He could hear his mother’s voice now, screaming. He had broken some terribly important taboo. Nothing could be more obvious than that he was going to be spanked.
The culture which had produced the pseudo-intelligent craft was mature. Its computers’ activities were stringently limited by built-in commands. It could not be aggressive, but it must do its utmost to protect itself and above all its living-intelligent passengers, on a purely defensive level—passive defense, unless acute external menace appeared. Only then was an absolute minimal defensive reaction permitted it.
Fast as Audrey moved, the ship moved faster.
The ramp disappeared into its interior. The lockway sealed itself immediately. The force field defensive web went up. And Audrey Monroe crashed into it, beating herself agai
