“Come to think of it,” said Ariel, “how can these minorities still exist if the original reasons for their endurance no longer do? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m not sure,” said Jeff. “But on Aurora, I still look different. That always kept me distinct. And, you know, my father took more interest in me than my friends’ fathers. That’s why he dragged me out to meet Avery, remember?”

“I think I see,” said Ariel. “Maybe some of these tendencies still exist to a degree.”

“At least in comparison to the majority cultures on the planet.” Jeff nodded.

They all clutched for a hold on the hoer as it reached a perpendicular row and made a right-angle turn without slowing down. It made another right turn at the next row and started down the direction it had just come on the previous one. They could see a long way ahead of them.

So could the Hunters, if they looked down the right row.

Derec was uncomfortable with this talk of families and fathers and sons. He hadn’t had any family to speak of since he had awakened with amnesia.

“We still have to find Avery in this valley or this mountain range or somewhere,” said Derec with annoyance. “What are we going to do about that?”

“Just one more thing,” said Jeff. “My father told Avery that two major events changed both these cultures in ancient times. One was moving from the so-called Old World of Earth to the United States.”

“What difference would that make?” Ariel asked. “They were still on Earth.”

“He said that while prejudice didn’t vanish there, these two cultures were part of a nation of immigrants and their descendants for the first time. They were a fundamental part of these societies even while maintaining their identities.”

“What was the other event?” She asked.

“Going into space. The same situation occurred again with the settling of Spacer worlds. Being an Auroran, say, is now more important than one’s Earth ancestors. As demonstrated by your mother’s attitude toward Solarians.”

Ariel nodded thoughtfully.

“So what does all this get us?” Derec demanded. “Robots never did have this kind of identity, anyhow. What does this have to do with Robot City? And finding Dr. Avery?”

“Now, look!” Jeff whirled on him. “You’re the one who started asking me what I remember. I’m just telling you. If you don’t want to hear it, don’t ask me.”

Ariel grabbed both their arms. “Robots,” she whispered.

Far in the distance ahead of them, the silhouettes of humanoid robots were moving from right to left, down the valley slope, across their open row.

Wolruf gathered her legs under her and leaped from a small rock to a fallen branch large enough to hold her. She landed on it on all fours and hung on till she got her balance. This forest had very few fallen branches, or loose matter of any kind.

The robots obviously cleared the forest floor frequently. She had seen a few function robots in the distance but had kept clear of them. She didn’t want the Hunters sending any more orders to function robots that would help them capture her.

Still, she had managed to minimize the footprints she left behind. A fairly small area had been sprinkled by the sensor she had triggered and she had left it before the sprinklers quit operating. She wondered how long they had continued to run.

She hoped they had remained on for some time. If they had sprayed long enough, then the water eventually would not only have eliminated the body heat of her footprints on the ground, but also would have washed away the visual traces.

That and the difficulty the big Hunters would have in moving through the crowded forest might account for their falling behind. When they had lost her trail, they probably would have had to resort to a pattern search to pick it up again, and that would cost them time.

She stayed on the branch to catch her breath. Her memory of the terrain on the ship viewscreen was clear enough, but she wasn’t sure exactly where she was. Nor was she sure of what to do.

So far, she had been angling up the slope and away from the pass that the humans had been near, certain that they were heading there. Anything she could do to draw Hunters away from them would be a contribution. She also remembered that another pass led into the valley somewhere in this direction.

She was torn between two impulses, with no way to know which would better serve the cause of Derec’s getting to Avery before Avery’s robots got to him. If she got to the pass and joined the humans, they could work together as a team again and perhaps accomplish more. However, that would mean leading the Hunters following her right back toward them again.

This was not getting her anywhere.

She could not afford to rest anywhere too long, even now. After balancing along the fallen branch as far as she could, she jumped off to a patch of ground that looked firm. From there, she stepped on the top of an exposed tree root, grabbed a low-hanging branch, and swung over to a small rock.

Then she paused to look back, wondering if this was worth the effort. If the Hunters came up quickly, their heat sensors would tell them where she had been. Now, however, she was hoping that they were too far behind to use those sensors effectively. If the traces of her body heat subsided before they arrived, minimizing her visual track could be critical.

She continued to move along this way. It was a gamble, but probably worth it. If she could actually lose the Hunters, then she could look for the humans in the valley without endangering them further. In order to know, however, she would have to double back at some point and actually watch the Hunters in action.

That might be too risky. Still undecided, she fled on up the slope, still moving roughly in the direction of the pass. Once she got there, she could make her final decision on whether to enter it or not.

Chapter 15. Muggings

Since the hoer was moving down the row toward the humanoid robots, its passengers had no choice but to get off and go the other way. Derec was surprised that the robots had not looked down the row already and spotted them, but apparently they had not. As before, he followed Jeff and preceded Ariel, all three of them now crawling along the damp earth so that the body of the hoer would block them from view.

Before long, they reached the perpendicular row they had seen a short time before. It ran parallel with the one the humanoid robots were taking in single file to go farther down into the valley. Derec stopped there, breathing hard, unable to go on.

“Derec?” Ariel crawled up beside him. “Jeff, wait.”

Jeff looked back over his shoulder and then came back. He watched Derec for a minute and shook his head. “I don’t know what to do. We can’t just stop.”

Derec coughed and shook his head in frustration. He wanted to speak and didn’t have the breath for it yet. Quickly, he pointed in a stabbing motion in the direction of the humanoids.

Ariel turned to look. “They aren’t coming yet. At least, I don’t see anybody.”

“No,” Derec wheezed. “That’s not what I mean.” He paused again, still breathing hard. His head was spinning dizzily.

“We could try supporting you between us again,” said Jeff. “But we can only do that by standing up and walking.”

“Wait, wait.” Derec inhaled deeply and looked up at both of them. “Those aren’t Hunters. I’m sure of it.”

“Really?” Ariel scooted closer to him. “Derec, are you sure? You’re not exactly in the best condition.”

“Hunters wouldn’t just pass by like that without even looking down the row. They can’t be Hunters. “

“Makes sense to me,” said Jeff slowly. “So who are they, then? And what are they doing in this valley?”

“I was thinking about that, too,” said Derec. “I think they’re migrating. They’re following that mysterious migration programming we told you we heard about.”