"Here's Fifth Avenue," Jeff said, rounding the corner of a wall, "and pretty soon we'll be home and ready for a nice breakfast."
"And a plug into the socket for me," said Norby. "Don't forget my needs."
They started out across the sidewalk, hand in hand. They had nearly reached the curb when Jeff said in a tense, low voice, "Oh, no!"
"What? What?" said Norby.
"Get back!" whispered Jeff, turning and taking sudden long strides.
Norby went over backwards, and his barrel body made ominous scraping noises on the sidewalk until Jeff shook the robot's arm. "Turn on your antigrav a little!" he whispered.
They melted back into the nearest bush.
"I don't suppose you care to tell me what's happening," Norby said in an aggrieved tone. "I'm just a robot, I suppose. You think I'm just a hunk of steel, I suppose. I don't have any-"
Jeff caught his breath. "Shut up," he said, still panting a little. "Why don't you use your eyes instead of that noisy rattle you call a voice? Can't you see there are men in uniform around the apartment house?"
"Cops?" said Norby.
"Those aren't police uniforms."
"Sanitation men? Park Security? Hotel doormen?"
"Is this a time to be funny? I think they're Ing's men. And if they're strong enough and bold enough to conduct a raid-"
Jeff was talking to himself rather than to Norby, but Norby interrupted. "Maybe they've taken over the city."
"I don't see how they can have done that. Manhattan Island runs itself-sort of-and insists on having no outside armed force on its acres, but even so-"
"If it's just a raid," Norby said, "they're taking a big chance and they have to be after something important. I guess they must be after me."
"You?"
"Who else? It's our apartment house, isn't it? And you and I live there, and we've just had a fight with two of Ing's men and it can't be you they're after, so it's got to be me. That's logic. I'm very good at logic."
"Why does it have to be you? Why can't it be me?"
Norby made a sound like a snort and didn't answer. "They can't have taken the whole city," he said. "Albany Jones approaches."
A police hover-car was circling above, moving slowly as though searching for something. The uniformed men guarding the entrance to the building shot at the car without effect.
"How do you know it's Albany?" Jeff asked.
"It's her car. I don't know if she's in it, of course, but it's her car. I tune into motors. It's very simple to recognize one from another. That's one of the things I could teach you besides languages. Don't forget I'm a teaching robot. Languages are my specialty, but I'm sure I could manage a few other things."
The hovering police car dropped a spine-cluster into the midst of the men below. Understandably, the result was panic. Some of the men dived for the doorway and the others for the two ends of the block. When a spine-cluster explodes, the results are felt only in the immediate vicinity and are not fatal, but those at the receiving end feel as if they've tangled with twenty porcupines. And removing the spines is neither easy nor painless.
Street traffic diverted quickly as drivers recognized that a fight was going on.
"Why don't you signal the hover-car?" Norby said. "It has to know where we are."
"I was about to," said Jeff, waving energetically from behind the bush. The police car sank downward slightly, and something fell out. Jeff tried to catch it, misjudged, and received it roughly on his right shoulder.
"Ouch!" he groaned. "Ever since I met you, Norby, things have been falling on me, or I have been falling on things. I feel black and blue allover. Why didn't you catch it? You can't be hurt."
"My feelings can. And with you lurching around trying to catch it, what could I do? You nearly stepped on me as it was."
Jeff was still rubbing his shoulder. "What is this?"
"It's the same belt device that Albany was wearing in Central Park-a personal shield. If you use it, Ing's men won't be able to touch you."
"But how am I going to use it? I don't know how it works."
"That's why you have me. I know how it works. I've already deciphered its simple mechanism. Put it on, then turn this switch here when you need protection. Your arms go in these places. No, no, that metal part goes in front. Can't you see?"
"That metal part," grumbled Jeff, "is what hit my shoulder. Is it on right now?"
"Yes," said Norby, "though actually I'm plenty of protection for you anytime."
"Anytime there's no danger." Jeff turned the switch on the belt and was instantly aware of the faint radiance that surrounded him. The street, the sky, and the buildings all took on a slightly yellow tinge that made everything look particularly bright and cheerful.
Norby didn't sound cheerful, however. "Jeff! I can't get through to you."
"Sure you can, Norby. I hear you perfectly."
"I don't mean that. I mean I'm outside the field."
Jeff turned off the field, picked up Norby, and turned the field back on. The personal shield enveloped them both.
"What's the difference?" Jeff said. "You can't be hurt, and if you can protect me, you can surely protect yourself."
"I get lonely," said Norby.
The police car had descended nearly to surface level. Albany leaned out and shouted, "Get in! Hurry! Those Ingrates are corning up with a full-sized blaster."
Jeff tried to climb aboard with Norby desperately hanging onto him. Norby activated his antigrav and it came on so strongly that Jeff found himself turning upside down. Albany pulled him in. "Goodness," she said, "you and that barrel are light. Don't you have any insides?"
Jeff could hear shouting and heavy footsteps behind him. There was the sound of an unpleasant explosion as the car zoomed upward. It shook in the air vibrations but remained untouched.
"Ing's men seized the police station," Albany said. "They came right behind me. They may have seized all the police stations in Manhattan." She bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm afraid we've underestimated the Ingrates. They always seemed a minor nuisance, a bunch of inept terrorists. But it's clear now that that was just a screen. They've set up a formidable force, and they're prepared to take over the system."
"How did you get away?" Jeff asked anxiously.
"My personal shield, of course. I must tell my father to get the City Council to equip all the cops with shields. But I suppose it's too late now, at least for Manhattan. It's Space Command that-"
"But what about Fargo?" Jeff said anxiously.
Albany swallowed. Her brows contracted unhappily over her large eyes. "The truth is I don't know. They grabbed him when they came out of the police transmit, and I was so busy getting away I had no chance to see what became of him. He had given me his address when I was taking him to the station." She looked a little guilty. "We always get the names and addresses of those we take into custody," she added. "Purely routine."
"Yes, yes," said Jeff, who wanted her to get to the point. What had happened to Fargo?
"I drifted by the apartment house, just in case he had gotten away and gone there. I had no idea where else he might go. When I saw the house guarded by the Ingrates, I thought he might have been trapped in the vicinity. Then, of course, I found you. " She said that with a certain note of disappointment.
Jeff disregarded that. "Then you don't know where Fargo is?"
"No. I'm afraid I don't. What we've got to do now is to find a transmit in Manhattan that hasn't been taken over by the Ingrates. We've got to notify Space Command, or the Ingrates may be able to take over all Earth. They wouldn't attack Manhattan unless they've already seized the key communications network. That's what worries me." She paused and looked solemnly at Jeff. "If we can't notify Space Command-"
"Put me down, Miss Jones," Jeff demanded. "I have to find Fargo!"
"I can't put you down. You'd be taken instantly. And there's no need to worry about Fargo. Your brother is quite attractive…What I mean is, he's quite intelligent, and I'm sure he can take care of himself. We have bigger worries. Space Command itself may be infected by Ing's people."
"Fargo had some kind of private conversation with Admiral Yobo," Jeff said. "That may have been the problem they were concerned with. And maybe that's why Fister and Sligh were after him. They didn't want to convert him. They wanted to finish him. Miss Jones, please let me look for him. They'll kill him."
"If I may make a suggestion," Norby said.
Albany jumped at his voice, and the hover-car lurched as she inadvertently yanked at the controls. "That's not a barrel," she said. "It's a robot. Don't let that silly thing get in our way."
"That silly thing!" shouted Norby. "You're the silly thing, or you wouldn't be so busy talking you can't see the danger right ahead. There are cars approaching, shield-protected hovercars that probably belong to this Ing person you're so worried about. If I were you, I'd go somewhere else quickly, but, of course, I'm just a silly thing, so don't listen to me."
"Ing's cars?" Albany looked about in horror. It was clear that the trouble was even worse than Norby had thought. They were surrounded.
Albany's mouth tightened. "Ing must have been planning this a long time. He's taking over Manhattan as though it were a meatball and he were a wolf. Well, we've got shields. Shall we fight it out?"
"With what?" said Jeff.
"I've got a long-range stun gun and a hand-blaster."
"Will they work on shielded cars?"
"No," admitted Albany.
"Does this car have shielding?"
"Are you kidding? With the Manhattan fiscal situation? No, only our personal shields, courtesy of Daddy."
"Then they'll destroy our hover-car in fifteen seconds, and we fall"-Jeff looked down for a quick estimate-"thirty stories, I think."
"You might as well surrender, then," Norby said. "That will give us time, and I'll be able to think of some way of saving the situation. I'm terribly ingenious."
"Is surrendering a sample of your ingenuity?" Albany asked. "Anyone can surrender-"
"There's nothing else to do right now," Jeff said, "and it may be the only way of finding Fargo. We'd better do it right away. One of Ing's cars looks as though it's bringing a blaster to bear on us." He turned off his shield and handed the device to Norby. "Can you hide this in your-uh-inside?"
"I suppose I can," Norby said, "but it will make me feel as though I have indigestion. Why don't you swallow it? You have a sort of hollow inside, too."
"Funny, funny. Here, take Miss Jones's."
Carefully, while making little noises of displeasure, Norby put away both shield devices as Albany took the hover-car down to the ground. They were followed, of course, and when the Ingrates swarmed out of their cars, Albany and Jeff surrendered.
They were careful to look scornful and superior when they gave themselves up. At least they tried, and it was especially hard for Jeff, who kept Norby under his arm. Norby made no attempt to look either scornful or superior. He merely concentrated on looking like a barrel.
The Central Park Precinct Station was inside an old brick building and had the aura of centuries of use and occasional slipshod repairs.
Sligh and Fister hustled Albany and Jeff toward the station's transmit. Despite the chronic shortage of municipal funds and the best efforts of every city councilman, there seemed no way of economizing on those transmits. Each police station simply had to have one for any necessary travel through space.
Jeff was still holding Norby. Sligh scowled. "You're not dragging that barrel around everywhere, Wells," he growled. "It made a lump on my head once, and you're not going to use it as a weapon again. Hand it over and I'll melt it down for scrap. Or we'll use it as ballast. Maybe we'll just smash it with a sledgehammer."
Jeff clutched Norby tightly. "I need this barrel," he said. "It's a device that's necessary to-to my health."
"Are you going to tell me you've hidden a kidney filter in that old barrel?"
"I didn't want to tell you."
"And I suppose you'll die without it?"
"I, ah…" Jeff hated to lie, but Sligh seemed to be doing it for him.
"You're not fooling me, you dumb kid," said Sligh. "You look too big and healthy to need any machine for your health. I bet that's got Wells money in it. Maybe gold. Give it over!"
Norby whispered through his hat, "Don't stand there, Jeff. Step back into the transmit."
Jeff paused to wonder what Norby had in mind, and suddenly he felt a pinch.
"Hurry up!"
Albany was already in the transmit. Fister and Sligh, facing it, were on either side of Jeff, who had his back to it. The pinch made Jeff jump backwards, and as he did, Norby's hands extended full length, pushing Fister and Sligh in the other direction, out of the transmit doorway.
Albany, reacting at once, slammed the door shut. "Now what? The transmit mechanism works from outside."
"Maybe so," said Norby, leaning against the door, "but I'm managing to work it through the metal-didn't I tell you I'm ingenious?"
"They're going to force their way in-" began Albany.
"I'm almost finished," Norby said.
"But we have to get to where they've taken Fargo," Jeff said.
"I'm sensing his presence," Norby said, "and I'm adjusting the controls so we'll go there directly. I hope."
A queasy sensation hit Jeff in the pit of his stomach, and he blacked out dizzily. When he came to, he saw that they were in a different transmit. He scrambled to his feet and helped Albany to hers. She brushed at her clothing and seemed pretty annoyed.
"You didn't exactly handle that in a smooth way, Norby," Jeff said.
"Well," said Albany, "I don't suppose we can blame your robot. The transmit is old and not working well. I don't think any of the city transmits have had repairs for five years."
"Norby, are you going to be able to get the doors open?" Jeff asked.
"In a minute. In a minute. And-on the other side-we will find your brother." The doors opened, and they stepped out into a huge, gray room. Overhead there was a section of glassite dome and beyond that a dim, rolling fog.
"Or maybe we won't," Norby said in a small voice.
"Where on earth-" said Albany.
"I don't think anywhere on Earth," said Jeff. "Norby! Where are we?"
"Is there a city named Titan anywhere on Earth?" Norby asked.
"A city named what?"
Jeff said blankly, "What does it say?"
"It's in Colonial German. That's another language I can teach you. It would come in handy anywhere beyond the asteroids."
"Beyond the asteroids?" said Jeff in a shout. "What does it say? I don't care if it's Sanskrit. What does it say?"
"It says 'Property of Titan outpost.' I figure Titan is a city in the German sector of the European Region and I just may have miscalculated a small bit."
"Titan," said Jeff in an exasperated tone, "is a satellite of Saturn, and you have miscalculated a whole lot."
"Are you sure?" Norby asked. "It could happen to anyone."
"Of course I'm sure. Where on Earth would we be under a dome? Look up there. You realize Titan has a thick atmosphere that is mostly nitrogen at a temperature near its liquefying point. You might have gotten us outside the dome, and then Miss Jones and I would have died a horrible death."
"How could I have gotten you outside the dome?" Norby shouted. 'I sensed human beings, and I thought it was Fargo. There are no human beings outside the Titan dome, so I wouldn't have brought you there. There are human beings inside the dome, and it's not my fault one of them isn't Fargo."
He turned back to the transmit controls. Jeff blacked out again.
"We're here!" said Albany. "Space Command! Thank goodness! We're safe. Norby, you rate a medal."
"No, he doesn't," said Jeff angrily. "He rates a blaster shot in the bottom of his barrel. Those are not Space Command uniforms."
"Are you sure?" said Albany. "Well, look at them again."
Two men approached them as if ready to attack. "Down with the enemies of Ing the Incomparable!" they shouted as they rushed at them.
"Oh, no, " said Albany. "They've even taken over out here."
One of the men reached Albany, but seemed to trip and went flying over her shoulder.
She looked pleased. "Did you see that?" she asked. "It works. They taught me judo and combat techniques during training, but I didn't think I could really-oof-"
The other man reached her and threw an arm about her neck.
Jeff rushed toward her. In a strangled voice, Albany said, "No, let me handle him. Get the other one."
The first man was getting groggily to his feet. Jeff stepped back to let him rise, but Norby kicked him in his rear end and he went down on his face. Norby then rose in the air, turned off his antigrav, and came down hard on the back of the Ingrate, knocking his breath completely out of him.
Albany, meanwhile, was swaying back and forth with the second Ingrate, who was trying to tighten his grip on her. In rapid succession, she dug her elbow into his solar plexus with a hard jab and stomped fiercely on his toes with her heavy police boot while smashing into his nose with the back of her head. He let out a screech and let go. Albany seized his wrist, spun on her toe, and twisted his arm. When he bent, she placed her hip under him, twisted harder, and sent him flying. He hit his shoulder hard when he landed and lay groaning.
"Let's get into the transmit before any others come," Albany said.
As soon as they were safely inside the transmit with the door closed, Norby extruded from within his barrel body a thin, flat metallic tape that spread out horizontally. He pressed the tape against the wall.
"Ah," he said, "I should have done this the first time. It greatly intensifies my sensitivity and my powers of concentration. It takes a great deal out of me, however, and I never know when I'll get my next gulp of electricity. If ever."
"Have you got Fargo this time?" asked Jeff anxiously.
"Yes. Definitely. No mistake."
Again Jeff felt that queasy sensation, but he managed to retain consciousness this time.
"This transmit is in better condition," Norby said. "And now I think we'll find Fargo."
The doors opened, and Norby said, "In fact, I'm sure you'll find Fargo, because there he is!"
Jeff could see an enormous room draped with banners and lined on either side with armed men. In the center was a platform, upon which rested what could only be a throne. Fargo, his arms folded across his chest, was sitting on the edge of the platform, and someone else-someone clothed in metal to such an extent that he looked very nearly a robot-sat on the throne.
"Here's company, anyway," Fargo said. "The beautiful Albany Jones, my resourceful brother, and his graceful barrel. How did you find me anyway? And why haven't you brought an army with you?"
"Silence!" roared the figure on the throne in a voice as metallic and rasping as a defective machine.
"Ing speaks!" said Fargo sarcastically. "Let all be silence, while I welcome the newcomers to the court of Ing the Innocent. Note the distortion of his voice, which is uneuphonious even when undistorted. Note the graceful aluminum of his costume, designed to cover an unattractive body, and the facial mask which serves to spare his audience a view of his face, which is deformed, or his feelings, which are disgraceful, and the-"
The man on the throne gestured, and a guard stepped up to Fargo and lifted a weapon threateningly.
"Since Ing fears words but is brave enough to attack an enemy when the odds are a hundred to one, I shall be quiet," said Fargo.
Albany and Jeff marched up to Fargo, Jeff holding Norby-who was, of course, tightly shut.
Ing's voice sounded again, harsh and repugnant. "We have here two brothers who, between them, know a great deal about the Space Academy and the fleet. And what they know, I will know!" His voice took on the sound of contempt. "In addition," he rasped, "we have a lady cop with a rich father who will help me take over Earth, if he wants his little girl back in her present shape and form. And I see something that looks like a barrel. Give it to me, Jeff Wells."
Jeff held Norby tighter and said nothing.
"It won't do you any good to hold it," said Ing. "I am told it is a curious barrel with arms-when it wishes to have arms. And legs too. It is something I wish to examine. Hand it over, boy, or I'll have it separated from you at your shoulders."
Norby whispered through his hat, "Move closer to Miss Jones."
Jeff cautiously stepped sideways until his elbow was against Albany's shoulder.
"Now both of us move toward Fargo," Norby whispered. "We've all got to be touching."
"I'll touch Fargo," whispered Albany. "But why?"
"I have an ingenious idea," said Norby in his ordinary voice. "It talks!" said Ing. "It is a robot and I want it. I am emperor here, and I must be obeyed."
"The history of emperors on Earth has been a sad one," Fargo said. (Albany was leaning against Fargo's shoulder, and Jeff against Albany's.) "Let me tell you about Napoleon Bon-"
"Keep quiet!" Ing barked. "Sergeant! Get me that robot. Kill the woman if any of them resist!"
Norby suddenly cried out. "The personal shields!" He tossed one to Albany and one to Fargo. Then he clung tightly to Jeff and hummed a strange sound.