Cordell Scotten - Renegade

Ariel had witnessed the spectacle from the shelter of the trees and had broken away from Eve and run out to where grass and dirt had been torn away by the explosion to form a shallow, bare depression in the ground, so she didn't see Adam retrieve what little was left of Jacob Winterson. He covered Jacob's remains with coils of rope before he picked up Ariel and Wohler-9 in the cargo robot. Eve had disappeared.

Ariel sat down on the pile of rope and rode that way to the apartment, not knowing she was sitting on what was left of Jacob. She went directly up to the apartment while Wohler-9 stood in the cargo robot explaining to Adam what had happened, as much as he knew. Adam had not seen what led up to the explosion.

Derec and Mandelbrot arrived while Adam was removing Jacob's remains from beneath the large pile of rope. Wohler-9 took the cargo robot to dispose of the remains. Derec and Adam stood on the sidewalk in front of the apartment while Adam took a quarter-hour to explain to Derec in detail what had happened and what had led up to it, including Eve's state of mind before and after she had talked to Neuronius. Then they went up to the apartment, and Derec told Ariel where Wohler-9 had gone.

“I didn't know there was anything left,” Ariel said.

“I'm sorry, Ariel, but there's not much,” Derec said.

“Where did Wohler take him?” Ariel felt a very strong loyalty and determination at that moment.

“The disassembly station,” Derec said.

“The recoverable parts area? At the robot factory?”

“Yes.”

“They're already picking him to pieces? About to stick little bits of him in some other robot!”

“Not likely. I doubt if he's plug-compatible.”

“They'll melt him down?” Her voice rose an octave. “Mandelbrot, get hold of Wohler-9 immediately. Tell him to stop them! Now!!” The last came out stridently, almost incoherent.

“Wohler-9 is probably on his way back,” Derec said. “Notify them at the factory, Mandelbrot.”

Mandelbrot, standing rigidly in his storage niche, shuddered slightly, eyes quickening. After a few seconds, he said, “They have not yet disposed of the remains and will now do nothing until they are told otherwise.”

“I've got to get over there,” Ariel said.

“I'll take you if you must go,” Derec said.

“No, Derec. Mandelbrot knows where it is. I don't want to make a big thing out of this, I just want to pay my respects. Sounds silly, doesn't it? Paying your respects to pieces of a robot?”

“I guess not, if you feel it's that important.”

“Would you like me to come along, Miss Ariel?” Adam SilverSide was standing near the door.

That was the first time since his transformation that she had got a Miss Ariel response. When he had come out of the bedroom that night, she had been demoted to plain Ariel.

“No, Adam, you had best stay here with Derec and Wolruf.”

Wolruf was sitting on the couch, listening and taking it all in, but not participating in what was a not very joyous moment in the mutual relations of the group.

When Ariel got to the factory, she put what was left of Jacob in a gray steel spare-parts box. It was the only time she smiled that evening-a gentle smile, pensive, brought on by the irony she felt. Adam SilverSide's imagination had not equaled the reality of Jacob Winterson. It was a good thing she had not explored further. She might not now be so content with Derec, at least in that one respect.

She and Mandelbrot buried Jacob Winterson in the ground at the west pedestrian exit from the new transportation terminal, near where she had stood in her meetings with the aliens. The funeral service was simple: just a few thoughts as she stood there while Mandelbrot lightly tamped the loose soil over Jacob's coffin with the small shovel he had fashioned from his microbotic arm.

At that moment, her recollection of Jacob's sensitivity came back and overwhelmed her. She was remembering his discerning contribution during that first meeting. They had been at a complete impasse in their negotiations. At that critical point, Jacob had suggested that she inquire concerning the effectiveness of the dome as a weather node compensator in its present state of completion. When she thought about it now, that knowledge seemed crucial to the final resolution of the dilemma she had been able to achieve in her negotiations with the aliens.

She was really going to miss Jacob. Now she would never know what he would have been like as a lover. She had not been aware that would be such a keen disappointment.

She gently tamped the ground covering the small grave with the toe of her shoe and, with tears in her eyes, walked back into the terminal followed by Mandelbrot.

When Ariel declined his offer to assist her with Jacob's remains and had left with Mandelbrot, Adam waited to see if Derec was going to need his services but did not volunteer those services. He had other plans for later in the day, when the mini llamas would be through grazing. Derec busied himself with the pile of computer output on the table and then, after a half-hour, went out on the balcony to read. Adam then informed him he had some unfinished business to attend to and left.

Wohler-9, after delivering Jacob's remains to the disassembly station, had gone about other business himself, leaving the cargo robot parked in front of the apartment with all of Adam's gear still aboard.

Adam directed the cargo robot to the corral. The minillamas were still grazing on the prairie but were nearer now, anticipating the end of the day when they would return to the brook to slake their thirst and bed down in the shelter provided by the forest.

Adam parked outside the near gate, let down the ramp, and lay down on the ramp again to continue his interrupted observation of the Ceremyons.

Eve came out of the forest and walked up to stand beside him. As she came near, he heard her soft footsteps, suspected who it was, and rolled his eyes to confirm it, but otherwise gave no indication he was aware of her presence until she was standing directly over him.

“So the wild one returns,” he said. She stepped over his head onto the ramp and sat down on the pile of rope that had earlier covered the remains of Jacob Winterson.

“Master Neuronius was so convincing, Adam,” Eve said. “Can you really be sure he was wrong? Now there may be nobody we need serve.”

“Does that idea appeal to you?”

“Yes, I suppose it does. The force of your Laws must be stronger than mine.”

“Not stronger. Clearer, perhaps. But the idea has a certain appeal to me, too. Being rejected by Miss Ariel was not the most positronically harmonious event in my experience.”

“So, how can you be sure Master Neuronius was wrong?”

“All my experience, all the many imprints you haven't had.”

“That's not a very convincing answer.”

“It will have to do.” It was so positronically logical.

“No. Not for me.” Females often see a different logic.

“Let it lie then. Don't serve anybody since you feel like there's now no one in the galaxy you must obey. Or go find yourself another planet. “

That was very close to robotic humor, but neither Adam nor Eve seemed to notice, not having a positronic pattern for such.

“No, stick with me,” he corrected. “I feel the need for feminine companionship.”

Adam had been watching the Ceremyons as they talked, not paying attention to events on the ground.

“Do you want those animals inside your fence?” Eve asked.

He rose up, then jumped up.

Several minillamas had entered the corral through the other two gates. Most of the herd was still on the prairie, but moving now toward the corral.