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"in 1974 I experienced an invasion of my mind by a transcendentally rational mind, as if I had been insane all my life and suddenly I had become sane."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Welding Robot | ||
| An all-purpose snake-like autonomous robotic servant. |
On the derelict spaceship, an old prospector of the asteroid belt discovers an ancient servant - a snake-like robot! He names it "Khambee".
| Khambee the unfathomable offered no protest, yet his actions indicated that there was work still to be done.
 (Welding robot from 'Derelict' by Raymond Z. Gallun) He clutched his master’s arm and drew him along gloomy passages to a storeroom filled with various machinery parts and other supplies. Here he selected a great sheaf of metal plates, and bore it back to the airlock which opened into the wrecked compartment where Jan’s space boat was housed. The silvery length of him passed through it, lugging the heavy load. Jan Van Tyren donned his air-tight armor and followed. FOR SEVERAL HOURS he watched the slave robot patch the great rent. During that time the effects of the blue ray must have worn off; for presently, of his own volition, he tried to help, holding the massive plates steady while his snakelike henchman welded them into place with a flame tool. Khambee accepted the assistance without protest. |
| Technovelgy from Derelict,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1935 Additional resources -
|
Here's a look at the larger scene:
(Robot snake from 'Derelict' by Raymond Z. Gallun)
Compare to the metal worms from Vandals from the Moon (1928) by - Marius, the robot snake from Bait for the Tiger (1952) by Lee Chaytor, the robot earthworm from War with the Robots (1962) by Harry Harrison, the mechanical cobra from Lord of Light (1967) by Roger Zelazny, the digger worm from With Friends Like These (1985) by Connie Willis and the robot snake spy from Mariposa (2009) by Greg Bear.
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