Robot's Bluff

Dick and Henry: The Space Saga

  by Kenneth Buff

  Copyright 2014 by Kenneth Buff

  Visit: Kennethbuff.com

  Robot’s Bluff

  Kenneth Buff

  This one’s for Michael.

  Thanks for reading these back when they were just a file on a hard-drive.

  Robot’s Bluff

  Miracle Grocer’s Transport 1 descended through the atmosphere of Oculus, a man-made planet established for food harvesting. Dick flipped the landing gear of the ship’s controls and brought it down to the planet’s surface.

  “How are the atmosphere levels, Henry?” Dick asked the harvest bot, model HN-R3.

  “They appear to be normal, sir.”

  “Hmm…” Dick tapped his fingers on the controls of his display. “Computer, activate side view cameras CA and B, split screen 50:50.”

  The screen showed the dry surface of the planet. The harvest station was in view.

  “Henry, if the atmosphere pressure is normal, why is everything dead?”

  “There are many alternative possibilities that could be responsible for the lack of vegetation present. The most likely being internal sabotage.”

  “You think one of the engineers killed the crops?”

  “There is a 70 percent chance that that is so,” the robot said.

  Dick turned his chair from the screen to face the robot.

  “Where do you get these numbers? Are you just pulling them out of your ass?” Dick smirked at the robot.

  “No, sir, I do not, as you say, ‘pull facts from my ass.’ I simply weigh the possible outcomes of a given scenario and reduce the situations to their probable outcome. This I base off of databases of information provided to me by the libraries of Earth.”

  Dick smiled, “Of course, I just wanted to double check. You can never be too careful.”

  “One, in fact, could, sir,” the robot countered. “A certain amount of risk is present in every planetary mission. For instance, if we were not to exit the ship and explore the nonfunctioning station, we would be, in effect, too careful.”

  “I see your point,” Dick said. “Perhaps we should attempt to be just careful enough. What do you suggest?”

  “I suggest we exit the ship and proceed through the station with caution. You will, of course, wear the required flame retardant uniform and carry the proper emergency gear.”

  “Of course,” Dick said.

  “Then it is agreed,” the robot said.

  Dick turned back to the display. “Activate pilot lock.”

  “Pilot lock activated,” the voice of the ship said.

  Dick exited the ship, wearing Miracle Grocer’s flame retardant suit and carrying the emergency kit on his back. He coughed as the thin air went into his lungs. He leaned over until he was satisfied that his body could endure, he looked over at Henry. The robot was examining the soil, letting it fall between his metal fingers.

  Dick looked at the Oculus Station. Communication between it and MG Station 1 had ceased only two weeks ago, but already it was falling into disrepair. The solar panels were falling over like wilted flowers, and the whole thing looked like it could use a fresh coat of paint. Dick found himself feeling grateful for only being responsible for his transport vessel, and, of course, his harvest bot.

  “Let’s go, Henry.”

  “Yes, sir,” the robot said.

  Dick pushed open the doors to the station. The inside was dark, and littered with paper.

  “Do not move, Captain,” Henry said.

  Dick did not move.

  “What is it, Henry?”

  “There is a hole in the floor with a diameter of thirty feet. It is eight feet to your right, past the row of computers.”

  Dick began to move that direction, looking for the hole.

  “Sir, do not move,” the robot said in an alarmed voice. “We do not know what created this hole; the surrounding ground could be weakened. I must ask that you leave the station and permit me to observe the premises.”

  “Of course, Henry, whatever you need.”

  Dick waited outside until Henry exited the station.

  “The ground is solid,” Henry said.

  “So can I come in?”

  “Yes, but please distance yourself from the hole by no less than five feet at all times. I’m returning to the ship for support cables.”

  Dick did as the robot said. He leaned over as far as he could, attempting to peer into the hole.

  Henry attached a steel cable to his back and wrapped a padded one around the waist of Dick.

  “Safety first?” Dick asked.

  “Indeed, sir. I do not suggest that you should examine the hole, but if you should disregard my advice, or if you should fall, you will be caught by the cable.”

  “Great,” Dick said. “How much slack do these things have?” Dick asked, tugging on the cable.

  “Over five hundred feet.”

  “So how does that help? I’ll just fall to the bottom of the pit.”

  “No, sir, I’ve programmed the ship to only loosen its hold on the cable at a rate of three inches a second for your cable. This will ensure your safety.”

  “What about yours? How fast does it go down?”

  “I will be moving at a rate of five feet a second.”

  “I guess it would be pointless to race to the bottom,” Dick said.

  “It would be, sir. No further information would be gained on the situation by doing so.”

  Dick smiled at the robot, “Right. Well, Henry, I think I’m going to let you go first. I’ll have a look around here to see if I can find anything that might help explain this.”

  “That would be the optimal move. Though I must say the likelihood of you finding any information that will explain this hole to be very low. Judging from the cracked earth around the hole’s circumference, it seems that it was created very quickly, and finding any documented evidence of its preexistence, though not impossible, is highly unlikely. I calculate it to be 95 percent not in your favor.”

  “Well then,” Dick said, “it’s a good thing I’m planning to look for documents that explain the missing crops.”

  “Oh,” the robot said. “Then I calculate that there is an 80 percent chance that you will be successful, judging the case off of similar Earth scenarios.”

  “Thanks, Henry.”

  “You are welcome, sir. But I should also mention, based off of those same Earth scenarios, the likelihood of us leaving Oculus with a satisfactory conclusion is unlikely. In the event of a harvest station meltdown such as this, facts often point to human greed and delusions of grandeur. Be prepared, sir, for disappointment.”

  “I will, Henry. Just let me know what you find.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Henry lowered himself into the hole, jerking down an additional five feet every second. He examined the walls of the cavity as he went down. He saw the areas where the desks had fallen through the floor, bouncing off the sides of the soft earth. He reached the bottom and unhooked the cable.

  “The hole is one hundred feet deep,” Henry said to Dick through his electronic communicator.

  Dick brought the speaker of his headset to his mouth and responded, “How does it look down there?”

  “Lots of debris, no bodies so far,” Henry said as he hurled pieces of desks and computers against the soft earth of the hole. His immediate concern was not the stability of the walls around him, but of finding any humans who still might be alive under the debris.

  “Have you located any information on the missing crops sir?” Henry asked.

  “None so far. Nothing is organized up here, and there’s no power, so I can’t search the computers. I might take one and return to the ship. All the papers I’ve fou
nd scattered around are just project reports that all display normal information.”

  “What is the printed date?”

  “July 14. Three weeks ago. One week before communication was lost. That’s strange.”

  “It may not be that strange. Keep looking through the physical evidence, sir; do not give up on it yet. I will be able to sift through the digital data much faster than you. It would be more efficient if you were to continue searching the station as you are.”

  “Agreed, Henry. I’ll leave the computers for you.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the robot said with something like relief.

  Underneath the remains of a monitor, Henry found something. It was not human, but shared its shape. It was a robot, one more advanced than Henry. Its outer shell was covered with a layer of synthetic skin, undistinguishable from the real thing. Henry only identified it as a machine because it was damaged. Its left arm was twisted from the fall, the skin torn, exposing its metal skeleton.

  Henry removed the debris still covering the robot, setting it against the wall.

  “Can you hear me? This is an MG harvest bot, model HN-R3, requesting a response.”

  The machine did not move. Henry pulled back the middle finger of his right hand, revealing a small hole. A bright flame emitted from the finger. Henry brought it down to the chest of the robot, cutting through its skin.

  He pulled the skin to the side and examined the machine’s metal chest. Henry then brought his hands to his own torso, and opened his chest cavity, revealing an array of wires and circuits. He removed a pair of wires from his chest and connected them to two open holes on the chest of the