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Adam had driven the giant Caterpillar dump truck through the steel doors almost as successfully as Derek had hoped. The impact slung three of the Chinese robots aside, but it didn’t deter their pursuit of the truck. The steel doors landed on top of the fourth robot and the heavy truck ran over it. But like Derek had expected, the robot suffered no obvious harm. However, the heavy doors were weighing it down, impeding its progress as it tried to crawl out from beneath the doors.
The problem Adam and Paul now faced was staying out of the robots’ weapon range. The heavy dump truck wasn’t built for speed, and regardless of how much Adam pushed the accelerator to the floor, the truck wasn’t going to move any faster. It was bad that the vehicle’s breakneck speed was approximately twenty miles per hour on the rugged terrain.
Because his helmet limited his peripheral vision, Derek looked over his shoulder instead of using the rearview mirror. He partially turned his body to the right as he dropped the flatbed into reverse. He gunned the engine and backed through the opening where the doors once sealed the entrance. Isaac and Bradbury stood on each side of the EMP, balancing it between them. He was thankful to have these two robots, but inside he still grieved over the loss of his other three.
When Derek had given the plan to Adam and Paul of how they could get the EMP outside Olympus Mons, he didn’t have any idea exactly how the Chinese robots would react to a truck crashing through the entrance doors. He feared the robots would simply ignore the truck and immediately enter the engineering department. If so, that probably would have been the end of his plan.
Instead the robots went after the truck. He wondered if they had been programmed to annihilate any human they happened upon? Once they targeted a human with their heat-sensors, they weren’t deterred by anything else. They pursued relentlessly.
Had Derek not been able to drive away, he didn’t doubt that he’d have been killed at the Phobos Crash Site. They had encircled his location and decreased his radius for escape. But even after driving outside their range, they had not given up their hunt. They tracked him like predators hunted their prey. Following him had quickened their arrival to Olympus Mons and essentially placed the lives of everyone inside into immediate danger.
Red dust and silt billowed behind the dump truck. Three of the robots were gaining on the truck. They ran much faster than he estimated they could since they were constructed with heavier armor than his robots.
The EMP device Isaac and Bradbury had built wasn’t overly large. Building one didn’t take a lot of components. Pinpointing range and accuracy proved to be more challenging. Often an EMP allowed one pulse to be fired, which neutralized the device itself. He hadn’t had the time to debrief his robots about the specifics this device was capable of performing, so he didn’t know what was going to happen.
His flatbed truck backed over the robot pinned beneath the two steel doors, pushing it deeper into the road. It wasn’t destroyed, but it wasn’t going to free itself quickly.
Derek increased the truck’s speed, and he was gaining on the two robots that were nearing the dump truck. But the third one went to the left side of the dump truck and seemed determined to reach the passenger door.
Bradbury and Isaac could easily take out the pair, but it was doubtful the EMP could strike the electrical components of the third one.
“Fire!” Derek shouted.
Bradbury flipped the trigger switch.
The two Chinese robots dropped face-first on the road.
Derek came close to shouting, until he noticed the dump truck had been hit, too. It was slowing rapidly.
The third robot hurried to the passenger door, grabbed the handle, and yanked.
“Damn,” Derek whispered.
***
Paul looked at Adam. “Can’t you get this thing to go any faster?”
Adam shook his head. “I’m practically standing on the accelerator!”
“We have a robot approaching my side of the truck.”
“I see it, but there’s nothing I can do.”
Nervously, Paul looked at the side mirror. “When are they going to use that EMP?”
“I hope soon. I can’t see the other two robots, which makes me nervous.”
“I’m more concerned about the one coming toward my door.”
The loud engine silenced. The dashboard lights went out.
“What the hell, Adam?”
“The EMP took out our engine and everything.”
“Shit!” Paul said, as his door came open. Red eyes gleamed a moment before the robot grabbed his right arm and yanked him from the cab.
He felt the bones break in his forearm, and he wailed when his shoulder was dislocated. He landed hard on the abrasive rocks. Even though his suit was punctured, the rocks pressed indentions into his flesh. “Run, Adam!”
For a moment Paul had thought the robot was going to grab Adam, too, but it didn’t. It walked slowly toward him. Its robot face was that of a machine, but for some reason, it looked evil and menacing.
Paul tried to pull himself backwards, down the steep embankment, hoping to get away, but he didn’t make much progress with one good arm. His right arm radiated with such severe pain that he cradled it to his chest. The slightest movement was added torment.
Lasers bounced off the robot’s shielded back and didn’t do any damage, nor did it attract the robot’s attention. Adam jumped from the passenger side of the truck and grabbed several large rocks. He threw them like baseballs. Two smacked and thwacked off the back of its head.
Nothing.
Paul swallowed hard. Tears welled in his eyes. He kicked his feet against the loose rocky debris, pushing himself a few more feet down the embankment. The robot advanced. Its heavy weight dislodged larger rocks, pebbles, and silt, causing a cascading array of earth to slide around Paul.
Paul kicked against the debris again. With the added weight of the loosened stones, he descended about ten feet deeper into the ravine. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed he couldn’t slide any farther or he plummet several hundred feet to the jagged rocks below.
He didn’t want to think about death, but it was the major intruding thought rambling inside his mind. Either the robot killed him, or he plunged to his death. Neither would be pleasant.
Two more rocks bounced off the back of the robot’s head.
“Run, Adam! Save yourself.”
“I’m not leaving you behind.”
“How do you plan to stop it? There isn’t any reason why we both should die. Run!”
The robot raised its laser arm and aimed at Paul’s face.
Paul shoved his feet against the rocks with all of his strength. There was that moment of peace as his body left the rocks and dropped through the air. He felt light, carefree. The screaming of his name carried with the rushing wind around his helmet. The robot’s laser split open his chest piece. A fiery sensation rushed into his chest. It was the last thing he felt, and the last thing he remembered when he struck the rocky terrain at the bottom of the ravine.