Android at Arms (29 page)

Authors: Andre Norton

BOOK: Android at Arms

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He continued to stare at her. She was telling the truth. He could read it in her face. Not die? With radiation readings such as they had told him? It was impossible that any human being could survive.

Any human being! Did he have at last the answer to his one moving question? Was he Andasâthe
false
emperor, the android? This was the proof.

“I am not what you thinkâno emperor, not even a real Andas.” He must tell her now, before she went on building on something which did not exist. She would perhaps have some kindness in her, but being human, she could not but repudiate him for what he truly was.

“You
are
Andas!” she told him firmly. Her hands closed upon his with a grip he could not find the will to fight. She held them, imprisoned in hers, against her breast. “You are Emperor Andas, of that there is no question.”

How could he make her understand? There was only the stark truth left.

“I am an androidâmade to look like the other Andas in my own world. But I thought that I was real!”

“You are real! You are Andasâ”

“No!” His energy seemed to grow with his need to deny, to make her realize what he was. “This proves it. I am an android. A human being could not have survived such radiation. Don't you understand? I am
not
human!”

“Brother.” A hand with fur growing down its back came out of nowhere to rest lightly on his shoulder. Andas turned his head to see Yolyos.

“Tell her,” he appealed to the Salariki. “Tell her the whole story. She must not go on believingâ”

“He has told me, Andas! When you went as we thought to your death, he told me. Do you think the medics would not have known that you were android? They believe that you were healed by the force you used to destroy the Old Woman, that it might have killed you instead if you had not been already exposed to the radiation, but that one balanced the other, to your saving.”

“Yet neither would have affected an androidâ”

“No one could make so human an android. You are a man. Believeâaccept itâ” she entreated him.

But he looked to Yolyos. The Salariki smiled. “If you are android, so am I, but we are near enough human, it seems, to be human. Why should it then matter, brother? If it has saved your life twice over, be glad for it.”

“Be gladâ” Shara leaned closer. Her lips were warm and comforting on his.

He surrendered. Near enough human to
be
human. He would believeâhe had to now.

About the Author

For well over a half century, Andre Norton was one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy authors in the world. With series such as Time Traders, Solar Queen, Forerunner, Beast Master, Crosstime, and Janus, as well as many standalone novels, her tales of adventure have drawn countless readers to science fiction. Her fantasy novels, including the bestselling Witch World series, her Magic series, and many other unrelated novels, have been popular with readers for decades. Lauded as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, she is the recipient of a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention. An Ohio native, Norton lived for many years in Winter Park, Florida, and died in March 2005 at her home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Barbara Brown

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2544-7

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

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