Drummond slapped the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Now they think they've got a sex function!"
Angus's shoulders fell dismally. "Maybe if we try to figure out their designation. They're all RAs—whatever the A stands for."
There was a hollow rumbling in the cave that grew in volume until the cliff shook. Then a second group of robots emerged and fanned out to encircle the ledge.
"Hell," said Drummond in consternation. "There's twice as many as we figured!"
"Thought there'd be more," Angus admitted. "That ship was big enough to hold a thousand clunkers. And they didn't waste space in those days."
The newcomers fell prostrate alongside the others.
The planet's single satellite hung like a lost gem over the low mountains east of the plain. It washed the cliff with a cloak of effulgence and bathed the forbidden ship in an aura of gleaming silver.
Below the ledge, the reverent robots wavered occasionally and highlights of coruscation played capriciously across their plates. Their whispered invocations were a steady drone, like the soft touch of the wind.
"Quit it!" Drummond yelled angrily. "Break it up! Go home!"