Star Spoon had been studying the Computer long and hard, but would she have been able in such a relatively short time to gain knowledge that those who had been using the Computer much longer than she did not have?
It could be that there was a second Snark.
If so, then the six were at his mercy.
Still, it was possible that one of the six had probed deeply into the Computer’s potentialities and learned how to carry out the slaughters.
Why would any of them wish to do so?
He got up from the console chair and said, “We have to run off the memories of everyone for the past six weeks.”
“I’m too tired for that just now,” Frigate said. Alice, Gull and Star Spoon also protested that they were exhausted.
“Let’s do it tomorrow after we get rested,” Alice said.
“Anyway, it’s a waste of time,” Star Spoon said. “You know that anyone who has done all that,” she waved her hand, “will have set up false memories.”
“Yes, I know. But we have to do it.”
They sat around for an hour, their brief and dull sentences floating between long gloomy silences. Frigate finally said that he thought that he could get some food down. The others agreed to try it, and they ate more than they had expected to. They also drank much and became more animated, even if not carefree. Burton spoke then of something that had occupied his thoughts ever since he had entered the house.
“Our enemy closed the exit on the Turpinites and Netleyites.
He should be able to do the same for this place. Since he failed to kill all of us with the androids, he may use the very successful method of drowning us. It might be best if we left here and moved into a suite.”
They talked about that at some length. Finally, Alice, at Burton’s suggestion, ordered that the door to the central area be opened. The screen showed them that it was operating.
“But that does not mean that the Snark cannot close it on us when he wishes,” Burton said.
“Then let’s get out,” Frigate said. “The trouble is … what’s to prevent the Snark from closing the suite door?”
“I don’t know,” Burton said. “At least, he can’t drown us.”
They had the e-m converter make chairs for them, and they flew out over the darkened world and under the simulated full moon. Nobody said a word about the bodies on the field. They would not have time to dispose of them; the crows, eagles, and hawks would strip them of their flesh. By the time they returned, if they ever did, they would deal with bones only.
After another nightcap, they went to separate bedrooms in the suite, except for Burton and Star Spoon. She crawled into bed at once, said, “Good night, Dick,” and was asleep. He followed her a few minutes later, and, against his expectation, passed into sleep at once. He awoke four hours later, his lifelong insomnia clutching him like the Old Man of the Sea. The woman was on her side, facing away from him, and snoring softly. He got out of bed, put on a robe, went to the main room and got a big cup of coffee. After that had removed some of his weariness, he set to work at the computer console. Five hours later, he had put into the Computer every injunction and override he could think of to protect all in his suite. He was sure, however, that there were others. He would ask his companions to add to the list.
“I should have done that long long ago,” he told himself.
He decided that he would not wait until his fellow tenants got up for breakfast. As tired as they were, they might sleep until noon. He began scanning the corridors because, at that moment, he could think of nothing else to do. He started from the top of the tower with the hangar, worked the first level and then the second. That was quick because a glance showed that the circular area was empty, and there was no life except animal in the little worlds.