Cyborg

Chapter 18. Lift-Off

Derec was able to assemble a work crew of function robots to take care of the spacecraft under Mandelbrot’s direction. The computer released them from normal du,ty with the understanding that Ariel’s welfare would be aided by her leaving the planet. It was not exactly a clear First Law requirement, but in the absence of significant objections, it was sufficient.

Derec was disappointed to learn that the ship would not support the modifications required to support a second human passenger, but he was not surprised. The entire craft was just too small. He and Ariel had watched the robots construct a hangar near where Mandelbrot had landed it, in which minor repairs could be made. He followed the robots’ progress with a certain intellectual interest.

Ariel did not seem to like talking about the ship, or where she would go in it. He understood that Aurora was off-limits, and neither of them really knew where she might reasonably look for a cure. Anyway, she wouldn’t discuss it.

She brightened for the first time when Research 1 called through the computer console. He told Derec that Jeff was alert, talking, and no longer drugged, for the first time since his body had been restored. She insisted that she and Derec visit him right away.

They found Jeff lying on an air cushion, wearing a soft, loose gown that billowed gently around him. Research 1 had told them that Jeff was self-conscious about the numerous scars he now bore, though they could be largely eliminated by further procedures later on. Derec looked at Jeff’s slender body and Asian face and thought he looked more as though he was Derec’s age than eighteen.

Jeff’s dark eyes darted back and forth suspiciously between them. He said nothing.

“How are you?” Ariel asked.

Jeff looked at her without speaking for a long moment. “Human,” he said quietly. “I guess.”

“Feeling better?” Derec asked. Jeff shrugged shyly.

“Are you angry?” Ariel asked.

“About what?” Jeff said cautiously.

Derec looked uncomfortably at Ariel. He hadn’t spoken to Jeff as often as she had, and didn’t know how to approach him.

“You’re not a robot any more,” she said.

Jeff shook his head almost imperceptibly. “I, uh…feel like I’ve been in a fog, or something. Like I’ve been dreaming. Almost like it wasn’t real. I remember it, I guess…” He looked up at them both sharply, watching for their reactions.

Derec looked at Ariel again.

“You think I’m lying?” Jeff’s voice had a hint of familiar belligerence. “You think I’m just trying to duck responsibility, I suppose. Why don’t you get out of here?”

“Come on,” Ariel said quietly, tugging at Derec’s sleeve. “Let’s leave him alone.”

Ariel led Derec into what had been the testing room. The original equipment had been put back into it, but it was still an adequate place to talk, especially since Jeff no longer had robotic hearing.

“We have to send him, not me,” Ariel said bluntly.

“What?” Derec straightened in surprise.

“He’s got to be the one to go.”

“He can wait, just like I’ll have to. Ariel, you’re the one who needs a cure. If Jeff knew that, he might not object, either.”

“Derec, did you see how he looked at us? He’s not over his-ordeal. He still thinks we’re out to get him in some way.”

“If you go, then he and I will get acquainted. We’ll make friends eventually, like you and I did. We’ll practically have to, being the only humans on the planet.”

“No, Derec. We have to prove to him that we don’t have a grudge-that people will help others just because they need it, and not because they’re going to get something selfish out of it.”

“Then let him prove it by helping you! You need to go worse than he does. That should be the basis for the decision.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t go, at least not yet.”

“What? What do you mean, you shouldn’t go?”

“Derec, I don’t know where to look for a cure. I could just go out and wander, but that’s not very reliable. Maybe if I stay here, Research 1 could take a culture from me and get to work on a cure. It might take a long time, but it would be a chance.”

He hesitated, and looked at the unidentifiable equipment around the room. “The level of medical knowledge here is pretty erratic…but I guess the First Law might require him to try.”

“And once that’s set up, then I could take the next chance I had to leave. “

“You could leave a culture with Research 1 now and go yourself.”

“Leaving Jeff here that way just doesn’t seem fair.” She shook her head. “Besides, it would just help convince him that we’re only out for ourselves.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Well, no.” She looked away, smiling with embarrassment. “Anyway, why are you trying so hard to get rid of me?”

Derec folded his arms and shrugged. “Do you remember right after we first got here? I told you that I would stay to help the robots as they had asked, but that we could ask them to send you away.”

“I told you I would stay with you.” She nodded.

“Well, I’ve always been glad you decided to stay, but…I figure it would be better for you to go, that’s all.” He shrugged again, feeling his face grow hot.

“You want me to stay with you, don’t you?” She had to bend down a little to get under his lowered gaze, and she gave him a playful, knowing smile. “Don’t you?”

“Well…” He couldn’t keep from smiling himself, but he was surprised when she put her arms around him and gave him a long hug. “As long as I’m still stuck here, anyhow…” He had just recovered enough to hug her back when she patted him and pulled away.

She laughed. “Come on. Let’s go tell him.”

Jeff held the highly polished rectangle of metal in one hand and angled it so he could see himself. Research 1 had provided it in answer to his request for a mirror; the robots had not possessed, or ever desired, a personal mirror. He ran his hand along his jaw, then gently squeezed his cheeks so that his mouth puffed out. Then he smiled faintly at the face and wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

“It’s you again,” he said, almost in a whisper. “It’s me again.” He was losing the impulse to talk to himself, though, so he quit.

Still, he couldn’t stop looking in his mirror. This was him, like he was supposed to be. He was back again. Jeff Leong, the eighteen-year-old, was alive and getting better, if not exactly well yet.

At the sound of a knock, he lowered the mirror. “Yeah?” He said quietly.

The door opened just enough for Ariel to stick her head inside. “We have to tell you something.”

Jeff tensed. “Yeah?”

She and Derec entered the room. “We just wanted to let you know that as soon as you’re well enough, we have a spacecraft that can take you off the planet. Depending on how fast you recover, you might still make the start of the new semester.”

He studied their faces for a moment. “How much?”

Ariel looked at him, uncomprehending.

“It’s free,” said Derec.

“You’re going to give me a spacecraft, supplies, and fuel for free? What do you want me to do for you?”

“Nothing!” Derec said angrily. “Listen, why-”

She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Jeff, you can consider it a loan, if you like. As a matter of fact, if you could send someone back to pick us up someday-we don’t have any money, either, and I know you don’t-but if you ever got the chance to do that, it would be more than enough repayment.”

“I’m no navigator,” said Jeff. “I don’t suppose I could send anyone back here, or even find it myself. I guess I should tell you that.” He watched them closely, expecting them to change their minds.

“Fair enough,” said Ariel. “We know that Mandelbrot lost his data when he stopped being Alpha, so he can’t help, either.”

Jeff shifted his gaze to Derec.

“When you’re well enough, it’s all yours.” Derec nodded.

Jeff looked at them both without speaking, not sure whether to believe them or not. From the moment he had first awakened on this planet, virtually nothing that he had seen, heard, or done had been believable. This was no different.

“Did you hear what we said?” Ariel asked.

“Yeah.” His voice was low and wary.

They looked at each other uncertainly. He watched them, not sure what to expect. Then, without further comment, they left.

Jeff’s physical recovery progressed well, and Derec suspected that the First Law made his robot medical team more cautious and conservative in their judgments than human doctors would have been. Still, even when it was clear that his brain had been successfully transplanted, his bodily injuries also had to heal. He remained quiet and wary in his manner, but he was no longer egotistical or insulting. Ariel noticed that that behavior had vanished with his robot body.

Derec suggested to Ariel that they form a farewell gathering for Jeff’s lift-off. Once he had recovered enough to travel, Mandelbrot set the computer in the little ship and gave him a quick course in its manual controls, in the event of emergency. Basically, the computer was to locate the nearest spacelane and wait there, sending a continuous distress signal. No one, including the robots, questioned that in a major spacelane he would be picked up before his life-support ran out.

Jeff remained quiet and cautious even as he was about to leave, but Research 1 was certain that the physical effects of his experience were wearing off.

“He has been integrated with his body for some time now,” said Research 1. “His serum levels are his own.”

As they stood near the hangar waiting for Jeff to enter the ship, Ariel added, “After he’s back in normal human society again, I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

“He hasn’t acted very grateful,” said Derec. “After all, we don’t have to send him. Both of us want to get out of here, too.”

“Shh,” said Ariel.

Jeff walked up to them. He still moved slowly and tentatively sometimes, but he was fully mobile now. “I just wanted to tell you that if I can figure out where this planet is, I’ll get word to some emergency people.”

“I know you will,” said Ariel. “Have a good trip.”

“And thanks for the, uh, chance to go.” He looked away shyly.

“It’s all right,” said Derec. “Take care of yourself.”

Jeff looked up at Research 1 and Surgeon 1 with a slight grin. “Well, it’s certainly been interesting knowing you two. Thanks for getting me all back together. “

“You are welcome,” they said in unison.

He looked around at them all, and stopped at Wolruf. “You okay, kiddo?”

“Okay,” said Wolruf, with a furry nod that quivered her pointed ears. “ ‘U be careful on ‘urr trip.”

“Well…good-bye.” Jeff nodded awkwardly and joined Mandelbrot at the ship. The robot would make sure he was properly prepared for lift-off.

Moments later, he was in the ship and it was roaring away, ascending quickly into the sky until it was only a sliver of light reflected from the sun.

Derec watched it rise, squinting into the deep sky until the back of his neck hurt from the strain. “Our one greatest wish,” he said. “And we gave it away.”

Ariel took his arm in both her hands and leaned against him. “We did right, Derec. Besides, we aren’t through yet.”

He looked down at her and grinned. “Not us-not by a long shot.”

Together, they turned and led the little group back toward Robot City.