of aircraft now, just some distant birdcalls and the hum of insects. We
moved through the trees, staying undercover, distancing ourselves from the
action with the police fleet. We listened closely but there was no sound of
any engines behind or above us. I smiled. Then I frowned when I heard the
grumble of a motor up ahead.
"Perhaps that is a sturdy forester, practicing his weald-wise trade," I said
hopefully.
"Would that it were. Because whatever it is out there is coming closer. If
they are looking for us, then I am forced to believe that all of this
activity and attention is far too murderous for a simple traffic bust."
"Unhappily, I agree. They have made no attempt to communicate with us just
came in blasting."
I looked on gloomily as she opened the survival kit and took out an immense
handgun. "But let us not make it easy for them."
We didn't. The armored police cruiser had its tracks blow off as it
appeared. It kept firing at us even though it couldn't move. We dived in
close, so close it could not depress its guns to get at us. I jumped to the
top of the tread, flipped open the top hatch and dropped a couple of sleep
capsules. Then I looked carefully inside.
"Highly interesting." I rejoined Angelina on the ground. "Nobody home. Which
means, like the cruisers that chased us, this thing is also robot operated
and remotely controlled."
"By whom?"
"By our new enemies, whoever they are."
Distant engines sounded from behind the trees and we slipped away in the
opposite direction, deeper into the forest. Which did not do much good in
the end because there were. now sounds of machines from ahead.
"They have trackers on us-so there is no point in wearying ourselves by
running about. We'll stay here and make a stand. Get as many of these robot
machines as we can."
"I thought that there were laws of robotics-about not killing or injuring
humans."
"It looks like those laws were repealed. Lock and load here they come
again!"
I would have felt a certain compunction about killing a policeman, but I
really did enjoy blasting police robots into tiny bits of junk. But it
proved to be a no-win battle. Wherever we turned they were there ahead of
