The Robot Brains [with w_cat] | страница 9

155 "It is true that we are used to an even temperature," said the Brain with the scar.

156 He spoke with a strange accent.

157 "What country it is?" asked the captain.

158 He received no answer. All three Brains were silent. Looking down at them, Christian saw that each had a belt at his waist; and in each belt there was a large black crystal with some strange engraving on it.

159 He stretched out his hand to touch the nearest crystal and exclaimed: "I've never seen anything like these before!"

160 Their reaction was immediate. All three Brains jerked away from him, as from something dangerous.

161 "Keep your hands off," one of them said angrily. "You must not touch!"

162 "Sorry," said Christian. He was intrigued.

163 They looked at him a moment, then quickly walked to their trailer. The captain remained standing there, wondering: what the devil was that all about?

164 Kurt Lawrence looked at the clock again. It was now past midnight, and Grace was not yet home. He thought: "She's seeing too much of Stacey..."

165 He tried to concentrate on his work. He was a tall man with brown hair, younger than he looked. His work was nearly finished. He had worked out a new method of launching rockets. It was a big step forward.

166 He looked at the clock again. Twenty minutes past midnight. Where was Grace now? He decided that in future he would devote more time to his wife.

167 He returned to his table to work out final details. When at last he finished, it was one o'clock. He heard someone at the door of the house. He opened the door of his room and went along the corridor, calling:

168 "Grace? Is that you, Grace?"

169 Kurt Lawrence did not know it then, but his worries were almost over...

170 Three cars stopped at the entrance to the Burkholder Fair. Four men in plain clothes got out of each car. They found Burkholder and explained what they wanted. The owner of the Fair did not like the idea, but he had no choice.

171 In ten minutes, everyone who worked at the Fair, was inside the large tent. The men in plain clothes were questioning them. Meanwhile, other men were searching the tents and trailers.

172 Christian was questioned, too. Miller, to his surprise, was with the people who asked the questions.

173 Afterwards, Miller took Christian aside and said, "I must now introduce myself."

174 He showed Christian his card; very simply it said that he was an operative of Military Intelligence.