tried to run away. We set the precedent."

"No, no," he protested. "Not that at all. But the coincidence. We were afraid that might occur to them. And it did! Even the phrasing was ours—yours, to be exact."

"You mean telepathy."

"In a sense. The brain gives off minute electrical discharges that vary with the brain's activity. The robots are sensitive, much more so than man. It takes a machine to detect the brain discharges in the first place."

"But then they're aware of every move we could make just as soon as we are."

"That's just it! They've forestalled us every time." He drove his right fist against his left palm. "You were afraid R-7 would dismantle the mining worm. You planted the suggestion in his mind. Then it occurred to you that he might try to take you apart; so he did. I explained the danger inherent in a conscious machine. The robots incorporated it into their thought processes. We were afraid they would block our escape in the space ship. If we hadn't been afraid we wouldn't have circled. So they blocked us!"

Sofi's color had heightened. Her eyes looked too large in her delicately modelled face. "Then we're trapped!"

He nodded, said, "If they escape from the asteroid, they'll be a menace to the entire human race."

"The larger problem doesn't interest me," she said bitterly. "How long do we have?"

He shook his head.

"Oh, well," she shrugged, eyes feverishly bright. "Eat, drink and be merry, because tomorrow we die." She giggled half-hysterically.

Hen's nerves were keyed up to the breaking point. The girl screamed, and he almost jumped out of his skin.

"Here they come!"

He wheeled around.

Seven of the robots were advancing on their igloo. Only the eighth was missing, and he lay scattered in parts about the laboratory. They were hauling the heavy cutting torch with them.

"They're going to cut through the walls with the torch," he ejaculated. "I was afraid of that! Get on your oxygen suit!"

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