 How is Alan able to evade so many robots?
The robots were built to serve Man; to do his work, see to his comforts, make smooth his way. Frowning, worrying about the sounds, Alan momentarily forgot to watch his step until his foot suddenly plunged into an ant hill, throwing him to the jungle floor. At midday some few of the blue sun's rays filtered through to the jungle floor, but now, late afternoon on the planet, the shadows were long and gloomy. Alan started, "Blaster fighting! He tried to run, but vines blocked his way and woody shrubs caught at his legs, tripping him and holding him back. Then, through the trees he saw the clearing of the camp site, the temporary home for the scout ship and the eleven men who, with Alan, were the only humans on the jungle planet, Waiamea. Anybody who can build a robot that hunts by homing in on animals' mind impulses ..." Without pausing to think, Alan leaped back, and fell sprawling over a bush just as one of the robots rolled silently up from the right, lowering its blaster barrel to aim directly at his head. With an awkward jerk the robot swung around and fired its blaster, completely dissolving the lower half of the cat creature which had clung across the barrel. But the back pressure of the cat's body overloaded the discharge circuits. The robot started to shake, then clicked sharply as an overload relay snapped and shorted the blaster cells. "I suppose," he muttered to himself, "that Pete assembled these robots in a batch and then activated them all at once, probably never living to realize that they're tuned to pick up human brain waves, too. Slowly Alan looked around, sizing up his situation. If I can just hold out until morning, when the big ship arrives ... The metal killers, tuned to blast any living flesh, would murder them the instant they stepped from the ship! Blaster ready, Alan rolled over onto his back. In the movement, his elbow struck the top of a small earthy mound and he was instantly engulfed in a swarm of locust-like insects that beat disgustingly against his eyes and mouth. The planet's double moon had risen and he could see a robot rolling slowly across the clearing in his general direction, blasting indiscriminately at whatever mind impulses came within its pickup range, birds, insects, anything. Apparently the robot hadn't sensed him yet, but Alan didn't know what the effective range of its pickup devices was.
 Luckily for Alan, the robots are shooting at all the living creatures, including bugs.
 Luckily for Alan, the robots are shooting at all the living creatures, including bugs.  Luckily for Alan, the robots are being attacked by pumas.  Luckily for Alan, the robots are having a difficult time navigating the jungle terrain.  Luckily for Alan, a sticky oozing blob-like creature was dissolving the robots one by one.