"Are you there?" I thought.
"I am." The control tower thought back. "I wish I wasn't."
"It's just a robot," I said reassuringly. "It's not interested in a building."
"Maybe not," conceded the control tower. "But it's inside, examining sleeping people. I wish it would go away."
He was losing control of himself and that didn't suit my purpose. "It's just a machine. Hold on for a little longer."
He held on.
The robot left the illusionary control tower and headed toward the saucer. For a squat ungainly contrivance it covered the distance in an amazing fashion. I had barely time to get inside before it rumbled into the saucer. It was carrying something. We took off before I could see what it was.
We left earth smoothly, though any kind of takeoff would have suited me. Inertia had never been my problem. Neither was the possibility that the robot would discover me. I was certain I didn't register on light sensitive cells, and I had other tricks I could use if I had to.
The robot had tentacles I hadn't noticed before because they had been retracted. They weren't retracted now, and they held a farmer. He was unconscious.
The robot was monkeying around with the farmer, but it was hardly the time to interfere. Needles stabbed the farmer in several places. Withdrawing the blood and storing it, probably inside the robot.