A faint cloud of minute dust particles rose in their wake as the two robots marched away from the pod. That vehicle, its intended function fully discharged, was now quite useless. Neither robot had been designed for pedal locomotion on this kind of terrain, so they had to fight their way across the unstable surface.
/ Q- c* T& M1 T( d, U "We seem to have been made to suffer," Threepio moaned in self-pity. "It’s a rotten existence." Something squeaked in his right leg and he winced. "I’ve got to rest before I fall apart. My internals still haven’t recovered from that headlong crash you called a landing." He paused, but Artoo Detoo did not. The little automation had performed a sharp turn and was now ambling slowly but steadily in the direction of the nearest outjut of mesa.9 N& A" H+ u/ h; {: ?+ @3 u6 K
"Hey," Threepio yelled. Artoo ignored the call and continued striding.
8 X, p) d6 G5 J0 C "Where do you think you are going?" Now Artoo paused, emitting a stream of electronic explanation as Threepio exhaustedly walked over to join him.
- A2 h! J4 A% I+ q "Well, I’m not going that way," Threepio declared when Artoo had concluded his explanation. "It’s too rocky." He gestured in the direction they had been walking, at an angle away from the cliffs. "This way is much easier." A metal hand waved disparagingly at the high mesas. "What makes you think there are settlements that way, anyhow?" A long whistle issued from the depths of Artoo.
' } w5 m/ R+ u' X "Don’t get technical with me," Threepio warned. "I’ve had just about enough of your decisions." Artoo beeped once.
9 G" G( y( S. s2 E3 d7 f% G "All right, go your way," Threepio announced grandly. "You’ll be sandlogged within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile." He gave the Artoo unit a contemptuous shove, sending the smaller robot tumbling down a slight dune. As it struggled at the bottom to regain its feet, Threepio started off toward the blurred, glaring horizon, glancing back over his shoulder. "Don’t let me catch you following me, begging for help," he warned, "because you won’t get it." Below the crest of the dune, the Artoo unit righted itself. It paused briefly to clean its single electronic eye with an auxiliary arm. Then it produced an electronic squeal, which was almost, though not quite, a human expression of rage. Humming quietly to itself then, it turned and trudged off toward the sandstone ridges as if nothing had happened. |