"D. C. Fontana - Gene Roddenberry's The Questor Tapes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fontana D C)

matter."
"Fully disconnected," Robinson said from behind them. Darro turned and moved back toward the assembly
pallet. Dr. Bradley scanned the body monitor again. The levels were all satisfactory and no different from
any aver-age-human-body readings, as far as they went. There was no brain activity, no muscular
movement except for that required by the rise and fall of the chest and the pumping of lubricant through the
veins. "Readings excellent. Run-ning very smoothly on its own," she said.
Michaels nodded and gestured to Jerry. "Seal it up, Mr. Robinson."
Jerry picked up a heat-molding tool and triggered it. The tip glowed red in a few seconds. He moved the
flap of plastiskin into place, covering the exposed transistor packs in its side. The android's chest continued
to move in even cadence, and Jerry hesitated for an instant. The eyes were closed, and the head still looked
alien. It's a machine, Jerry reminded himself. Get on with it.
He applied the molding tip to the loose flap, holding the plastiskin in place to assure smooth bonding. The
"skin" sizzled, but the accompanying odor was not un-pleasant. Some smoke curled up from under the
molding tip as Jerry moved it along the flap.
"You're not burning it?" Darro asked. "No. That's just normal residue in sealing up." Jerry stepped back so
that Darro could see. The sealed area was clean and smooth, totally unblemished, as if the flap had never
existed.
Darro nodded, impressed. "Another of Vaslovik's little inventions?"
"Mine." Jerry shrugged lightly. "I knew we'd need something like it. If it's supposed to look like a man, the
seams can't show."
The project chief studied him intently but did not com-ment. Jerry had a feeling that the fact was registered,
filed, and could be recalled instantly if Darro needed it. The young engineer turned his attention to the
android.
Dr. Audret moved an information-input device over the android's head. It was a dome-shaped object, linked
direct-ly into the lab's programming computers. Audret glanced over at Gorlov. The Russian activated the
data-tape turn-tables. Jerry shifted his weight nervously, impatiently, and Darro instantly snapped his
attention from the android to the engineer.
"Programming ready," Gorlov said.
Darro watched Jerry. "The moment of truth."
Jerry suddenly stepped forward, his hand instinctively reaching out in a plea. "Please! I'm sorryтАФbut I think
you're wrong to use your programming instead of Dr. Vaslovik's."
The scientists turned to look at him with some surprise. Dr. Audret was the first to speak. "Monsieur
Robinson, I think we all consider you a talented young engineer, but since this is a scientific decisionтАФ"
Jerry interrupted, turning to Darro as project chief. "Mr. Darro. Dr. Vaslovik's notes specifically state we
should activate it with his programming tape. They now want to use their own computerized, hybrid
mushтАФ"
Darro cut in, hard and cold. "As project administrator, Mr. Robinson, I will not interfere with scientific
decisions. Nor will you."
"It is a useless discussion," Audret said. "We all know half the Vaslovik tape has been erasedтАФ"
"By the attempts of your cryptographers to decode it," Jerry snapped.
Gorlov muscled into the debate, interposing himself between Robinson and Audret. "Naturally we wished to
learn what instructions Dr. Vaslovik left for the android. Unfortunately, we did not."
"No, you only managed to destroy what might mean the success of this project."
The Russian lifted his hands in a little gesture of ac-knowledgment. "Once we saw there was nothing to be
gained and only certain loss if we continued, we ceased to experiment with the Vaslovik tape. We have
selected university tapes of your systematized knowledge since our tests show that orderly data fed into the
android will form patterns in the brain-case bionic plasma."
Darro glanced back to Jerry. The young engineer was upset. To Darro, he seemed more concerned than a
tech-nician should be over the proposed programming.
"How can you be that sure?" Robinson demanded. "All we've done is assemble the parts and material