Flytrap by Piers Anthony Page A

occurred. “Also my baby. You would have married my man to take care of Bela, if I hadn't come back.” That was something that was not in the public record.
    Satisfied, Mona turned to the unfamiliar man before them, evidently a naval officer. “Your witness, Mike.”
    “Indeed,” the man agreed. “Elasa, you are now hosted by the body of one of our ship fembots. That machine answers to me. Show me that you are independent of it. That you actually are conscious.”
    “Readily,” Elasa said, smiling. “Give your machine an order.”
    “Fembot, return to your storage closet in the ship. Now.”
    “Forget it, Mike. I haven't obeyed any such order since I achieved my personhood back on Earth. I'm a civilian, not subject to military discipline, regardless of my host.”
    He acted affronted. “You can't talk to me that way!”
    “The hell I can't, Mike. Get lost.”
    Mike smiled. “That's definitely not our robot. She is incapable of any such responses.”
    “You bet,” Mona agreed. “Elasa is conscious and self-willed, the only machine known to be so. Thank you, Mike; we'll take good care of the body.”
    “I am sure you will.”
    They released the three animals from their cages, which were of course no longer required, and departed his office. Elasa blinked as she viewed the planet outside. It was really quite different from Earth.
    “Now comes the hard part,” Mona said. “Abolishing the male vampires. I understand that the journey there is hazardous.”
    “How do we even find it?” Brian asked. “Only the sheep know the safe way. Elen was listed as guide, but she depended on the sheep to prevent them from getting killed.”
    Then the Ewe appeared. They paused while Bunky nursed.
    “And there's the answer,” Brian said. “The Ewe will lead us. She has to come along anyway, to nurse Bunky.”
    “Obvious in retrospect,” Mona agreed.
    But Elasa was not quite satisfied. “You have filled me in on the general gist,” she said. “But there remain things I don't understand.”
    “Such as?”
    “Why do the sheep always take along a human couple? They could travel more readily by themselves, or just with selected animals like Vulture and Python. Or an ape to peddle the boat across the water.”
    Mona considered. “I don't know. Maybe the villagers do. We can ask the village elder.”
    “Let's do that. We need to know exactly what we are getting into.”
    Bunky finished nursing. The Ewe did not depart immediately instead she faced Elasa. And made a bow.
    Surprised, Elasa bowed back. Then the Ewe left.
    “She bowed to you!” Brian said.
    “It's not a common courtesy to welcome a newcomer?”
    “It is not,” Mona said. “She bowed to me, before. I learned that that was only the second time a sheep had done that, ever. You must be special too.”
    “Well, I'm the only conscious robot.”
    “I don't think the sheep care about that,” Brian said. “They care only about themselves. I think this means that just as Mona has a significant role to play in the welfare of the sheep, so do you.”
    “So this mission must be really important to the sheep,” Elasa said. “As we already know.”
    Mona shook her head. “I think it must be more than that. I'm picking up indications from Bunky. There's something larger going on, that only the sheep know about.”
    Elasa nodded. “What would your father say?”
    Mona smiled. Moncho always got straight to the point. “Find out what, first.”
    “Let's ask the village elder about that, too.”
    They trekked to the center of the village. The elder was seated outside his house, as before.
    “This is Elasa, of Earth,” Mona said. She did not mention the machine aspect, as they did not want to advertise it. “She has questions, if you care to answer.”
    The elder smiled. Elasa was a beautiful woman, and not pregnant. “A pleasure.”
    “I just met a grown sheep, a ewe,” Elasa said. “For is, the Ewe. She bowed to me. I understand that's