"Gamblerens val" (1971) av Bob Shaw, samlad i Alien Worlds: Berättelser om äventyr på andra planeter (1981) tillsammans med ett utdrag av "Utan den tysta planet". Den ursprungliga berättelsen samlas på archive.org, här .
Killen heter Mike Targett och datorn är Aesop.
Det verkar ha varit minst två versioner av den berättelsen, eftersom länken archive.org inte har "Target shot back" -tecken, medan samlingen Ship of Strangers (1978) har det ( Google Böcker-länk ):
'This is lovely material for my book, Mike.' Clifford Pollen's reedy voice was pitched with excitement as he leaned across the mess table. 'I'm going to call the chapter “The Day The Targett Started Shooting Back”. Good isn't it?'
Mike Targett, who had learned to endure every possible joke about his surname, nodded his head. 'Very original, that.'
Mer exakt ...
Michael Target sätter upp för att undersöka mystiska metallcylindrar kvar av en tidigare tävling. Jag tror att han säger att det var omkring 200. De är långa och tunna så långt jag kan minnas.
Scattered across the level ground — in random groupings — were hundreds of slim black cylinders, the nearest only a few dozen paces from Targett. They were about twenty feet in length and tapered at each end. Targett’ s heart began a steady, peaceful pounding as it came to him that the alien objects certainly were not discarded canisters, as Surgenor had suggested. He took the miniature television camera from his belt, plugged it briefly into the suit’s powerpack and aimed it at the nearest cylinders.
“Aesop,” he said. “I’ve made visual contact.”
Plötsligt slår en av dem upp och Michael körs för omslag. Det skottar på honom och förstör den luftskapande apparat som han bär på ryggen.
“Scan your surroundings. If you see a rock formation that would give you protection against machine rifle fire — go to it immediately!”
“What’s the matter?” Targett glanced around the shimmering plateau.
“Don’t ask questions,” Surgenor’s voice cut in. “Do as Aesop says. Run for cover.”
“But—”
Targett’s voice faded as his peripheral vision picked up a sudden movement. He turned toward it and saw that — in the center of the plateau — one of the hundreds of cylinders had reared its sharp end at an angle into the air. It was swaying slowly and blindly, as though supported by a loose wire. [...]
He slid a gloved hand around to the lower part of his back where the bullet had struck, felt an unfamiliar jagged edge of metal. His probing fingers discovered a crumpled, boxlike object — the ruins of his oxygen generator.
Mikaels skepps dator ligger till honom och berättar för honom att det kan se vad som händer genom sin kamera utanför. I själva verket gör det bäst att beräkna när samma cylinder kommer inom räckhåll. Så småningom slår man två gånger, exploderar och bländar alla de andra.
“Perhaps all those explosions burned it out.” “No.” Aesop paused. “Transmissions ceased when you dropped the camera. There is a good probability that the switch got jarred to the off position.”
“Very likely. 1 was moving — ” Targett stopped speaking as a disturbing thought occurred to him. “Then you lied to me. You weren’t able to track the torpedoes—”
“That is correct.”
“But you were telling me when to fire. How did you know I would hit one of the torpedoes twice?”
“I didn’t.” Aesop’s voice was precise, unruffled. “This is something you in particular should understand, Michael. I simply took a chance.”
Hittade med Google-frågan "Your meaning is not clear to me, Michael" .