With his clusters of flexible legs, Jorax moved away from the wall, scanned the room with his scarlet optical sensors, then began to move toward William Andeker. The scientist shouted for help, but he had sealed them into the laboratory room. With all power systems down, no one could break in.

More cutters and weapons systems emerged from the robot’s body core. Andeker backed toward the wall, frozen with fear.

“There are some things you cannot be permitted to know,” Jorax said. He easily closed the distance to the human scientist.

66: BERNDT OKIAH

66BERNDT OKIAH

The new Erphano skymine had functioned admirably since it had been put into service. Berndt Okiah studied the weekly ekti tallies and took pride in the facility’s accomplishments. He had already decided to issue a nice bonus to all the workers who had made this dream a reality.

Berndt stood on the control deck as the skymine cruised like a hungry waif above the clouds. Through the huge panoramic windows, he saw an endless landscape of soft mists, green gases, and swirling currents that painted an everchanging expression on the face of Erphano.

Scout ships flew like crows around the giant skymine. Atmospheric chemists and meteorological engineers dipped into the cloud decks, monitoring storms, studying upwellings of exotic chemical components that were cooked deep inside the gas giant. On the command deck, some of Berndt’s associates monitored the reactor and storage systems.

One man played copies of musical recordings that had been in his clan for generations. Berndt himself did not enjoy the atonal racket, but he let the crewman have his preference, so long as the rest of his operational team didn’t complain. He had learned how to relax more, how to be open and lenient. His wife, Marta, said it was good for him.

Wearing warm clothing, the curly-haired engineer Eldon Clarin climbed the metal ladder to the command deck, looking distracted but satisfied. “Something wrong, Eldon?” Berndt’s burly body filled the new high-backed, padded seat like an old barbarian king surveying his domain.

“Exactly the opposite, Chief,” Clarin said. “Every single system has been checked and double-checked. My new modifications are performing admirably, not even a twitch of deviation from optimal parameters.”

Berndt rubbed his hands together. “I’ll send a message to my grandmother. She’ll see to it that your upgrades are put into our entire fleet of skymines. And I’ll make sure you get all the credit.”

The engineer looked embarrassed. “I already sent her a report carried on the last ekti escort.”

Berndt had run his previous skymine at a profit, though that had been more of a happy coincidence than a result of his skill.

But here on Erphano, he could take personal credit for the success. He had never missed a scheduled delivery of ekti, though delays should have been frequent, even expected, during the first shakedown year of operation.