the woman were coming
down the side of the ridge toward him, sliding down through the soft
ash. Hendricks was numb. His head throbbed. Awkwardly, he got his
rifle up and took aim. It weighed a thousand tons; he could hardly
hold it. His nose and cheeks stung. The air was full of the blast
smell, a bitter acrid stench.

"Don't fire," the first Russian said, in heavily accented English.

The three of them came up to him, surrounding him. "Put down your
rifle, Yank," the other said.

Hendricks was dazed. Everything had happened so fast. He had been
caught. And they had blasted the boy. He turned his head. David was
gone. What remained of him was strewn across the ground.

The three Russians studied him curiously. Hendricks sat, wiping blood
from his nose, picking out bits of ash. He shook his head, trying to
clear it. "Why did you do it?" he murmured thickly. "The boy."

"Why?" One of the soldiers helped him roughly to his feet. He turned
Hendricks around. "Look."

Hendricks closed his eyes.

"Look!" The two Russians pulled him forward. "See. Hurry up. There
isn't much time to spare, Yank!"

Hendricks looked. And gasped.

"See now? Now do you understand?"

* * * * *

From the remains of David a metal wheel rolled. Relays, glinting
metal. Parts, wiring. One of the Russians kicked at the heap of
remains. Parts popped out, rolling away, wheels and springs and rods.
A plastic section fell in, half charred. Hendricks bent shakily down.
The front of the head had come off. He could make out the intricate
brain, wires and relays, tiny tubes and switches, thousands of minute
studs--

"A robot," the soldier holding his arm said. "We watched it tagging
you."

"Tagging me?"

"That's their way. They tag along with you. Into the bunker. That's
how they get in."

Hendricks blinked, dazed. "But--"

"Come on." They led him toward the ridge. "We can't stay here. It
isn't safe. There must be hundreds of them all around here."

The three of them pulled him up the side of the ridge, sliding and
slipping on the ash. The woman reached the top and stood waiting for
them.

"The forward command," Hendricks muttered. "I came to negotiate with
the Soviet--"

"There is no more forward command. _They_ got in. We'll explain." They
reached the top of the ridge. "We're all that's left. The three of us.
The rest were down in the bunker."

"This way. Down this way." The woman unscrewed a lid, a gr