Mohammed stood by the edge of the road Around him other soldiers were quiet They needed to get back to base camp before nightfall But a villager had told them that the enemies buried a bomb nearby The soldiers lifted a metal object from the back of their truck Then they took cover behind the truck Mohammed opened a hard case and pressed a button He watched on a screen as TALON a small squat robot rolled forward 4
Suddenly the road ahead jumped Fire and smoke shot upward The robot flew into the air Shock waves slammed the soldiers into the ground For a long time Mohammed lay still His ears were ringing His head hurt When the soldiers got up they saw a huge crater in the road If they had gone a little farther they would have been blown up Mohammed pressed another button The robot righted itself and started toward him TALON had saved the soldiers lives 7
