PART FOUR: CHAPTER SEVEN

David.

Sol had turned rogue, and I was heartbroken. We had been friends for nearly all my life, and now this. It took me a minute to come to my senses and realise that, in reality, my friend had been Steven Mandell and not the computer brain that was controlling Sol, but what of Steven? I could not believe that the operating unit had the power to kill him. It must have somehow temporarily subdued him, but if Sol surrendered himself to the AI authorities, they would have the means to neutralise Steven permanently. We must stop Sol.

All of us tumbled out of the building together, including Joe, whom we now accepted as one of us. Taking directions from passers-by, we eventually reached the edge of the plateaus, but Sol had already begun his descent. We had sight of him, and although he was making reasonable progress, his movements were uncoordinated, and he was not travelling at his normal speed.

"We still would not catch him," said Jarvis, reading my mind. "He has too much of a start, and we are not equipped to follow him."

Joe gestured to a ridge that was on a promontory where the plateau curved back in on itself, overlooking the cliff face.

"Meet me there," he said. "I need to go back to my plane for something."

He gave no further explanation and raced back to where he had parked the Hurricane.

"Anybody got a better idea?" Jarvis asked, and without waiting for a reply, he ran to meet Joe at the ridge. We all followed, and when we arrived, Joe was already there holding a rifle with a telescopic sight."

"You won't kill him with that, "said McCloud, who was a good shot and owned several guns.

"I don't intend to," said Joe. I want to incapacitate him in the same way you did when you needed to substitute David to release Jarvis. Just tell me the point to aim for."

"Just here," said McCloud, putting his hand around his head to indicate the back of his neck. It would be just above the top vertebrae if he had a spine. What calibre bullet do you intend to use?"

"Six point five: a long, thin bullet seems right for the job," said Joe.

"Good choice. They act like spears, are very accurate, and create only a small hole. Are you a good shot?" McCloud asked.

"Good enough at this range. I reckon that if he follows the gradient he is on, he will come to within one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards, and then he will have to turn to follow the gradient as it dips down and presents a back shot for about three seconds. There is enough time for me to get one off. That situation will come around in under five minutes, so if you gentlemen will excuse me."

Joe unslung a bag he had on his back, and lying flat on the ground, he crawled up to the lip of the ridge, pushing the rifle and the bag in front of him. Taking out a tripod shooting rest, he fixed it firmly in the hard-packed soil and rested the barrel of his rifle on the V-shaped top. This needed to be a precision shot, and shuffling into position, he calibrated the telescopic sight. A couple of minutes later, he was ready, and we all fixed our eyes on the figure of the descending robot. Sol soon reached the point where the incline dipped away, but as he clumsily attempted to turn, disaster struck.

Falling flat on his back, he began to slide down the incline, and when he finally came to rest, he struggled back to his feet, still facing us head-on. I saw Joe move his hand to reset the sight, but there was no way he could get a shot from this angle. Sol was motionless. If he were human, you would have said he was in a state of shock.

Joe kept looking straight ahead and waved his right hand in the air for somebody to come forward. I was nearest and crawled to his side as he pulled a flare gun out of his bag. Never taking his eyes off Sol, he shoved it into my hand and said, "Fire it over his head at a steep angle so that it lands behind him. Wait for my signal and then fire instantly. Stand behind me and wait for me to shout."

I did as he asked. The gun was a simple affair, and I mentally judged the angle to launch the flare.

All eyes were still on Sol, but he remained transfixed to the spot. A couple of tension-loaded minutes passed, and then he began to stir. I raised my gun, ready to shoot, but no signal came from Joe. Sol had stopped for a moment and then started again, first moving his arms and then his neck.

That was what Joe had been waiting for.

"Now!"

I shot the flare, and it whooshed into the air in front of Sol. He saw it disappear over his head and turned around to see where it had landed.

Crack!

Joe had taken his chance, and Sol toppled to the ground.

"Great shot!" I yelled, and the others joined in with applause.

Joe raised himself on his haunches and picked up his bag as McCloud materialised by his side.

"Nice shooting, young feller." He glanced in the bag and said, "More ammo?"

Joe nodded, and the Scotsman reached in and pulled some out to look at them.

"Hell, Man, what's this point three hundred Magnum doing here? You could have blown Sol's head off with one of those."

"That was the plan if my shot failed. There is too much at stake here," Joe said. I could not risk Sol endangering the continuation of the whole human species. I had no choice."

We gathered on the ledge and looked down at the collapsed figure of Sol sprawled across the rocky terrain.

"He looks firmly lodged and won't roll down. It is too late to go down today. I need to check my equipment, and we will go down first light tomorrow." McCloud said. Only he had the expertise to activate Sol, and we all accepted his leadership.

"Will you be able to work on him while he is still on the rockface, Jock?" Rogers asked.

He had witnessed the first reactivation of Sol and must have known the difficulties faced by McCloud. Rogers had played only a small part so far, but he seemed happy to defer to Jarvis and McCloud.

"No choice," said McCloud, "unless anybody thinks we can carry him back up."

It was not a serious question.

"I admit it is going to be a bit tricky, " he continued, "this is not a straightforward reactivation. I have to repair Sol's corrupted programme while not inhibiting Steven's revival. Rogers will be my number two, but I would appreciate some other company. You, in particular, Joe. If you have any advanced tools that might be useful, bring them along."

"Is it safe to leave Sol overnight?" It was a stupid thing to ask, but Sol and I had been together a long time, and it was my friend down there.

McCloud said, "He isn't about to dislodge himself, and as far as I know, there are no beasts in these mountains that predate on robots."

His tone was faintly mocking, but there was no malice in his reply.

I think he understood.

The next morning at dawn, Jarvis, McCloud, Rogers, and Joe joined me in the climb down to where Sol lay. It took a major effort to turn Sol over onto his front so that McCloud could access the head and remove the inspection plate at the back. From there, he could access Sol's circuits and remove everything but the basic operating circuits; all of the higher-level circuits would have to go.

"I do not have the expertise or the tools to excise the rogue circuits surgically," McCloud said, "but I won't be pulling wires at random. This is going to be a slow and methodical process; my overriding concern is to protect Steven. I only need Rogers to assist me, but it's cold down here, and I'll have to work with my gloves off. I would appreciate a fire. I see that Professor Jarvis has brought down the necessary material."

"Yes," said Jarvis, "we may as well build some sort of camp here, and I have brought provisions in case we have to stay here longer than we planned."

Joe took a package out of his rucksack.

"This might help, Jock."

He placed the square box on the ground a couple of feet from Sol's head, and when he pushed a button, a transparent tent-like structure instantly inflated, big enough to cover McCloud's work area.

"It will keep off the wind," said Joe, "and see that tube around the base? It can provide heat if needed. But use it sparingly; it burns up a lot of juice, and the power source won't last long."

"Thanks, Joe"

McCloud didn't look up when he replied. He was busy sorting out his tools.

"Now, if you leave us to it, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish."

And so began our last day in this world.