The Questor Tapes Read Online Free PDF

breathing. He tried a new tack. “You pulled those scientists off me only two hours ago. Now you’re saying you’ve approved the destruction of the entire project.”
    “I pulled them off you, as you put it, because I will not have that kind of double dealing in any operation I head. Disassembling the android does not destroy the project, Robinson. The participating nations will still get a rich return on their investment, won’t they? Its so-called stomach, for example—a nuclear furnace that was believed impossible. But it works, and I represent five nations that are very anxious to take it apart and find out how it works. And other parts of it, too . . . turbine pumps the size of match heads, electrical circuitry using gas vapor—”
    Jerry interrupted desperately, “But a functioning android, Darro. It could change the shape of this whole world! The space program, undersea exploration. It could change industry, agriculture . . .”
    “An excellent summary of its socioeconomic implications, Robinson. Especially from a man who calls himself ‘simply a gifted mechanic.’ ”
    “That’s what I am.”
    Darro pushed out of the chair quickly, impatiently. “We have a full dossier on you. Every IQ test you’ve taken since you were in high school indicates the same thing—genius-level intelligence.”
    Jerry sat down automatically, staring at Darro. The project chief turned away from him and opened the window. The action seemed meaningless until Jerry realized that Darro was studying the ornate grillwork on the window—the bars of his prison. “Hey, look . . .” Jerry started.
    “That is true, isn’t it? Or are you labeling all those tests a lie?”
    The young engineer relaxed in the chair and found a laugh. “ Me, a genius? Sorry. Darro, that was just a fluke. I do well on IQ tests because I’m a puzzle solver.” He tapped his head. “Some twist up here gets a kick out of intricate things.”
    “Like androids which should work, but don’t.”
    “You sound like you think someone’s going to the lab tonight, push some button on it and say, ‘Follow me.’ ” He shook his head, chuckling at the ridiculous image. Darro slammed the window, and Jerry’s smile faded when Darro turned, his face grim and set.
    “Not entirely impossible, Mr. Robinson. Is it?”
    “Even if it was, why would I want it?” Jerry got to his feet angrily, pushing in at the unmoving project chief. “To play chess with? To hold for ransom? Follow me where?”
    “Perhaps to a man who has been presumed dead even though a body has never been found.”
    Jerry stared at him, his mouth open. Finally he managed to pull himself together from the shock of the suggestion. “Vaslovik?”
    “He may have found a five-nation combine an attractive idea. Ample funds and the world’s top scientists doing the job his own organization couldn’t complete.”
    “His organization? Darro, Vaslovik was a scientist of the highest caliber—but his ‘organization’ consisted of about fifty people who built from his designs. Research and development was done by him . . . only him.”
    “My point exactly,” Darro said. “You don’t know where he is?”
    “Darro, if you don’t, I certainly don’t.”
    The project chief studied Jerry, the hard blue eyes cutting him into little sections and examining each one. Finally he twitched his mouth in that odd half smile. “You’re one of two things, Robinson—either a remarkably shrewd, able man acting a part, or a very foolish man who doesn’t recognize his own potential.” He stepped to the door and opened it. Jerry could see the armed security guard still standing there. “Mr. Robinson is not to have visitors or leave his quarters except at my orders.”
    “Yes, sir.” The guard did not question the change in Jerry’s status. No one questioned Darro.
    Darro glanced back at Jerry. “Good night, Mr. Robinson.”
    Jerry nodded weakly and watched Darro leave the room. The security guard reached