"What?"
"Only temporarily," he added. "We'll save it—as a sort of surprise for Mattern. We'll spring it on him the final day, letting him think all along that this planet was worthless. He can rib us all he wants—but when it's time to go, we'll produce our prize!"
"You think it's safe to leave it out here?" Gerhardt asked.
"Nobody's going to steal it," Marshall said.
"And it won't melt in the rain," Webster added.
"But—suppose it walks away?" Gerhardt demanded. "It can do that, can it not?"
Leopold said, "Of course. But where would it go? It will remain where it is, I think. If it moves, we can always trace it with the radar. Back to the base, now; it grows late."
We climbed back into our halftracks. The robot, silent once again, planted knee-deep in the sand, outlined against the darkening sky, swivelled to face us and lifted one thick arm in a kind of salute.
"Remember," Leopold warned us as we left. "Not one word about this to Mattern!"