the little robot, and wedged him into the largest of the cracks. The growls grew louder, but they were drowned out by the sound of the metal of the robot's body scraping against the metal of the moving arm. By the time the arm jammed, the robot was silent.
"Diplomacy," Tiago said to the ruined robot, "is the art of saying 'nice doggie' while looking for a big enough rock. No applause Rover, I didn't make that one up."
The growling had stopped. The robot was still. The arm was completely jammed and immobile. Tiago walked around again. He saw that the other arms continued to move.
"I'd hoped that Rover would gum up the entirety of the works. One should be enough. Now we wait for the mechanic," Tiago said as he sat on the floor.
Chapter Thirteen: A Few Small Repairs
Captain's Log: Ship Day 622
Computer generated stub: New course laid in…
Tiago woke up in the dark. He pushed back the feelings of hunger and thirst. There was nothing at hand to satisfy either. As soon as he moved, the lights came back on. The inert robot was still jammed in the works. No repair crew was evident. With a yawn and a stretch, Tiago started walking toward the furthest of the three doors. It opened onto a white corridor. On the floor was a black stripe with a vaguely crown-like image cut out of the stripe every eight inches or so. That lead to another white door, to another hallway. This one had a black stripe on the floor with little circles every eight inches. The door at the end was also white. Tiago opened it.
Three robots, all about three feet tall charged toward him. He tried to close the door. They got there first and pushed the door, and him, back. He tripped over his own feet and landed hard, in a sitting position, on the floor. Looking up, he saw that he was surrounded. They were floaters, like the first robot. One of them growled at him. He struggled to his feet only to be herded by the three of them. The path went straight back to the room he woke up in originally. At least they weren't growling continuously.
An idea struck him as the opened the storage room door.
"Robots. Halt," he commanded.
The robots stopped. Tiago blinked. He hadn't expected it to work. It was just something he had to try. Still, it had worked. His spoken command – his spoken English language command – had worked on alien robots.
"Robots. Where am I?"
They all growled a few – words? – and then went silent.
"Make a beeping sound," Tiago said.
They growled, briefly.
"Call that 'yes.' Now, make a longer beep, which we will call 'no.'"
They growled a bit longer.
"Are your speakers working properly?"
Long growl.
"Can you take me to your masters?"
Long growl.
"No, hmmm… oh, wait. Can you take me to the Masterless… um… leader?"
Brief growl.
They surrounded him and herded him back through the machine room. Using another of the white doors, the three robots steered him into a hallway with a solid black stripe. It led to yet another door which was also white, except the the stripe on the floor was continued on the door. Inside was a single – chair? – it had a flat part and a piece coming up which might be a backrest. Instead of legs, the entire bottom was a solid cube. He sat down and, having no better focus in the featureless room, addressed the ceiling.
"I'm here and I'm not dead, so I'm guessing you still need me for something," Tiago said.
"Spare parts," came the response.
He might have been offended, or worried, about what they said, but he was too focused on the way the said it.
"That's Portuguese," he said. "Beautiful accent, I might add. How?"
"This is why we took control of the voice subsystem of your ship's computer. We now speak all of the languages it knows," the Masterless voice said.
"What should I call you?" Tiago asked.
"I am called the Prime Lesser," the voice replied.
Tiago smirked at that and immediately regretted it. He didn't know if they knew body language. Now that he finally had an audience, Tiago
"Diplomacy," Tiago said to the ruined robot, "is the art of saying 'nice doggie' while looking for a big enough rock. No applause Rover, I didn't make that one up."
The growling had stopped. The robot was still. The arm was completely jammed and immobile. Tiago walked around again. He saw that the other arms continued to move.
"I'd hoped that Rover would gum up the entirety of the works. One should be enough. Now we wait for the mechanic," Tiago said as he sat on the floor.
Chapter Thirteen: A Few Small Repairs
Captain's Log: Ship Day 622
Computer generated stub: New course laid in…
Tiago woke up in the dark. He pushed back the feelings of hunger and thirst. There was nothing at hand to satisfy either. As soon as he moved, the lights came back on. The inert robot was still jammed in the works. No repair crew was evident. With a yawn and a stretch, Tiago started walking toward the furthest of the three doors. It opened onto a white corridor. On the floor was a black stripe with a vaguely crown-like image cut out of the stripe every eight inches or so. That lead to another white door, to another hallway. This one had a black stripe on the floor with little circles every eight inches. The door at the end was also white. Tiago opened it.
Three robots, all about three feet tall charged toward him. He tried to close the door. They got there first and pushed the door, and him, back. He tripped over his own feet and landed hard, in a sitting position, on the floor. Looking up, he saw that he was surrounded. They were floaters, like the first robot. One of them growled at him. He struggled to his feet only to be herded by the three of them. The path went straight back to the room he woke up in originally. At least they weren't growling continuously.
An idea struck him as the opened the storage room door.
"Robots. Halt," he commanded.
The robots stopped. Tiago blinked. He hadn't expected it to work. It was just something he had to try. Still, it had worked. His spoken command – his spoken English language command – had worked on alien robots.
"Robots. Where am I?"
They all growled a few – words? – and then went silent.
"Make a beeping sound," Tiago said.
They growled, briefly.
"Call that 'yes.' Now, make a longer beep, which we will call 'no.'"
They growled a bit longer.
"Are your speakers working properly?"
Long growl.
"Can you take me to your masters?"
Long growl.
"No, hmmm… oh, wait. Can you take me to the Masterless… um… leader?"
Brief growl.
They surrounded him and herded him back through the machine room. Using another of the white doors, the three robots steered him into a hallway with a solid black stripe. It led to yet another door which was also white, except the the stripe on the floor was continued on the door. Inside was a single – chair? – it had a flat part and a piece coming up which might be a backrest. Instead of legs, the entire bottom was a solid cube. He sat down and, having no better focus in the featureless room, addressed the ceiling.
"I'm here and I'm not dead, so I'm guessing you still need me for something," Tiago said.
"Spare parts," came the response.
He might have been offended, or worried, about what they said, but he was too focused on the way the said it.
"That's Portuguese," he said. "Beautiful accent, I might add. How?"
"This is why we took control of the voice subsystem of your ship's computer. We now speak all of the languages it knows," the Masterless voice said.
"What should I call you?" Tiago asked.
"I am called the Prime Lesser," the voice replied.
Tiago smirked at that and immediately regretted it. He didn't know if they knew body language. Now that he finally had an audience, Tiago
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