Robots and Empire
18. THE ZEROTH LAW

92
Kelden Amadiro was not happy. The surface gravity of Earth was a trifle too high for his liking, - the atmosphere a trifle too dense, the sound and the odor of the outdoors subtly and annoyingly different from that on Aurora, and there was no indoors that could make any pretense of being civilized.
The robots had built shelters of a sort. There were ample food supplies and there were makeshift privies that were functionally adequate but offensively inadequate in every other way.
Worst of all, though the morning was pleasant enough, it was a clear day and Earth's too bright sun was rising. Soon the temperature would be too high, the air would be too damp, and the biting insects would appear. Amadiro had not understood, at first, why there should be small itching swellings on his arms till Mandamus explained.
Now he mumbled, as he scratched, "Dreadful! They might carry infections."
"I believe," said Mandamus with apparent indifference, "that they sometimes do. It isn't likely, however. I have lotions to relieve the discomfort and we can bum certain substances that the insects find offensive, although I find the odors offensive, too."
"Burn them," said Amadiro.
Mandamus continued, without changing tone, "And I don't want to do anything, however trifling - an odor, a bit of smoke - that would increase the chance of our being detected."
Amadiro eyed him suspiciously. "You have said, over and over, that this region is never visited by either Earthpeople or their field robots."
"That's right, but it's not a mathematical proposition. It's a sociological observation and there is always the possibility of exceptions to such observations."
Amadiro scowled. "The best road to safety lies with being done with this project. You said you'd be ready today."
"That, too, is a sociological observation, Dr. Amadiro. I should be ready today. I would like to be. I cannot guarantee it mathematically."
"How long before you can guarantee it?"
Mandamus spread his hands in a "Who knows?" gesture. "Dr. Amadiro, I am under the impression I have already explained this, but I'm willing to go through it again. It took me seven years to get this far. I have been counting on some months yet of personal observations at the fourteen different relay stations on Earth's surface. I can't do that now because we must finish before we are located and, possibly, stopped by the robot Giskard. That means I have to do my checking by communicating with our own humanoid robots at the relays. I can't trust them as I would myself. I must check and recheck their reports and it is possible that I may have to go to one or two places before I am satisfied. That would take days - perhaps a week or two."
"A week or two. Impossible! How long do you think I can endure this planet, Mandamus?"
"Sir, on one of my previous visits I stayed on this planet for nearly a year - on another, for over four months."
"And you liked it?"
"No, sir, but I had a job to do and I did it - without sparing myself." Mandamus stared coldly at Amadiro.
Amadiro flushed and said in a somewhat chastened tone, "Well, then, where do we stand?"
"I'm still weighing the reports that are coming in. We are not working with a smoothly designed laboratory-made system, you know. We have an extraordinary heterogeneous planetary crust to deal with. Fortunately, the radioactive materials are widely spread, but in places they run perilously thin, and we must place a relay in such places and leave robots in charge. If those relays are not, in every case, properly positioned and in proper order, the nuclear intensification will die out and we will have wasted all these painful years of effort on nothing. Or else, there may be a surge of localized intensification that will have the force of an explosion that will blow itself out and leave the rest of the crust unaffected. In either case, total damage would be insignificant.
"What we want, Dr. Amadiro, is to have the radioactive materials and, therefore, significantly large sections of earth's crust grow - slowly - steadily - irreversibly - he bit the words off as he pronounced them in spaced intervals - more and more intensely radioactive, so that Earth becomes progressively, more unlivable. The social structure of the planet will break down and the Earth, as an effective abode of humanity, will be over and done with. I take it, Dr. Amadiro, that this is what you want. - It is, what I described to you years ago and what you said, at that time, you wanted."
"I still do, Mandamus. Don't be a fool."
"Then bear with the discomfort, sir - or else, leave and I will carry on for whatever additional time it takes."
"No, no," muttered Amadiro. "I must be here when it's done - but it can't help being impatient. How long have you decided to allow the process to build? - I mean, once you initiate the original wave of intensification, how long before Earth becomes uninhabitable?"
"That depends on the degree of intensification I apply initially. I don't know, just yet, what degree will be required, for that depends on the overall efficiency of the relays, so I have prepared a variable control. What I want to arrange is a lapse period of ten to twenty decades."
"And, if you allow a smaller lapse period?"
"The less the lapse period we allow, the more rapidly portions of the crust will grow radioactive and the more rapidly the planet will warm up and grow dangerous. And that means the less likely it will be that any significant number of its population can be removed in time."
"Does that matter?" murmured Amadiro.
Mandamus frowned. "The more rapidly the Earth deteriorates, the more likely it is that Earthpeople and Settlers will suspect a technological cause - and that we are the likely ones to receive the blame. The Settlers will then attack us with fury and, in the cause of their holy world, they will fight to extinction, provided only that they can inflict substantial harm on us. This is something we have discussed before and it seems we agreed on the matter. It would be far better to allow ample time, during which we can prepare for the worst and during which a confused Earth may assume that the slowly increasing radioactivity is some natural phenomenon they don't understand. That is something that has become more urgent today than yesterday, in my judgment.
"Is that so?" Amadiro was frowning also. "You have that sour, puritanical look that makes me sure you have found a way to place the responsibility for that on my shoulders."
"With respect, sir, that is not difficult in this case. It was unwise to send out one of our robots to destroy Giskard."
"On the contrary, it had to be done. Giskard is the only one who might destroy us."
"He must find us first - and he won't. And even if he does, we are knowledgeable roboticists. Don't you think we could handle him?"
"Indeed?" said Amadiro. "So Vasilia thought and she knew Giskard better than we - and yet she couldn't handle him. And somehow the warship that was to take him into charge and destroy him at a distance could not handle him."
"So he has now landed on Earth. One way or another, he must be destroyed."
"He has not been. There has been no report of it."
"Bad news is sometimes repressed by a prudent government - and Earth officials, though barbarians, might conceivably be prudent. And if our robot failed and was questioned, he would certainly go into irreversible block. That means we will have lost a robot, something we can afford to do, but nothing more. And if Giskard should still be at large, the more reason we have to hurry."
"If we have lost a robot, we have lost more than a robot if they manage to elicit the location of this center of operations. We ought, at least, not to have used a local robot."
"I used one that was immediately available. And he will reveal nothing. You can trust my programming, I think."
"He cannot help reveal, by his mere existence, whether frozen or not, that he is of Auroran manufacture. Earth roboticists - and there are some on this planet - will be sure of that. All the more reason to make the increase in radioactivity very slow. Enough time must pass so that Earthpeople forget the incident and don't associate it with the progressive change in radioactivity. We must have ten decades at the very least, perhaps fifteen, or even twenty."
He walked away to inspect his instruments again and to re-establish contact with relays six and ten, which he still found troublesome. Amadiro looked after him with a mixture of disdain and intense dislike and muttered to himself, "Yes, but I don't have twenty more decades, or fifteen, or maybe even ten. You do - but I don't."
93
It was early morning in New York. Giskard and Daneel assumed that from the gradual heightening of activity.
"Somewhere above and outside the City," said Giskard, "it may be dawn now. Once, in speaking to Elijah Baley twenty decades ago, I referred to Earth as the World of the Dawn. Will it continue to be so for much longer? Or has it already ceased to be that?"
"These are morbid thoughts, friend Giskard," said Daneel. "It will be better if we occupy ourselves with what must be done on this day to help keep Earth the World of the Dawn."
Gladia entered the apartment, wearing a bathrobe and slippers. Her hair was freshly dried.
"Ridiculous!" she said. "Earthwomen go through the corridors on their way to the mass Personals in the morning disheveled and slatternly. It is done on purpose, I think. It is bad manners to comb one's hair on the way to the Personal. Apparently, dishevelment to begin with enhances that well-cared-for look afterward. I should have brought a complete morning outfit with me. You should have seen the looks I got when I left with my bathrobe on. Leaving the Personal, one must be the last word. - Yes, Daneel?"
"Madam," said, Daneel, "May we have a word with you?"
Gladia hesitated. "Not much of a word, Daneel. As you are probably aware, this is going to be a big day and my morning appointments begin almost at once."
"That is precisely what I wish to discuss, madam," said Daneel. "On this important day, all will go better if we are not with you."
"What?"
"The effect you would wish to have on Earthpeople would be greatly diminished if you surround yourself with robots."
"I will not be surrounded. There will be just you two. How can I do without you?"
"It is necessary that you learn to, madam. While we are with you, you are marked off as different from Earthpeople. You are made to seem afraid of them."
Gladia said, troubled, "I need some protection, Daneel. Remember what happened last night."
"Madam, we could not have prevented what happened last night and we could not have protected you - if that were necessary. Fortunately, you were not the target last night. The blaster bolt was aimed at Giskard's head."
"Why Giskard?"
"How could a robot aim at you or at any human being? The robot aimed at Giskard for some reason. For us to be near you, then, might but increase your danger. Remember that as the tale of last night's events spreads, even though the Earth government may try to suppress the details, there will be a rumor to the effect that it was a robot who held a blaster and fired it. That will arouse public indignation against robots - against us - and, even against you if you persist in being seen with us. It would be better if you were without us."
"For how long?"
"For at least as long as your mission lasts, madam. The captain will be better able to help you in the days to come than we will be. He knows Earthpeople, he is highly thought of by them - and he thinks very highly of you, madam."
Gladia said, "Can you tell that he thinks very highly of me?"
"Although I am a robot, it would seem so to me. And at any time that you should wish us back, we will come back, of course - but, for now, we think that the best way we can serve and protect you is to leave you in Captain Baley's hands."
Gladia said, "I will think of it."
"In the meanwhile, madam," said Daneel, "we will see Captain Baley and find out if he agrees with us."
"Do so!" said Gladia and passed into her bedroom.
Daneel turned and spoke minimally to Giskard. "Is she willing?"
"More than willing," said Giskard. "She has always been a little restless in my presence and would not suffer unduly at my absence. For you, friend Daneel, she has ambivalent feelings. You remind her markedly of friend Jander, whose inactivation, many decades ago, was so traumatic for her. This has been a source of both attraction and repulsion to her, so it was not necessary to do much - I lessened her attraction to you and increased her strong attraction to the captain. She will do without us easily."
"Then let us find the captain," said Daneel. Together, they left the room and entered the hallway that passed by the apartment.
94
Daneel and Giskard had both been on Earth on previous occasions, Giskard the more recently. They understood the use of the computerized directory that gave them the Section, Wing, and number of the apartment to which D.G. had been assigned and they understood, further, the color codes in the hallways that led them to the proper turnings and elevators.
It was early enough for the human traffic to be light, but those human beings who passed or approached at first stared with astonishment at Giskard, then looked away with elaborate unconcern.
Giskard's steps were slightly uneven by the time they approached D.G.'s apartment door. It was not very noticeable, but it caught Daneel's attention.
He said in a low voice, "Are you in discomfort, friend Giskard?"
Giskard replied, "It has been necessary for me to wipe out astonishment, apprehension, and even attention in a number of men and women - and in one youngster, which was harder still. I had no time to make completely certain I was doing no harm."
"It was important to do so. We must not be stopped."
"I understand that, but the Zeroth Law does not work well with me. I have not your facility in that respect." He went on, as though to distract his own attention from his discomfort, "I have often noted that hyperresistance in the positronic pathways makes itself first felt in the matter of standing and walking and next in speech."
Daneel tapped the door signal. He said, "It is the same in my case, friend Giskard. Maintaining balance on two supports is difficult under the best of circumstances. Controlled imbalance, as in walking, is even more difficult. I have heard once, that there were early attempts made to produce robots with four legs and two arms. They were called 'centaurs.' They worked well but were unacceptable because they were basically inhuman in appearance."
"At the moment," said Giskard, "I would appreciate four legs, friend Daneel. However, I think my discomfort is passing."
D.G. was at the door now. He looked at them with a broad smile. He then glanced in each direction along the corridor, whereupon his smile vanished and was replaced with a look of the utmost concern. "What are you doing here without Gladia? Is she - "
Daneel said, "Captain, Madam Gladia is well. She is in no danger. May we enter and explain?"
D.G. glowered as he gestured them inside. His voice gained the hectoring tone one naturally assumes toward misbehaving machines and he said, "Why have you left her alone? What circumstances could possibly permit you to leave her alone?"
Daneel said, "She is no more alone than any person is on Earth - and no more in danger. If you will question her later on the I matter, I believe she will tell you that she cannot be effective here on Earth as long as she is trailed by Spacer robots. I believe she will tell you that what guidance and protection she needs should be supplied by you, rather than by robots. It is what we believe she wishes - at least for now. If, at any time, she wishes us back, she will have us."
D.G.'s face relaxed into a smile again. "She wants my protection, does she?"
"At the moment, Captain, we believe - she is quite anxious for your presence, rather than for ours."
D.G.'s smile became a grin. "Who can blame her? - I'll get myself ready and go to her apartment as soon as I can."
"But first, sir - "
"Oh," said D.G., "there is a quid pro quo?"
"Yes, sir. We are anxious to discover as much as we can about the robot who fired the blaster at the balcony last night."
D.G. looked tense again. "Do you anticipate further danger for Madam Gladia?"
"None at all of that kind. The robot, last night, did not fire at Lady Gladia. Being a robot, he could not have. He fired at friend Giskard."
"Why should he have done that?"
"It is what we would like to find out. For that purpose, we wish you to call Madam Quintana, Undersecretary of Energy, and state that it would be important and would please you and the government of Baleyworld - if you would care to add that, for her to allow me to ask her a few questions on that subject. We wish you to do whatever seems best to persuade her to agree to such an interview."
"Is that all you want me to do? Persuade a reasonably important and busy official to submit to cross examination by a robot?"
Daneel said, "Sir, she may agree if you are earnest enough in the request. In addition, since she may be located a distance away, it would be helpful if you would hire a darter on our behalf to take us there. We are, as you can imagine, in haste."
"And are those little things all?" asked D.G.
"Not quite, Captain," said Daneel. "We will need a driver and please pay him well enough so that he will consent to transport friend Giskard, who is an obvious robot. He may not mind me."
D.G. said, "I hope you realize, Daneel, that what you ask is completely unreasonable."
Daneel said, "I had hoped not, Captain. But since you tell me it is, there is nothing more to say. We have no choice, then, but to return to Madam Gladia, which will make her unhappy, for she would rather be with you."
He turned to leave, motioning Giskard to accompany him, but D.G. said, "Wait. There's a public communication contact just down the hallway. I can only try. Remain here and wait for me."
The two robots remained standing. Daneel said, "Did you have to do much, friend Giskard?"
Giskard seemed well balanced on his legs now. He said, "I was helpless. He was strongly opposed to dealing with Madam Quintana and as strongly opposed to getting us a darter. I could not have altered those feelings without damage. When, however, you suggested returning to Madam Gladia, his attitude changed suddenly and dramatically. You were anticipating that, I take it, friend Daneel?"
"I was."
"You scarcely need me, it would seem. There is more than one way of adjusting minds. However, I ended by doing something. The captain's change of mind was accompanied by a strong favorable emotion toward Madam Gladia. I took the opportunity of strengthening that."
"That is the reason you are needed. I could not have done that."
"You will be able to yet, friend Daneel. Perhaps quite soon."
D.G. returned. "Believe it or not, she will see you, Daneel. The darter and driver will be here in a moment - and the sooner you leave, the better. I will be heading toward Gladia's apartment at once."
The two robots stepped outside in the hallway to wait.
Giskard said, "He is very happy."
"So it would seem, friend Giskard," said Daneel, "but I fear - the easy part is over for us. We have easily arranged to have Madam Gladia grant us leave to move about on our own. We have then, with some difficulty, persuaded the captain to make it possible for us to see the Undersecretary. With her, however, it may be that we will come to a dead end."
95
The driver took one look at Giskard and his courage seemed to fail him. "Listen," he said to Daneel, "I was told I'd be paid double to take a robot, but robots aren't allowed in the City and I could get in plenty of trouble. Money isn't going go help me if I lose my license. Can't I just take you, mister?"
Daneel said, "I am a robot, too, sir. We are now in the City and that is not your fault. We are trying to get out of the City and you will be helping us. We are going to a high government official who, I hope, will arrange that and it is your civic duty to help us. If you refuse to take us, driver, you will be acting to keep robots in the City and that may be considered to be against the law."
The driver's face smoothed. He opened the door and said gruffly, "Get in!" However, he carefully closed the thick translucent partition that blocked him off from his passengers.
Daneel said quietly, "Was much required, friend Giskard?"
"Very little, friend Daneel. Your statement did most of the necessary work. It is astonishing that a collection of statements that are individually true can be used, in combination, to yield an effect that the truth should not."
"I have observed this often in human conversation, friend Giskard, even in that of normally truthful human beings. I suspect that the practice is justified in the minds of such people as serving a higher purpose."
"The Zeroth Law, you mean."
"Or the equivalent - if the human mind has such an equivalent. - Friend Giskard, you said a short while ago that I will have your powers, possibly soon. Are you preparing me for that purpose?"
"I am, friend Daneel."
"Why? May I ask that?"
"The Zeroth Law again. The passing episode of shakiness on my feet told me how vulnerable I was to the attempted use of the Zeroth Law. Before this day is over, I may have to act on the Zeroth Law to save the world and humanity and I may not be able to. In that case, you must be in position to do the job. I am preparing you, bit by bit, so that, at the desired moment, I can give you the final instructions and have it all fall into place."
"I do not see how that can be, friend Giskard."
"You will have no trouble in understanding when the time comes. I used the technique in a very small way on robots I sent to Earth in the early days before they were outlawed from the Cities and it was they who helped adjust Earth leaders to the point of approving the decision to send out Settlers."
The driver, whose darter was not on wheels but remained a centimeter or so above the ground at all times, had moved along special corridors reserved for such vehicles and had done so speedily enough to justify the name of the vehicle. He now emerged into an ordinary City corridor, which was paralleled on the moderately distant left by an Expressway. The darter, moving now much more slowly, made a left turn, swooped under the Expressway, came out on the other side, and then, a curving half-mile later, stopped before an ornate building front.
The darter door opened automatically. Daneel emerged first, waited for Giskard to follow, then handed to the driver a piece of foil he had received from D.G. The driver looked at it narrowly, then the doors closed sharply and he left speedily without a word.
96
There was a pause before the door opened in response to their signal and Daneel assumed they were being scanned.
When it did open, a young woman led them gingerly into the vitals of the building. She avoided looking at Giskard, but she showed rather more than a mild curiosity in Daneel.
They found Undersecretary Quintana behind a large desk. She smiled and said, with gaiety that seemed somewhat forced, "Two robots, unescorted by human beings. Am I safe?"
"Entirely, Madam Quintana," said Daneel gravely. "It is as unusual for us to see a human being unaccompanied by robots.
"I assure you," said Quintana, "I have my robots. I call them underlings and one of them escorted you here. I am amazed that she didn't faint at the sight of Giskard. I think she might have if she hadn't been warned and if you yourself weren't so extraordinarily interesting in appearance, Daneel. But never mind that. Captain Baley was so enormously pressing in his desire that I see you and my interest in maintaining comfortable relations with an important Settler world was such that I have agreed to the interview. However, my day remains busy even so and I will be grateful if we can dispose of this quickly. What can I do for you?"
"Madam Quintana - " began Daneel.
"One moment. Do you sit? I saw you sitting last night, you know."
"We can sit, but it is just as comfortable for us to stand. We do not mind."
"But I do. It would not be comfortable for me to stand and if I sit, I will, get a stiff neck looking up at you. Please pull up chairs and sit down. Thank you. - Now, Daneel, what is this all about?"
"Madam Quintana," said Daneel, "you remember, I imagine, the incident of the blaster fired at the balcony last night after the banquet."
"I certainly do. What's more, I know it was a humanoid robot who held the blaster, even though we are not admitting that officially. Yet here I sit with two robots on the other side of the desk and have no protection. And one of you is humanoid too."
"I have no blaster, madam," said Daneel, smiling.
"I trust not. - That other humanoid robot did not look at all like you, Daneel. You're rather a work of art, do you know that?"
"I am complexly programmed, madam."
"I mean, your appearance. But what about the blasting incident?"
"Madam, that robot has a base somewhere on Earth and I must know where it is - I have come from Aurora in order to find that base and prevent such incidents as may disturb the peace between our worlds. I have reason to believe - "
"You have come? Not the captain? Not Madam Gladia?"
"We, madam," said Daneel. "Giskard and I. I am in no position to tell you the whole story of how we came to have undertaken the task and there is no way in which I can tell you the name of the human being under whose instructions we work."
"Well! International espionage! How fascinating. What a pity I can't help you, but I don't know where the robot came from. I haven't any idea at all where his base might be. I don't even know why you have come to me for such information, as a matter of fact. I should have gone to the Department of Security had I been you, Daneel." She leaned toward him. "Do you have real skin on your face, Daneel? It's an extraordinary imitation if it isn't." She reached toward him and her hand rested delicately on his cheek. "It even feels right."
"Nevertheless, madam, it is not real skin. It does not heal of its own accord - if cut. On the other hand, a tear can easily be welded closed or a patch can even be replaced."
"Ugh," said Quintana, with a wrinkle of her nose. "But our business is over, for I can't help you as far as that blaster user is concerned. I know nothing."
Daneel said, "Madam, let me explain further. This robot may be part of a group that is interested in the early energy producing process you described last night - fission. Assume this is so, that there are those interested in fission and in the content of uranium and thorium in the crust. What might be a convenient place for them to use as a base?"
"An old uranium mine, perhaps? I don't even know where one might be located. You must understand, Daneel, that Earth has an almost superstitious aversion to anything nuclear - fission, in particular. You'll find almost nothing about fission in our popular works on energy and only bare essentials in technical products for experts. Even I know very little, but then I'm an administrator, not a scientist."
Daneel said, "One more item, then, madam. We questioned the would-be assassin, as to the location of his base and did so most strenuously. He was programmed to undergo permanent inactivation, a total freezing of his brain paths, in such a case - and he did inactivate. Before doing so, however, in his final struggle between answering and inactivation, he opened his mouth three times as though - possibly - to say three syllables, or three words, or three groups of words, of any combination of these. The second syllable, or word, or mere sound was "mile." Does this mean anything to you as having anything at all to do with fission?"
Slowly Quintana shook her head. "No. I can't say it does. It's certainly not a word you'll find in a dictionary of Standard Galactic. I'm sorry, Daneel. It's pleasant meeting you again, but I have a desk full of trivia to work through. You'll excuse me."
Daneel said, as though he hadn't heard her, "I was told, madam, that 'mile' might be an archaic expression that refers to some ancient unit of length, one that is possibly longer than a kilometer."
"That sounds totally irrelevant," said Quintana, "even if true. What would a robot from Aurora know about archaic expressions and ancient - " She stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened and her face lost color.
She said, "Is it possible?"
"Is what possible, madam?" asked Daneel.
"There is a place," said Quintana, half-lost in thought, "that is avoided by everyone - Earthpeople and Earth robots alike. If I wanted to be dramatic, I would say it was a place of ill omen. It is so ill-omened that is has been all but wiped out of conscious existence. It is not even included in maps. It is the quintessence of all that fission means. I remember coming across it in a very old reference film in my early days on this job. It was talked about constantly then as the site of an 'incident' that forever turned the minds of Earthpeople against fission as an energy source. The place is called Three Mile Island."
Daneel said, "An isolated place then, absolutely isolated and free from any possible intrusion; the sort of place one would surely come across when working one's way through ancient reference material on fission and would then recognize at once as an ideal base where absolute secrecy was required; and with a three-word name of which 'mile' is the second word. That must be the place, madam. - Could you tell us how to get there and could you arrange some way of allowing us to leave the City and be taken to Three Mile Island or its nearest possible vicinity?"
Quintana smiled. She seemed younger when she smiled. "Clearly, if you are dealing with an interesting case of interstellar espionage, you can't afford to waste time, can you?"
"No. Indeed we cannot, madam."
"Well, then, it comes within the purview of my duties to take a look at Three Mile Island. Why don't I take you by air-car? I can handle an air-car."
"Madam, your work load - "
"No one will touch it. It will still be here when I return."
"But you would be leaving the City - "
"And if so? These are not old times. In the bad old days of Spacer domination, Earthpeople never left their Cities, it's true, but we've been moving outward and settling the Galaxy for nearly twenty decades. There are still some of the less educated who maintain the old provincial attitude, but most of us have become quite mobile. There's always the feeling, I suppose, that we might eventually join some Settler group. I myself don't intend to, but I fly my own air-car frequently and five years ago I flew to Chicago and then, eventually, flew back. - Sit here. I'll make the arrangements."
She left, very much a whirlwind.
Daneel looked after her and murmured, "Friend Giskard, that, somehow, did not seem characteristic of her. Have you done something?"
Giskard said, "A bit. It seemed to me when we entered that the young woman who showed us in was attracted by your appearance. I was certain that there had been the same factor in Madam Quintana's mind last night at the banquet, though I was too far from her and there were too many others in the room for me to be sure. Once our conversation with her began, however, the attraction was unmistakable. Little by little, I strengthened it and each time she suggested the interview might come to an end, she seemed less determined - and at no time did she seriously object to your continuing it. Finally, she suggested the air-car because, I believe, she had reached the point where she could not bear to lose the chance to be with you for a while longer."
"This may complicate matters for me," said Daneel thoughtfully.
"It is in a good cause," said Giskard. "Think of it in terms of the Zeroth Law." Somehow he gave the impression, in saying so, that he would be smiling - if his face allowed such an expression.
97
Quintana drew a sigh of relief as she landed the air-car on a concrete slab suitable for the purpose. Two robots approached at once for the obligatory examination of the vehicle and for repowering if necessary.
She looked out to the right, leaning across Daneel as she did so. "It is in that direction, several miles up the Susquehanna River. It's a hot day, too." She straightened, with some apparent reluctance, and smiled at Daneel. "That's the worst of leaving the City. The environment is totally uncontrolled out here. Imagine allowing it to be this hot. Don't you feel hot, Daneel?"
"I have an internal thermostat, madam, that is in good working order."
"Wonderful. I wish I did. There are no roads into this area, Daneel. Nor are there any robots to guide you, for they never enter it. Nor do I know what might be the right place within the area, which is a sizable one. We might stumble all through the area without coming upon the base, even though we passed within five-hundred meters of it."
"Not 'we,'" madam. It is quite necessary for you to remain here. What follows might conceivably be dangerous and since you are without air-conditioning, the task might be more than you could easily bear, physically, even if it were not dangerous. Could you wait for us, madam? To have you do so would be important to me."
"I will wait."
"We may be some hours."
"There are facilities of various sorts here and the small City of Harrisburg is not far."
"In that case, madam, we must be on our way."
He sprang lightly from the air-car and Giskard followed him. They set off northward. It was nearly noon and the bright summer sun sparkled from the polished portion of Giskard's body.
Daneel said, "Any sign of mental activity you can detect will be those we want. There should be no one else for kilometers about."
"Are you certain that we can stop them if we encounter them, friend Daneel?"
"No, friend Giskard, I am by no means certain - but we must."
98
Levular Mandamus grunted and looked up at Amadiro with a tight smile on his thin face.
"Amazing," he said, "and most satisfactory."
Amadiro mopped his brow and cheeks with a piece of toweling and said, "What does that mean?"
"It means that every relay station is in working order."
"Then you can initiate the intensification?"
"As soon as I calculate the proper degree of W particle concentration."
"And how long will that take?"
"Fifteen minutes. Thirty."
Amadiro watched with an air of intensifying grimness on his face until Mandamus said, "All right. I have it. It's 2.72 on the arbitrary scale I have set up. That will give us fifteen decades before an upper equilibrium level win be reached that will be maintained without essential change, for millions of years thereafter. And that level will make certain that, at best, Earth can maintain a few scattered groups in areas that are relatively radiation-free. We'll have only to wait and, in fifteen decades, a thoroughly disorganized group of Settler worlds will be meat, for our slicing."
"I will not live fifteen more decades," said Amadiro slowly.
"My personal regrets, sir," said Mandamus dryly, "but we are now talking of Aurora and the Spacer worlds. There will be others who will carry on your task."
"You, for instance?"
"You have promised me the headship of the Institute and as you see, I have earned it. From that political base, I may reasonably hope to become Chairman someday and I will carry through those policies that will be necessary to make certain of the final dissolution of the by-then anarchic worlds of the Settlers."
"That's pretty confident of you. What if you turn on the W particle flow and then someone else turns it down in the course of the next fifteen decades?"
"Not possible, sir. Once the device is set, an internal atomic shift will freeze it in that position. After that, the process is irreversible - no matter what happens here. The whole place may be vaporized and the crust will nevertheless continue its slow bum. I suppose it would be possible to rebuild an entirely new setup if anyone on Earth or among the Settlers can duplicate my work, but if so they can only further increase the rate of radioactivity, never decrease it. The second law of thermodynamics will see to that."
Amadiro said, "Mandamus, you say you have earned the headship. However, I'm the one to decide that, I think."
Mandamus said stiffly, "You are not, sir. With respect, the details of this process are known to me, but not to you. Those details are encoded in a place you will not find and, even if you do, it is guarded by robots who will destroy it rather than allow it to fall into your hands. You cannot gain credit for this. I can."
Amadiro said, "Nevertheless, getting my approval will hasten matters for you. If you were to wrest the headship from my unwilling hands, by whatever means, you will have a continuing opposition among other members of the Council that will hamper you through all your decades in the post. Is it just the title of head you want or the opportunity to experience all that comes of true leadership?"
Mandamus said, "Is this the time to talk politics? A moment ago, you were all impatience over the fact that I might linger fifteen minutes over my computer."
"Ah, but we are now talking about adjusting, the W particle beam. You want to place it at 2.72 - was that the figure? - and yet I wonder if that can be right. What is the extreme range you can handle?"
"The range goes from zero to twelve, but it is 2.72 that is required. Plus or minus 0.05 - if you wish further detail. It is that which, on the basis of reports from all fourteen relays will allow a lapse of fifteen decades to equilibrium."
"Yet what I think is the correct figure is twelve."
Mandamus stared at the other in horror. "Twelve? Do you understand what that means?"
"Yes. It means we will have the Earth too radioactive to live upon in a decade or a decade and a half and we will kill a few billion Earthpeople in the process."
"And make certain a war with an infuriated Settler Federation. What can you want of such a holocaust?"
"I tell you again. I do not expect to live another fifteen decades and I want to live to see the destruction of Earth."
"But you would also be assuring the maiming - maiming, at the very least - of Aurora. You cannot be serious."
"But I am. I have twenty decades of defeat and humiliation to make up."
"Those decades were brought about by Han Fastolfe and Giskard - and not by Earth."
"No, they were brought about by an Earthman, Elijah Baley."
"Who has been dead for more than sixteen decades. What is the value of a moment of vengeance over a man long dead."
"I do not want to argue the matter, I will make you an offer. The title of head at once I will resign my post the instant we return to Aurora and nominate you in my place."
"No. I do not want the headship on those terms. Death to billions!"
"Billions of Earthmen. Well, I cannot trust you, then, to manipulate the controls properly. Show me - me - how to set the control instrument and I will take the responsibility. I will still resign my post on our return and will nominate you in my place."
"No. It will still mean the death of billions and who knows how many millions of Spacers as well. Dr. Amadiro, please understand that I will not do it on any terms and that you cannot do it without me. The setting mechanism is keyed to my left thumbprint."
"I ask you again."
"You cannot be sane if you ask me again despite all I have said."
"That, Mandamus, is a personal opinion of yours. I am not so insane that I have failed to send off all the local robots on one errand or another. We are alone here."
Mandamus lifted a corner of his upper lip in a sneer. "And with what do you intend to threaten me? Are you going to kill me now that there are no robots present to stop you?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, Mandamus, I will if I have to." Amadiro produced a small-caliber blaster from a pouch at his side. "These are difficult to obtain on Earth, but not impossible - if the price is right. And I know how to use it. Please believe me when I tell you that I am perfectly willing to blow your head off right now - if you do not place your thumb on the contact and allow me to adjust the dial to twelve."
"You dare not. If I die, how will you set the dial without me?"
"Don't be an utter fool. If I blow your head off, your left thumb will remain intact. It will even be at blood temperature for a while. I will use that thumb, then set the dial as easily as I would turn on a water tap. I would prefer you alive, since your death might be wearisome to explain back on Aurora, but it would not be more wearisome than I could bear. Therefore, I give you thirty seconds to make up your mind. If you cooperate, I will still give you the headship at once. If you don't, it will all go as I wish, in any case, and you will be dead. We start now. One - two - three - "
Mandamus stared in horror at Amadiro, who continued to count and stare at him over the leveled blaster with hard, expressionless eyes.
And then Mandamus hissed, "Put the blaster away, Amadiro, or we'll both be immobilized on the plea that we must be protected from harm."
The warning came too late. Quicker than the eye could follow, an arm stretched out to seize Amadiro's wrist, paralyzing it with pressure, and the blaster was gone.
Daneel said, "I apologize for having had to inflict pain on you, Dr. Amadiro, but I cannot allow you to hold a blaster pointed at another human being."
99
Amadiro said nothing.
Mandamus said coldly, "You are two robots with, as far as I can see, no master in view. By default, I am your master and I order you to leave and not return. Since, as you see, there is no danger to any human being present at this moment, there is nothing to overcome your necessitated obedience to this order. Leave at once."
Daneel said, "Respectfully, sir, there is no need to hide our identities or abilities from you, since you know them already. My companion, R. Giskard Reventlov, has the ability to detect emotion. - Friend Giskard."
Giskard said, "As we approached, having detected your presence at quite a distance, I took note, Dr. Amadiro, of an overwhelming rage in your mind. In yours, Dr. Mandamus, there was extreme fear."
"The rage, if rage there was," said Mandamus, "was Dr Amadiro's reaction to the approach of two strange robots, especially of one who was capable of meddling with the human mind and who had already badly - and perhaps permanently - damaged that of Lady Vasilia. My fear, if fear there was, was also the result of your approach. We are not in control of our emotions and there is no reason for you to interfere. We again order you to withdraw permanently."
Daneel said, "Your pardon, Dr. Mandamus, but I merely wish to ascertain that we may safely follow your orders. Was there not a blaster in Dr. Amadiro's hand when we approached - and was it not pointed at you?"
Mandamus said, "He was explaining its workings and he was about to put it away when you took it from him."
"Then shall I return it to him, sir, before I leave?"
"No," said Mandamus without a quiver, "for then you would have an excuse to remain here in order to - as you would say - protect us. Take it with you when you go and you will have no reason to return."
Daneel said, "We have reason to think that you are here in a region which human beings are not allowed to penetrate - "
"That is a custom, not a law, and one which, in any case, holds no force over us, since we are not Earthpeople. For that matter, robots are not allowed to be here, either."
"We were brought here, Dr. Mandamus, by a high official of Earth's government. We have reason to think that you are here in order to raise the level of radioactivity in Earth's crust and do grave and irreparable damage to the planet."
"Not at all," began Mandamus.
Here Amadiro interrupted for the first time. "By what right, robot, do you cross-examine us? We are human beings who have given you an order. Follow it now!"
His tone of authority was overwhelming and Daneel quivered, while Giskard half-turned.
But Daneel said, "Your pardon, Dr. Amadiro. I do not cross-examine. I merely seek reassurance, in order that I may know that I can safely follow the order. We have reason to think that - "
"You need not repeat," said Mandamus. Then, in an aside, "Dr. Amadiro, please allow me to answer." To Daneel again, "Daneel, we are here on an anthropological mission. It is our purpose to seek the origins of various human customs that influence behavior among Spacers. These origins can be found only here on Earth and it is here, then, that we seek them."
"Do you have Earth's permission, for this?"
"Seven years ago, I consulted the appropriate officials on Earth and received their permission."
Daneel said in a low voice, "Friend Giskard, what do you say?"
Giskard said, "The indications in Dr. Mandamus's mind are that what he is saying is not in accord with the situation as it is."
"He is lying, then?" said Daneel firmly.
"That is my belief," said Giskard.
Mandamus said, his calmness untouched, "That may be your belief, but belief is not certainty. You cannot disobey an order on the basis of mere belief. I know that and you know that."
Giskard said, "But in Dr. Amadiro's mind, rage is dammed only by emotional forces that are barely up to the job required of them. It is quite possible to slit those forces, so to speak, and allow the rage to pour out."
And Amadiro cried out, "Why do you fence with these things, Mandamus?"
Mandamus shouted, "Do not say a word, Amadiro! You play into their hands!"
Amadiro paid no attention. "It is demeaning and it is useless." With violent anger, he shook off Mandamus's restraining arm. "They know the truth, but what of that? - Robots, we are Spacers. More than that, we are Aurorans, from the world on which you were constructed. More than that, we are high officials on the world of Aurora and you must interpret the phrase 'human beings' in the Three Laws of Robotics as meaning Auroran.
"If you do not obey us now, you harm us and humiliate us, so that you will be violating both the First and Second Laws. That our actions here are intended to destroy Earthmen, even large numbers of Earthmen, is true, but is, even so, utterly irrelevant. You might as well offer to refuse to obey us because we eat the meat of animals we have killed. Now that I have explained this to you, leave!"
But the last words turned into a croak. Amadiro's eyes bulged and he crumpled to the ground.
Mandamus, with a wordless cry, bent over him.
Giskard said, "Dr. Mandamus, Dr. Amadiro is not dead. He is at the moment in a coma from which he can be roused at any time. However, he will have forgotten everything in connection with this present project, nor will he ever be able to understand anything in connection with it - if, for instance, you tried to explain it. In the process of doing this - which I could not have done without his own admission that he intended today's large numbers of Earthmen - I may have permanently damaged other parts of his memory and his thinking processes. That I regret, but I could not help it."
Daneel said, "You see, Dr. Mandamus, some time ago, on Solaria, we encountered robots who narrowly defined human beings as Solarians, only. We recognize the fact that if different robots are subject to narrow definitions of one sort or another, there can only be measureless destruction. It is useless, to try to have us define human beings as Aurorans only. We define human beings as all members of the species Homo sapiens, which includes Earthpeople and Settlers, and we feel that the prevention of harm to human beings in groups and to humanity as a whole comes before the prevention of harm to any specific individual."
Mandamus said breathlessly, "That is not what the First Law says."
"It is what I call the Zeroth Law and it takes precedence."
"You have not been programmed in such a way."
"It is how I have programmed myself. And since I have known from the moment of our arrival here that your presence is intended for harm, you cannot order me away or keep me from harming you. The Zeroth Law takes precedence and I must save Earth. Therefore, I ask you to join me - voluntarily - in destroying these devices you have here. Otherwise, I will be forced to threaten harm to you, as Dr. Amadiro did, although I would not use a blaster."
But Mandamus said, "Wait! Wait! Hear me out. Let me explain. That Dr. Amadiro has had his mind wiped clean is a good thing. He wanted to destroy Earth, but I did not want to. That was why he held a blaster on me."
Daneel said, "It was you, however, who originated the notion, who designed and built these devices. Otherwise, Dr. Amadiro would not have had to try to force you to do anything. He would have done it himself and would not have required any help from you. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, that is right. Giskard can examine my emotions and see if I'm lying. I built these devices and I was prepared to use them, but not in the fashion Dr. Amadiro wished. Am I telling the truth?"
Daneel looked at Giskard, who said, "As nearly as I can tell, he is telling the truth."
"Of course I am," said Mandamus. "What I am doing is to introduce a very gradual acceleration of the natural radioactivity in the Earth's crust. There will be one hundred and fifty years during which the people of Earth can move to other worlds. It will increase the population of the present Settler worlds and increase the Settlement of worlds in great numbers. It will remove Earth as a huge anomalous world that forever threatens the Spacers and stultifies the Settlers. It will remove a center of mystical fervor that is holding back the Settlers. Am I telling the truth?"
Again Giskard said, "As nearly as I can tell, he is telling the truth."
"My plan, if it works out, would preserve the peace and make the Galaxy a home for Spacer and Settler alike. That is why, when I constructed this device - "
He gestured toward it, placing his left thumb on the contact, and then, lunging toward the volume control shouted, "Freeze!"
Daneel moved toward him and stopped, frozen, right hand upraised. Giskard did not move.
Mandamus turned back, panting, "It's at 2.72. It's done. It's irreversible. Now it will be played out exactly as I intended. Nor can you bear witness against me, for you will start a war and your Zeroth Law forbids that."
He looked down at the prone body of Amadiro and said, with a cold look of contempt, "Fool! You will never know how it should have been done."