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.'Ashe's voice trailed off as he saw the man stagger in through the main entrance He was only about twenty-five years old, but his sunken eyes and hungry face made him look fifty.His clothes were in tatters.As he entered the dome he stood there for a moment as though trying to say something, then fell forward to the ground.Mary and Jo were the first to reach the man's side.Ashe and the Doctor quickly followed with all the colonists crowding around.The Doctor gently turned the man over onto his back; Mary raised his head.Jo hurried away to get the man something to drink.Ashe asked, 'Where are you from?'The man opened his mouth, but he was too parched to speak.Jo brought one of the little cups of synthetic tea, and put it to the man's lips.As he drank greedily the Doctor asked Ashe, 'Isn't he one of your colonists?''No.' Ashe again spoke to the man, 'Can you understand me? Where are you from?''Colony,' the man said.Now Winton also crouched by the man.'There's another colony on this planet?'The man tried to nod his head.'I've been wandering.for weeks.hundred of kilometres.wandering.' He seemed ready to faint.Winton shook the man roughly.'The other colonists, your friends.Where are they?'The man's eyes closed, then opened again suddenly, and stared straight up at Winton.'A year of hunger.crops wouldn't grow.then the lizards.' He closed his eyes tight, and his weather-beaten hands clawed into the ground as some memory of terror swept through his mind.'Giant lizards.so many of them.then the Primitives.''The other colonists in your group,' Winton insisted, again shaking the man, 'where are they?''All dead,' the man said.'Every one of them.killed.'7 The RobotAshe and the Doctor walked slowly back to the Leeson' wrecked dome.The Doctor particularly wanted to see the damage again in daylight; and Ashe wanted to talk privately with the Doctor.'What should I do?' asked Ashe.'For the time being,' said the Doctor, 'try to keep an open mind.''After what that man Norton said?' Ashe was referring to the survivor from the other colony.He had not yet regained consciousness but they had found his name on a letter in his pocket.'There's no hope for us.''How do you think Man first made out on Earth?' asked the Doctor.'He had to fight sabre-toothed tigers, rampaging mammoths, diseases of all sorts.He survived.''But how many died in the struggle?' said Ashe.'In the natural fight for survival, it's only a few who live through it.I've got to think about the lives of human beings, not a set of statistics.''Maybe I'll find out something here,' said the Doctor, indicating the dome that they had now reached.'Anyway, we shall see.'Ashe remained outside, staring blindly at Leeson's blood now dried on the rocky ground.The Doctor went into the dome, but he found himself with company, two Primitives were searching around among the wreckage.When they saw the Doctor they both immediately turned and drew long knives from their belts, raising them in defiance.With their painted bodies and faces, and bright yellow hair, they were a fearsome sight.'I mean you no harm,' said the Doctor slowly and distinctly, not expecting them to understand, but hoping that the tone of his voice might put them at ease.Then Ashe entered behind the Doctor.Immediately the Primitives lowered their knives.'This is a friend,' said Ashe.'Do they have a language of their own?' the Doctor asked.'I've never heard them speak,' said Ashe.'But they seem to understand what I say.' He spoke up loudly again, to address the Primitives.'What have you taken?'The Primitives didn't move.Ashe held out his hand, palm up.'Come on now, I know you've taken something.It's all right if I give you things, but you mustn't take them.'One of the Primitives untied from his belt a leather pouch, opened it and brought out a domestic tin opener, which he put into Ache's hand.'Is that all?' said AshyThe other Primitive also had a pouch, and produced a hair brush for Ashe.'More,' said Ashe.The first Primitive dipped his six-fingered hand into his pouch again and produced a little packet of biscuits.He looked at the biscuits rather sadly, wetting his lips with his tongue as though enjoying the treat at least in his imagination, then made to put the packet into Ashe's hand.Ashe withdrew it.'You can keep the food,' he said.Both the Primitives bared their teeth and hissed loudly, a sign of pleasure.'All right,' said Ashc, 'off with you now.'The two Primitives raced out of the dome, still baring their teeth and hissing in ecstasy.Ashe watched after them, then turned back to the Doctor.'I wonder how long they'll stay playful like that,' he said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]