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She pushed against him, trying to get up. He didn't budge. Strong as she was, she couldn't move him an
inch. It was like pushing against iron.
"When did you get so strong? Damn it, Alex, let me up!"
"I can't, and stop squirming. They're shooting at us."
Either it didn't register or else she didn't believe him. When they seized on a thought and made it their
own, the Beta had learned, humans were impossible to persuade. It was part of the same biological
equation that made Alex Rogan a potentially great Starfighter but kept Earth classified among the
immature worlds.
"What are you talking about, Alex? I swear, I don't understand you anymore."
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"I told you," the Beta snapped as he tried to get a fix on the assassin's position. It had to be moving now,
wondering why its first shot hadn't turned its target into a motionless mass of smoldering flesh. Confusion
would buy the Beta some time. "I'm not Alex. I'm a duplicate of him, a simulacrum, a Beta unit."
"Your elevator's not going all the way to the top, is what," she said, gaping at him.
"I'm an exact duplicate of Alex. I'm covering for him here while he tries to help the League against the
Ko-Dan armada and Xur's renegades. It's my job, and it's required by regulations. You can't just yank
some primitive off his world without replacing the resultant hole in the social fabric. It could be damaging
to local development, especially when it involves someone who shows unusual promise of influencing his
society, like Alex."
Maggie listened to all this quietly, said by way of reply, "Huh?"
Exasperated beyond words, the Beta pulled open his shirt. Maggie watched uneasily, wondering what his
intentions were, wondering how to cope if she had to with a drug-crazed boyfriend who might say or do
anything.
However, those thoughts vanished when that same boyfriend followed the opening of his shirt with the
opening of his chest. There was no blood, and after flinching in horror for a split second she found herself
staring at a metal surface spotted with small ports and windows. Behind the transparencies, lights glowed
steadily or winked on and off according to some alien pattern.
"Look, I'm a robot. Get it? How detailed a picture do I have to draw for you, you dumb human
adolescent?"
"Gggg-gggg!"
The Beta spoke calmly as he refastened his artificial skin and clothing. "That is not in my vocabulary, but
somehow I get the feeling it means I'm not making much progress. It doesn't matter. Just keep down. I
don't want you killed by a shot meant for me."
There would be no second shot, however. The ZZ-Designate had seen and heard enough. It rose and
bolted for the stolen police car. The Beta detected the retreat. The assassin's gait was quite human, but
just stiff enough to confirm what was already suspected.
"There it goes!"
He took off in pursuit, cursing the slippery sand that slowed him while wishing Centauri hadn't been too
damn cheap to spring for installation of the optional levitation unit. No point in bewailing that omission
now.
"Alex!" Maggie was struggling to follow. Afterimages of the Beta's internal lights lingered like ghostly
fireflies on her retinas. She stumbled up the slope toward the half-buried steps made out of old railroad
ties. "Alex, or whatever you are . . . wait for me!"
The assassin was having its own problems. Not only had it been sent on a futile hunt, at great difficulty
and expense, but its quarry had turned out to be a modern Beta Unit-and quite capable of killing it, the
alien knew. What mattered now was reporting back to command and informing them that the switch had
been made. As to the location of the real target, that wasn't the assassin's problem any longer.
But it had to make that report.
Back inside the stolen land vehicle, he fumbled with the primitive controls and finally succeeded in
activating the smelly internal combustion engine. The police cruiser screeched backward, stopped, then
roared out of the parking lot.
Without hesitating, the Beta jumped into the nearest available vehicle. This happened to be Jack Blake's
precious pickup. Information raced through storage chips located in the Beta's torso.
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