Read Captain Future 25 - Moon of the Unforgotten (January 1951) for Free Online Page B

but now a feeling of excitement, almost of fear, seemed to pervade his every fiber.
    What if somewhere he had made a tiny mistake, if the robot did not come to life, or if he came to life, and failed to possess the qualities for which Simon had toiled so painfully? Simon’s fingers pressed down on the tiny knob of plastic.
    The robot’s photoelectric eyes suddenly glowed with light.
    “Stand up,” ordered Simon, and Grag arose as readily as if he had been following orders for years.
    “I obey, Master,” he said in a deep mechanical voice.
    There was a gleam of triumph in Simon’s eyes. Years of effort had been crowned with success. The robot was alive, and acting exactly as he should act.
     
    PERIL IN THE LUCENITE PIT
    It required several days before he and Roger realized that something was wrong. Neither scientist could put his finger on the thing that aroused his uneasiness, but they both felt it. Grag obeyed orders well — perhaps even too well. But it seemed absurd to find a reason for complaint in that.
    Then there came the day when Roger Newton discovered the rare mineral in one of the moon craters. Simon, working in the laboratory, heard his excited voice through the audiophone the two scientists always wore when one or both of them worked afield from the main home.
    “Come quickly, Simon, I’ve discovered a large deposit of lucenite!”
    Pausing only to slip on a space helmet and to bark a curt order to Grag to follow, Simon hastened out of the laboratory. He found Roger gazing in triumph at a deposit of pinkish-gray mineral that spread over a patch of several square yards.
    Within the patch, Roger had been digging, and although he was now a dozen feet beneath the surface, the end of the lucenite was not yet in sight.
    “Here it is, Simon, enough to supply us for years! Now we’ll no longer have to import rare metals from Earth!”
    Simon’s eyes showed his pleasure. “It’ll save us valuable time,” he said. And then he looked around quickly. A slight noise, transmitted through the ground, had reached his ears.
    A pack of moon-wolves was approaching. The giant, long-fanged beasts, their grayish metallic bodies gleaming, had scented food. They preferred to eat metal, but in case of need would devour anything living that came their way. And neither Roger nor Simon had remembered to bring weapons.
    Simon’s lips tightened. “You run for it, Roger,” he said. “I’ll try to hold them off.”
    Roger shook his head as he hefted the pick he had been working with.
    Simon persisted, “You’ve got your wife to live for — and Curt. I’m an old man. I’m going soon, anyhow.”
    “We’ll run together — if Grag can hold them off,” decided Newton.
     
    GRAG’S FIRST TRIAL
    Together they stared at the giant robot, who was regarding the approaching and snarling beasts with great interest. “We’ve made him strong enough,” admitted Simon. “If only he has enough intelligence —”
    Roger spoke directly to the robot. “Grag, we are returning to the laboratory. Do not let the moon-wolves follow us. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Master,” boomed Grag. “I shall obey.”
    They watched Grag move slowly toward the approaching monsters. Then, without further delay, they turned and ran.
    They were not followed. Evidently Grag was not finding it as difficult as they had feared to fight off the moon-wolves. Simon dashed into the moon-laboratory and immediately made for the cupboard where several atom-guns were stored.
    They were weapons of especially large caliber, and projected beams that would drill through a moon-wolf as easily as an ordinary beam would drill through a man. They had been constructed especially for that purpose.
    Each holding a pair of the guns, Simon and Roger retraced their steps. As they came within sight of the snarling beasts, Roger stared in bewilderment.
    “Where is he?”
    Grag was nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, the beasts had remained in the same spot where the men had