Robots and Empire

by Isaac Asimov

  Giskard said, "Madam since we do not know the precise specifications to which the overseer was designed, we may have to be content with ignorance as to the rationale behind the freeze."

  Gladia shook her head. "Just the same, it's puzzling."

  PART III

  8. THE SETTLER WORLD

  29.

  D.G.'s ship was in space again, surrounded by the everlasting changelessness of the endless vacuum.

  It had not come too soon for Gladia, who had but imperfectly suppressed the tension that arose from the possibility that a second overseer—with a second intensifier—might arrive without warning. The fact that it would be a quick death if it happened, an unexperienced death, was not quite satisfying. The tension had spoiled what would have otherwise been a luxuriant shower, along with various other forms of renewal of comfort.

  It was not till after actual takeoff, after the coming of the soft, distant buzz of the protonic jets, that she could compose herself to sleep. Odd, she thought as consciousness began to slip away, that space should feel safer than the world of her youth, that she should leave Solaria with even greater relief the second time than she had the first.

  But Solaria was no longer the world of her youth. It was a world without humanity, guarded over by distorted parodies of humanity; humanoid robots that made a mockery of the gentle Daneel and the thought-filled Giskard.

  She slept at last—and while she slept, Daneel and Giskard, standing guard, could once more speak to each other.

  Daneel said, "Friend Giskard, I am quite certain that it was you who destroyed the overseer."

  "There was clearly no choice, friend Daneel. It was purely an accident that I arrived in time, for my senses were entirely occupied with searching out human beings and I found none. Nor would I have grasped the significance of events if it were not for Lady Gladia's rage and despair. It was that which I sensed at a distance and which caused me to race to the scene—barely in time. In that respect, Lady Gladia did save the situation, at least as far as the captain's existence and yours were concerned. I would still have saved the ship, I believe, even if I had arrived too late to save you." He paused a moment and added, "I would have found it most unsatisfactory, friend Daneel, to arrive too late to save you."

  Daneel said, with a grave and formal tone of voice, "I thank you, friend Giskard. I am pleased that you were not inhibited by the human appearance of the overseer. That had slowed my reactions, as my appearance had slowed hers."

  "Friend Daneel, her physical appearance meant nothing to me because I was aware of the pattern of her thoughts. That pattern was so limited and so entirely different from the full range of human patterns that there was no need for me to make any effort to identify her in a positive manner. The negative identification as nonhuman was so clear I acted at once. I was not aware of my action, in fact, until after it had taken place."

  "I had thought this, friend Giskard, but I wished confirmation lest I misunderstand. May I assume, then, that you feel no discomfort over having killed what was, in appearance, a human being?"

  "None, since it was a robot."

  "It seems to me that, had I succeeded in destroying her, I would have suffered some obstruction to the free positronic flow, no matter how thoroughly I understood her to be a robot."

  "The humanoid appearance, friend Daneel, cannot be fought off when that is all one can directly judge by. Seeing is so much more immediate than deducing. It was only because I could observe her mental structure and concentrate on that, that I could ignore her physical structure."

  "How do you suppose the overseer would have felt if she had destroyed us, judging from her mental structure?"

  "She was given exceedingly firm instructions and there was no doubt in her circuits that you and the captain were nonhuman by her definition."

  "But she might have destroyed Madam Gladia as well."

  "Of that we cannot be certain, friend Daneel."

  "Had she done so, friend Giskard, would she have survived? Have you any way of telling?"

  Giskard was silent for a considerable period. "I had insufficient time to study the mental pattern. I cannot say what her reaction might have been had she killed Madam Gladia."

  "If I imagine myself in the place of the overseer"—Daneel's voice trembled and grew slightly lower in pitch, "it seems to me that I might kill a human being in order to save the life of another human being, whom, there might be some reason to think, it was more necessary to save. The action would, however, be difficult and damaging. To kill a human being merely in order to destroy something I considered nonhuman would be inconceivable."

  "She merely threatened. She did not carry through the threat."

  "Might she have, friend Giskard?"

  "How can we say, since we don't know the nature of her instructions?"

  "Could the instructions have so completely negated the First Law?"

  Giskard said, "Your whole purpose in this discussion, I see, has been to raise this question. I advise you to go no further."

  Daneel said stubbornly, "I will put it in the conditional, friend Giskard. Surely what may not be expressed as fact can be advanced as fantasy. If instructions could be hedged about with definitions and conditions, if the instructions could be made sufficiently detailed in a sufficiently forceful manner, might it be possible to kill a human being for a purpose less overwhelming than the saving of the life of another human being?"

  Giskard said tonelessly, "I do not know, but I suspect that this might be possible."

  "But, then, if your suspicion should be correct, that would imply that it was possible to neutralize the First Law under specialized conditions. The First Law, in that case, and, therefore, certainly the other Laws might be modified into almost nonexistence. The Laws, even the First Law, might not be an absolute then, but might be whatever those who design robots defined it to be."

  Giskard said, "It is enough," friend Daneel. Go no further."

  Daneel said, "There is one more step, friend Giskard. Partner Elijah would have taken that additional step."

  "He was a human being. He could."

  "I must try. If the Laws of Robotics—even the First Law—are not absolutes and if human beings can modify them, might it not be that perhaps, under proper conditions, we ourselves might mod—"

  He stopped.

  Giskard said faintly, "Go no further,"

  Daneel said, a slight hum obscuring his voice, "I go no further."

  There was a silence for a long time. It was with difficulty that the positronic circuitry in each ceased undergoing discords.

  Finally, Daneel said, "Another thought arises. The overseer was dangerous not only because of the set of her instructions but because of her appearance. It inhibited me and probably the captain and could mislead and deceive human beings generally, as I deceived, without meaning to, First Class Shipper Niss. He clearly was not aware, at first, that I was a robot."

  "And what follows from that, friend Daneel?"

  "On Aurora, a number of humanoid robots were constructed at the Robotics Institute, under the leadership of Dr. Amadiro, after the designs of Dr. Fastolfe had been obtained."

  "This is well known."

  "What happened to those humanoid robots?"

  "The project failed."

  In his turn, Daneel said, "This is well known. But it does not answer the question. What happened to those humanoid robots?"

  "One can assume they were destroyed."

  "Such an assumption need not necessarily be correct. Were they, in actual fact, destroyed?"

  "That would have been the sensible thing to do. What else with a failure?"

  "How do we know the humanoid robots were a failure, except in that they were removed from sight?"

  "Isn't that sufficient, if they were removed from sight and destroyed?"

  "I did not say 'and destroyed,' friend Giskard. That is more than we know. We know only that they were, removed from sight."

  "Why should that be so, unless
they were failures?"

  "And if they were not failures, might there be no reason for their being removed from sight?"

  "I can think of none, friend Daneel."

  "Think again, friend Giskard. Remember, we are talking now of humanoid robots who, we now think, might from the mere fact of their humanoid nature be dangerous. It has seemed to us in our previous discussion that there was a plan on foot on Aurora to defeat the Settlers drastically, surely, and at a blow. We decided that these plans must be centered on the planet Earth. Am I correct so far?"

  "Yes, friend Daneel."

  "Then might it not be that Dr. Amadiro is at the focus and center of this plan? His antipathy to Earth has been made plain these twenty decades. And if Dr. Amadiro has constructed a number of humanoid robots, where might these have been sent if they have disappeared from view? Remember that if Solarian roboticists, can distort the Three Laws, Auroran roboticists can do the same."

  "Are you suggesting, friend Daneel, that the humanoid robots have been sent to Earth?"

  "Exactly. There to deceive the Earthpeople through their human appearance and to make possible whatever it is that Dr. Amadiro intends as his blow against Earth."

  "You have no evidence for this."

  "Yet it is possible. Consider for yourself the steps of the argument."

  "If that were so, we would have to go to Earth. We would have to be there and somehow prevent the disaster."

  "Yes, that is so."

  "But we cannot go unless Lady Gladia goes and that is not likely."

  "If you can influence the captain to take this ship to Earth, Madam Gladia would have no choice but to go as well."

  Giskard said, "I cannot without harming him. He is firmly set on going to his own planet of Baleyworld. We must maneuver his trip to Earth—if we can—after he has done whatever he plans in Baleyworld."

  "Afterward may be too late."

  "I cannot help that. I must not harm a human being."

  "If it is too late—Friend Giskard, consider what that would mean."

  "I cannot consider what that would mean. I know only that I cannot harm a human being."

  "Then the First Law is not enough and we must—"

  He could go no farther and both robots lapsed into helpless silence.

  30.

  Baleyworld came slowly into sharper view as the ship approached it. Gladia watched it intently in her cabin's viewer; it was the first time she had ever seen a Settler world.

  She had protested this leg of the journey when she had first been made aware of it by D.G., but he shrugged it off with a small laugh. "What would you have, my lady? I must lug this weapon of your people"—he emphasized "your" slightly—"to my people. And I must report to them, too."

  Gladia said, coldly, "Your permission to take me along to Solaria was granted you by the Auroran Council on the condition that you bring me back."

  "Actually that is not so, my lady. There may have been some informal understanding to that effect, but there is nothing in writing. No formal agreement."

  "An informal understanding would bind me—or any civilized individual, D.G."

  "I'm sure of that, Madam Gladia, but we Traders live by money and by written signatures on legal documents. I would never, under any circumstances, violate a written contract or refuse to do that for which I have accepted payment."

  Gladia's chin turned upward. "Is that a hint that I must pay you in order to be taken home?"

  "Madam!"

  "Come, come, D.G. Don't waste mock indignation on me. If I am to be kept prisoner on your planet, say so and tell me why. Let me know exactly where I stand."

  "You are—not my prisoner and will not be. In fact, I will honor this unwritten understanding. I will take you home—eventually. First, however, I must go to Baleyworld and you must come with me."

  "Why must I come with you?"

  "The people of my world will want to see you. You are the heroine of Solaria. You saved us. You can't deprive them of a chance of shouting themselves hoarse for you. Besides, you were the good friend of the Ancestor."

  "What do they know—or think they know—of that?" Gladia said sharply.

  D.G. grinned. "Nothing to your discredit, I assure you. You are a legend and legends are larger than life—though I admit it would be easy for a legend to be larger than you, my lady—and a good deal nobler. Ordinarily, I wouldn't want you on the world because you couldn't live up to the legend. You're not tall enough, beautiful enough, majestic enough. But when the story of Solaria comes out, you will suddenly meet all requirements. In fact, they may not want to let you go. You must remember we are talking of Baleyworld, the planet on which the story of the Ancestor is taken more seriously than on any other—and you are part of the story."

  "You are not to use that as an excuse to keep me in prison."

  "I promise you I won't. And I promise I will get you home—when I can—when I can."

  Gladia did not remain as indignant somehow as she felt she had every right to be. She did want to see what a Settler world was like and, after all, this was Elijah Baley's peculiar, world. His son had founded it. He himself had spent his last decades here. On Baleyworld, there would be remnants of him—the name of the planet, his descendants, his legend.

  So she watched the planet—and thought of Elijah.

  31.

  The watching brought her little and she felt disappointed. There was not much to be seen through the cloud layer that covered the planet. From her relatively small experience as a space traveler it seemed to her that the cloud layer was denser than usual for inhabited planets. They would be landing within hours, now, and—

  The signal light flashed and Gladia scrambled to push the HOLD button in answer. A few moments more and she pushed the ENTER button.

  D.G. came in, smiling. "Inconvenient moment, my lady?"

  "Not really," said Gladia. "Simply a matter of putting on my gloves and inserting my nose plugs. I suppose I should wear them all the time, but both grow tiresome and, for some reason, I grow less concerned about infection."

  "Familiarity breeds contempt, my lady."

  "Let's not call it contempt," said Gladia, who found herself smiling.

  "Thank you," said D.G. "We'll be landing soon, madam, and I have brought you a coverall, carefully sterilized and placed inside this plastic bag so that it has since been untouched by Settler hands. It's simple to put on. You'll have no trouble and you'll find it covers everything but the nose and eyes."

  "Just for me, D.G.?"

  "No, no, my lady. We all wear such things when outdoors at this season of the year. It is winter in our capital city at the present time and it is cold. We live on a rather cold world—heavy cloud cover, much precipitation, often snow."

  "Even in the tropical regions?"

  "No, there it tends to be hot and dry. The population clusters in the cooler regions, however. We rather like it. It's bracing and stimulating. The seas, which were seeded with Earth species of life, are fertile, so that fish and other creatures have multiplied abundantly. There's no food shortage, consequently, even though land agriculture is limited and we'll never be the breadbasket of the Galaxy. —The summers are short but quite hot and the beaches are then well populated, although you might find them uninteresting since we have a strong nudity taboo."

  "It seems like peculiar weather."

  "A matter of land-sea distribution, a planetary orbit that is a bit more eccentric than most, and a few other things. Frankly, I don't bother with it." He shrugged. "It's not my field of interest."

  "You're a Trader. I imagine you're not on the planet often."

  "True, but I'm not a Trader in order to escape. I like it here. And yet perhaps I would like it less if I were here more. If we look at it that way, Baleyworld's harsh conditions serve an important purpose. They encourage trading. Baleyworld produces men who scour the seas for food and there's a certain similarity between sailing the seas and sailing through space. I would say fully a third of all t
he Traders plying the space lanes are Baleypeople."

  "You seem in a semimanic state, D.G.," said Gladia.

  "Do I? I think of myself right now as being in a good humor. I have reason to be. So have you."

  "Oh?"

  "It's obvious, isn't it? We got off Solaria alive. We know exactly what the Solarian danger is. We've gained control of an unusual weapon that should interest our military. And you will be the heroine of Baleyworld. The world officials already know the outline of events and are eager to greet you. For that matter, you're the heroine of this ship. Almost every man on board volunteered to bring you this coverall. They are all anxious to get close and bathe in your aura, so to speak."

  "Quite a change," said Gladia dryly.

  "Absolutely. Niss—the crewman whom your Daneel chastised—"

  "I remember well, D.G."

  "He is anxious to apologize to you. And bring his four mates so that they, too, might apologize. And to kick, in you presence, the one of them who made an improper suggestion. He is not a bad person, my lady."

  "I am certain he isn't. Assure him he is forgiven and the incident forgotten. And if you'll arrange matters, I will shake hands with him and perhaps some of the others before debarking. But you mustn't let them crowd about me."

  "I understand, but I can't guarantee there won't be a certain amount of crowding in Baleytown—that's the capital city of Baleyworld. There"s no way of stopping various government officials from trying to gain political advantage by being seen with you, while grinning away and bowing."

  "Jehoshaphat! As your Ancestor would say."

  "Don't say that once we land, madam. It's an expression reserved for him. It is considered bad taste for anyone else, to say it. —There'll be speeches and cheering and all kinds of meaningless formalities. I'm sorry, my lady."

  She said thoughtfully, "I could do without it, but I suppose there's no way of stopping it."