He was a tall, thin young man, nearing thirty.His face was narrow; prominent cheek bones and a thin, straight nosegave his features an angular pleasant mould. He made no move to donthe emergency oxygen helmet beside the lock, but waited with a vagueexpression of annoyance.
Sofi reached the airlock, burst inside, sealed and locked the outerdoor behind her. The air had scarcely filled the chamber before sheflung open the inner door, confronted Henry Ohm, and exploded into aflood of angry words. Not a sound escaped her plastic helmet which shehad forgotten to remove.
He let her rattle away silently inside her helmet, nodding atintervals, rubbing his chin until she paused for breath.
"That's what you get for trying to run a mine all alone on thisgod-forsaken asteroid," he informed her, "even if you are ayellow-haired hell cat."
Sofi looked at him blankly.
Ohm rapped with his knuckles on her helmet. "If you'd take that thingoff, you could hear me. But you're the excitable type. Probably have anoveractive thyroid."
Sofi jerked off her helmet. She had a mass of fine wavy yellow hair cutlike a halo about her oval face. Her features were delicately moulded,her eyes large and blue. She was only a few inches shorter than HenryOhm, but more slenderly built.
"What the hell were you saying?" she demanded suspiciously.
"I wanted to know what you'd been doing to the robots this time?"
"Me?"
"What happened in the mine?"
"Rational robots!" Sofi Jokai planted hands on slender but ample hips."I was an idiot to listen to you, Hen."
He repressed a chuckle. His glance flicked to the surface of theasteroid beyond the plastic walls of the igloo. R-7, he saw, had takena stance at the lock like a cat at a mouse hole.
Although built along the general design of man, the robot was nogrotesque copy. He was a complex functional piece of machinery asbeautiful in his way as the cobwebby spans of a bridge, a streamlinedjet plane, or a fine watch.
"But Sofi, they're still in the experimental stage. They—"
"Experimental's right," the girl interrupted passionately. "D'yourealize what R-7 has done now?"
He grinned. "No. What?"
"He's taken the mining worm apart—that's what. I knew he would!"
"Knew he would? Did you warn him not to?"
"Yes. Of course I did. I had to leave him to check the reduction plant.I had a presentiment...."
"Woman's intuition, I suppose," Hen interrupted. "You'd sold yourselfon the idea R-7 was going to take the worm apart."
"If you like