The Robot Brains [with w_cat] | страница 32

He looked at the Watchers again.

"There must be more than just the two of you," he said. "So far I've seen only the Brains and their giant women. What's happened to the rest of humanity?"

Paul rose and went to a wall with a large screen. He pressed a button, and Christian saw space with lots of stars.

"The humanity is there," said Paul. "Man has reached the stars"

Christian felt proud. After all, the human race was not really represented by the Brains. The stars... he dreamed a little, then remembered the reality.

"Do you know that the Brains have traveled into the past?" he said. "That they have come into the twentieth century and are murdering the best scientists of my time? Can the future be changed?"

Paul frowned. "That is a big question," he said, "even bigger than you think. I am not sure that I know the answer. Perhaps, it is a terrible mistake to try to change the past."

"But that's just what the Brains are doing!" said Christian. "Can you stop them?"

Perhaps," said Paul and rose from the table. "Let us go to the control room."

They came into a large round room with a large screen on the wall and a switchboard before it.

Paul said: "We can send the robots from here, and they will act as our eyes. We shall see on this screen all that they will see on the ground and underground."

He pressed some buttons on the switchboard, and the screen came to life.

The desert started moving before their eyes.

"Our robots could not help you before," said Barbara. "They can only see. As soon as we saw you, we came."

The robots approached the high wall near which Christian had been attacked by the ants.

"Why was this huge wall built?" asked Christian.

"It was an attempt to keep back the insects," said Paul. "Before people left this planet, these giant insects threatened them. They had mutated from small forms because of atomic radiation."

The robots came up to the lift and went underground. Christian saw the jungle in which he was hunted by the Brains.

"At first it was a cultivated hydroponic garden," said Paul, "but the Brains did not take care of it, and now it is wild."

The robots passed the jungle and moved along the corridors to the transmitter hall.

The time machine looked like a monster with many red lights. There were very few crystals in it now...

"It means," said Christian, "that they have gone into the past."

Paul nodded.

"Can you destroy this time machine?" asked Christian.

"Of course," answered Paul. "But what then?" You will remain here for ever - and the Brains will be destroying life in your time. Our problem is to reverse the situation."