Darmo got to LA within seconds. He was far more maneuverable at sub - light speeds than any space ship, and faster, too. This is why he took off seperately.
He flew at a height of about 2,000 feet above what used to be the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles. What had once been a hive of activity, culture, and diversity, was now a surreal picture of death and destruction.
Buildings were smashed and in ruins. Streets were no longer recognizable. Badly burnt bodies were lying all over. Everything was still smoking.
Darmo saw all this and would have wept, had he had tear ducts.
He knew what Carol's brother, Ray, looked like. He had scanned all the photos of him that he had seen in Carol's mother's home.
Darmo flew towards the northwestern part of LA. There was an in between zone where the damage just sort of ended gradually. After that, things were relatively okay.. if you can get past the natural gas fires, flooding from broken water mains, and debris.
He located Ray's house. It was not badly damaged, just a little singed on the side that faced towards the destruction.
He landed, and as he did so, he noticed the sleek, silver ship of Professor Zum approaching. It had just decloaked. Darmo landed, and just stood there and watched the ship land in the back yard of Ray's home.
Professor Zum and Carol emerged from the ship. Carol ran towards Darmo.
" Is he in there?"
" I will now scan for life signs."
Darmo turned on his x ray vision. He scanned the first and then the second floor. Nothing. Then he remembered that human dwellings often had basements.
He scanned the basement and saw a lone human form, male. It appeared to be unconscious.
" Wait here." Darmo gestured to Carol to stay put, but she did not and instead followed Darmo. Carol was in turn followed by the Professor.
The house was decorated in a rather tasteful style. Not too shabby for a single heterosexual man who lived alone. It was rather neat, but with a pair of New Balance shoes on the floor in front of the recliner, and a few nudie magazines on the living room coffee table.
Darmo found the door to the basement locked. This was no obstacle to a robot who could left a ten ton truck. He applied a little pressure to the basement door. The knob crumbled as though it were a potato chip.
He called to Ray by name. Carol called to Ray, also. There was no reply. The tall, silver robot walked down the stairs which creaked under his weight, with a worried Carol right behind him. The Professor walked cautiously down the stairs, his age showing as he did so.
Darmo opened a door to the laundry room. A large pile of unwashed laundry was on top of the dryer. There was another pile on the floor, and a pair of feet sticking out from beneath it. Darmo carefully picked up the laundry a
little at a time, until an unconscious human form appeared.
It was Ray.
" Darmo, is he alive? Is he injured? " she asked of the robot.
" He is functioning with normal parameters for a human."
Carol knelt down and shook her brother's right arm. She began to coax him back to the land of the conscious.
Ray made a sound, and sat slowly up.
" Sis..how did you get here? What's going on? The last thing I remember was..'' His voice trailed off as he became aware of the old blue skinned man behind his sister. Both Ray and Professor Zum just stared at the other in disbelief.
" My son... you are my son.. but.. that's impossible! You died.. I saw your body." the aged Professor said, his voice very emotional now.
