Major Hendricks rested against the edge of the lid, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. "Is it safe to have the lid up at all?" "If we're careful. How else can you operate your transmitter?" Hendricks lifted the small belt transmitter slowly. He pressed it against his ear. The metal was cold and damp. He blew against the mike, raising up the short antenna. A faint hum sounded in his ear. "That's true, I suppose." But he still hesitated. "We'll pull you under if anything happens," Klaus said. "Thanks." Hendricks waited a moment, resting the transmitter against his shoulder. "Interesting, isn't it?" "What?" "This, the new types. The new varieties of claws. We're completely at their mercy, aren't we? By now they've probably gotten into the UN lines, too. It makes me wonder if we're not seeing the beginning of a new species. _The_ new species. Evolution. The race to come after man." * * * * * Rudi grunted. "There is no race after man." "No? Why not? Maybe we're seeing it now, the end of human beings, the beginning of the new society." "They're not a race. They're mechanical killers. You made them to destroy. That's all they can do. They're machines with a job." "So it seems now. But how about later on? After the war is over. Maybe, when there aren't any humans to destroy, their real potentialities will begin to show." "You talk as if they were alive!" "Aren't they?" There was silence. "They're machines," Rudi said. "They look like people, but they're machines." "Use your transmitter, Major," Klaus said. "We can't stay up here forever." Holding the transmitter tightly Hendricks called the code of the command bunker. He waited, listening. No response. Only silence. He checked the leads carefully. Everything was in place. "Scott!" he said into the mike. "Can you hear me?" Silence. He raised the gain up full and tried again. Only static. "I don't get anything. They may hear me but they may not want to answer." "Tell them it's an emergency." "They'll think I'm being forced to call. Under your direction." He tried again, outlining briefly what he had learned. But still the phone was silent, except for the faint static. "Radiation pools kill most transmission," Klaus said, after awhile. "Maybe that's it." Hendricks shut the transmitter up. "No use. No answer. Radiation pools? Maybe. Or they hear me, but won't answer. Frankly, that's what I would do, if a runner tried to call from the Soviet lines. They have no reason to believe such a story. They may hear everything I say--" "Or maybe it's too late." Hendricks nodded. "We better get the lid down," Rudi said nervously. "We don't want to take unnecessary chances." * * * * * They climbed slowly back down the tunnel. Klaus bolted the lid carefully into place. They descended into the kitchen. The air was heavy and close around them.