Гарри Гаррисон - Planet Of No Return

Dark masses were visible now, running in front of the dust clouds, growing larger and ever larger as they came on. Massive forms, heavily armoured and armed weapons of war. Smaller and more agile machines were soon visible, darting back and forth, flanking them on all sides. These covering forces were everywhere, spreading out and nosing along the lake shore and even up to the hillside. Lea cringed down in their hiding place as a flight of jets roared low over their heads; the trailing explosion of their supersonic flight crashed down upon the stone shelter. As the armada advanced the plain became black with fighting machines. As far as they could see it was thickly covered with the engines of war. Their ears ached with the metallic roar.

It was late afternoon before the main body of the armoured column had passed, but squads of the smaller and faster tanks still coursed about in their wake.

“That was quite a display,” Lea said. “An inhuman one. Out there was nothing but machines. Programmed machines. If there had been human operators driving those things I would have sensed their massed emotions, even at this distance. But there was absolutely nothing.”

“Couldn’t there have been a few people there, somewhere among the machines? In control?”

“Very possible, I wouldn’t have detected their presence. But even if there were a handful of human beings guiding that column I would say that ninety-five, ninety-eight percent of the machines had to be robot operated.”

“It’s frightening …”

“Everything about this operation is frightening. And deadly. We’re going to stay here until morning. I want those machines to get as far away from us as possible before we move on. One good thing about this, at least we know which way we have to go now.”

“What do you mean?”

Brion pointed out the great scars that had been ground into the plain by the passing of the mechanized army. “They left a trail that we could follow blindfolded. We are going to backtrack them — find out where they came from.”

“We can’t! There may be still more of them coming from the same direction.”

“We will stay well out of their way. Those tracks can be seen for miles so we won’t have to keep too close to them. We’ll move with caution as we have been doing. But we are going to follow their tracks for as long as we have to. We are not going to stop until we find where those machines came from.”

For the first few days there were no problems. But after that the tracking became more and more difficult to do. Once the Central Lake had disappeared from view behind them, the nature of the countryside began to gradually change. There was no longer the continuous sequence of mountains, wooded foothills and grassy plain. The terrain became more broken and mountainous with the hills cut through by valleys and gorges. Brion stopped on the steep hillside, looking out at the sharp-cut tracks dug into the plain. They were still clearly visible on the plain below, but disappearing from sight where they vanished into the mouth of a steep-sided gorge.

“What do we do now?” Lea said.

“Have something to eat while we do some serious thinking. I suppose it might just be possible to take to the hills and follow along above the track.”

She looked up at the towering cliff and sniffed. “A lot easier said then done.” She broke out a ration pack then held out the almost empty container. “And if you will notice — we are also running out of food. Whatever happens, we are going to have to turn back fairly soon, or send for the lifeship so we can resupply.”

“I don’t like either choice. We’ve come this far and we are still on their trail. We must go on. We can’t resupply because we don’t dare risk landing the ship in an area with so many fighting machines about. Which leaves a single option open …”

“Don’t say it. Just open the mouth to put in food. And then we will follow my plan. We will go back to the plain, bring the ship down and get back into orbit where we know we will be safe. We have plenty to report. After that we sit tight and wait for them to send the troops in…"

Brion shook his head in a firm no. “We are the troops. And we can’t leave until we find out just what is happening here. So that leaves us with a single remaining course open. Into the canyon.”

“You’re out of your mind. That is certain suicide.”

“I don’t think so. I see it more as a fifty-fifty chance. A fast move, in and out before any more machines come this way.”

“And I can just see what is coming next. This is going to be a one-man crash operation, isn’t it? With you on foot wearing your running shoes and waving your big transparent dagger. While I sit it out here with all the metallic equipment, waiting patiently for your return.”

“That’s the sort of scenario I had in mind. Can you find anything wrong with it?”

“Just one thing. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to simply blow your own brains out and save yourself all that trouble?”

He took her small hand in his large one, clearly sensing the worry and fear behind her harsh words. “I know what you are thinking and feeling, and I can’t blame you for it. But at this moment in time we don’t really have a choice. It’s either turn back and start the whole operation over again. Or finish it now. I’ve think we’ve come too far, been involved in too much violence and bloodshed to drop it all now. I can take care of myself. And I need to see this thing right through to the end.”

There was no point in arguing, Lea understood that and was possessed by a sensation of dark resignation. They packed the bag in silence and moved deeper into the hills, away from the canyon, until they found a suitable campsite. It had a sheltered overhang of stone and was just above a rushing mountain stream.

“You’ll be safe here,” Brion said, handing her the rapid-fire pistol. “Keep this near you at all times. If you see anything at all you must shoot first and investigate later. There is nothing friendly out here, animals, machines — or men. I’ll give you plenty of warning when I get back, so don’t worry about shooting me.”

The night was cool, for the first time, here in the hills. They shared the sleeping bag for warmth. Brion fell asleep instantly, years of training had taught him to do that, but sleep did not come that easily for her. She lay awake far into the night, staring up through the canopy of the trees at the alien, star-filled heavens, so different from the sky of Earth. She was such a long way from home.

Lea woke to a touch on her shoulder to find that it was light. Brion stood over her, securing his knife into place.

“In the last report I am sure that we recorded everything of importance that we have learned so far, so you will be able to keep radio silence. And you must stay under cover at all times. This is day one — and I’ll be back at the very latest by the evening of day four. I promise to return no matter what I find in there. If I’m not back at the promised time you must not wait for me. And I’m sure that you realize what folly it would be to follow me. Whether I’m here or not you must start back on day five. Bring down the lifeship as soon as you reach the plain — then get off of this planet. Fast. There are other agents who can crack this nut if we fail.”

“But contingency…”

“Don’t concern yourself with these plans. I’ll see you here in four days.”

He turned on his heel and was gone. Quickly, before she could say a thing. It was obvious that he preferred it that way. She watched his great form lope easily away down the bank of the stream, growing smaller and smaller until he dropped over a ledge and was gone from sight.

There was no logical reason to hesitate at the mouth of the canyon — but logic had nothing to do with this. Brion jumped down the last few feet from the terraced hillside — then stopped. Unmoving. Listening to the silence. On each side of him the high walls of stone rose up to form a natural corridor that sliced deep into the hillside. He could see about a quarter of a mile ahead before a turn in the canyon concealed the rest of it from sight. The ground before him had once been covered with grass and shrubs, but these had long since been pulverized and ground into rutted soil. Only a few bits of greenery remained close to the rocky walls. The rest had been churned up and destroyed under the tracks of the advancing army. Machine after machine had chewed into the stony ground until it was a tumbled sea of overlapping tracks. When Brion looked down he saw that he was standing in one of the deep marks, an indentation that was more than a yard square. And this was just one part of the track of the gigantic machine — that in itself was only one of a legion. And army of machines had passed this way, and for all he knew more of them could be coming towards him at this very moment. And he was going to tackle this machine army — single-handed?