"I can see them," said the Eldest Keeper, peering through the glasses. Then he handed them back to Dodeth. "Let's get back down to the car. I want to find out what's going on around here." At the car, the Eldest Keeper just scowled for a moment, looking very worried. By this time, the other two cars had pulled up nearby, discharging their cargo of two more Keepers apiece. While the Eldest Keeper talked in low tones with his colleagues, Dodeth stalked over to one of the pesticide robots who was prowling nearby. "Found anything useful?" he asked sarcastically, knowing that sarcasm was useless on a robot. "I'm not looking for anything useful, sir. I'm looking for the animals we are supposed to destroy." "You come over and tell the Eldest Keeper that," Dodeth said. "Yes, sir," the robot agreed promptly, rolling along beside Dodeth as he returned to where the Keepers were waiting. "What's going on here?" the Eldest demanded curtly of the robot. "Why haven't you destroyed the animals?" "Because we can't find them, sir." "What's your name?" the Eldest snapped. "Arike, sir." "All right, Arike," said the Eldest somewhat angrily. "Stand by for orders. You'll repeat them to the other robots, understand?" "Yes, sir," said the robot. "All right, then," said the Eldest. "First, you take a run up that hill and look into that clearing. You'll see those creatures in there all right." "Yes, sir. I've seen those creatures in there." The Eldest Keeper exploded. "Then get in there and obey your orders! Don't you realize that their very existence threatens the life of all of us? They must be eliminated before our whole culture is destroyed! Do you understand? Obey!" "Yes, sir," said the robot. His voice sounded odd, but he spun around and went to pass the word on to the other robots. Within minutes, more and more of the pesticide robots were swarming towards and into the clearing. They could hear rumbling noises from the clearing--low grunts that were evidently made by animals who were trapped by the encircling robots. And then there was a vast silence. Dodeth and the Keepers waited. Not a shot was fired. It was as though a great, sound-proof blanket had been flung over the whole area. * * * * * "What in the Unknown Name of the Universal Motivator is going on around here?" said Dodeth in a hushed tone. He wondered how many times he had asked himself that. "We may as well take a look," said the Eldest Keeper. Two hundred pesticide robots were ranged around the perimeter of the clearing, their weapons facing inward. Not a one of them moved. Inside the circle of machines, the twenty wygorex stood motionless, watching the ring of robots. Now and then, one of them gave a deep, coughing rumble, but otherwise they made no noise. Dodeth Pell could stand it no longer. "Robots!" He shouted as loudly as he could, his voice shrill with urgency. "I order you to fire!"