by Isaac Asimov
“In what way?”
“It is the Chairman's job to encourage the meeting of contending parties and to work for a compromise. If Amadiro wishes to meet with me, the Chairman could not, by definition, discourage it, much less forbid it. He must hold the meeting and, if Amadiro can find enough evidence against you—and it is easy to find evidence against an Earthman—that will end the investigation.”
“Perhaps, Dr. Fastolfe, you should not have called on an Earthman to help, considering how vulnerable we are.
“Perhaps not, Mr. Baley, but I could think of nothing else to do. I still can't, so I must leave it up to you to persuade the Chairman to our point of view—if you can.”
“The responsibility is mine?” said Baley glumly.
“Entirely yours,” said Fastolfe smoothly.
Baley said, “Are we four to be the only ones present?”
Fastolfe said, “Actually, we three: the Chairman, Amadiro, and myself. We are the two principals and the compromising agent, so to speak. You will be there as a fourth party, Mr. Baley, only on sufferance. The Chairman can order you to leave at will, so I hope you will not do anything to upset him.”
“I'll try not to, Dr. Fastolfe.”
“For instance, Mr. Baley, do not offer him your hand—if you will forgive my rudeness.”
Baley felt himself grow warm with retroactive embarrassment at his earlier gesture. “I will not.”
“And be unfailingly polite. Make no angry accusations. Do not insist on statements for which there is no support—”
“You mean don't try to stampede anyone into betraying himself. Amadiro, for instance.”
“Yes, do not do so. You will be committing slander and it will be counterproductive. Therefore, be polite! If the politeness masks an attack, we won't quarrel with that. And try not to speak unless you are spoken to.”
Baley said, “How is it, Dr. Fastolfe, that you are so full of careful advice now and yet you never warned me about the dangers of slander earlier.”
“The fault is indeed mine,” said Dr. Fastolfe. “It was a matter of such basic knowledge to me that it never occurred to me that it had to be. explained.”
Baley grunted. “Yes, I thought so.”
Fastolfe raised his head suddenly. “I heard an airfoil outside. More than that, I can hear the steps of one of my staff, heading for the entrance. I presume the Chairman and Amadiro are at hand.”
“Together?” asked Baley.
“Undoubtedly. You see, Amadiro suggested my establishment as the meeting place, thus granting me the advantage of home ground. He will therefore have the chance of offering, out of apparent politeness, to call for the Chairman and bring him here. After all, they must both come here. This will give him a few minutes to talk privately with the Chairman and push his point of view.”
“That is scarcely fair,” said Baley. “Could you have stopped that?”
“I didn't want to. Amadiro takes a calculated risk. He may say something that will irritate the Chairman.”
“Is the Chairman particularly irritable by nature?”
“No. No more so than any Chairman in the fifth decade of his term of office. Still, the necessity of strict adherence to protocol, the further necessity of never taking sides, and the actuality of arbitrary power all combine toward making a certain irritability inevitable. And Amadiro is not always wise. His jovial smile, his white teeth, his exuding bonhomie can be extremely irritating when those upon whom he lavishes it are not in a good mood, for some reason. —But I must go meet them, Mr. Baley, and supply what I hope will be a more substantial version of charm. Please stay here and don't move from that chair.”
Baley could do nothing but wait now. He thought, irrelevantly, that he had been on Aurora for just a bit short of fifty standard hours.
18. AGAIN THE CHAIRMAN
75
The Chairman was short, surprisingly short. Amadiro towered over him by nearly thirty centimeters.
However, since most of his shortness was in his thighs, the Chairman, when all were seated, was not noticeably inferior in height to the others. Indeed, he was thickset, with a massive chest and shoulders, and looked almost overpowering under those conditions.
His head was large, too, but his face was lined and marked by age. Nor were its wrinkles the kindly type carved by laughter. They were impressed into his cheeks and forehead, one felt, by the exercise of power. His hair was white and sparse and he was bald in the spot where the hairs would have met in a whorl.
His voice suited him—deep and decisive. Age had robbed it of some of its timbre, perhaps, and lent it a bit of harshness, but in a Chairman (Baley thought) that might help rather than hinder.
Fastolfe went through the full ritual of greeting, exchanged stroking remarks without meaning, and offered food and drink. Through all of this, no mention was made of the outsider and no notice was taken of him.
It was only when the preliminaries were finished and when all were seated that Baley (a little farther from the center than the others) was introduced.
He said, “Mr. Chairman,” without holding out his hand. Then, with an offhand nod, he said, “And, of course, I have met Dr. Amadiro.”
Amadiro's smile did not waver at the touch of insolence in Baley's voice.
The Chairman, who had not acknowledged Baley's greeting, placed his hands on each knee, fingers spread apart, and said, “Let us get started and let us see if we can't make this as brief and as productive as possible.
“Let me stress first that I wish to get past this matter of the misbehavior—or possible misbehavior—of an Earthman and strike instantly to the heart of the matter. Nor, in dealing with the heart of the matter, are we speaking of this overblown matter of the robot. Disrupting the activity of a robot is a matter for the civil courts; it can result in a judgment of the infringement of property rights and the inflicting of a penalty of costs but nothing more than that. What's more, if it should be proved that Dr. Fastolfe had rendered the robot, Jander Panell, inoperable, it is a robot who, after all, he helped design, whose construction he supervised, and the ownership of whom he held at the time of the inoperability. No penalty is likely to apply, since a person may do what he likes with his own.
“What is really at issue is the matter of the exploration and settlement of the Galaxy: whether we of Aurora carry it through alone, whether we do it in collaboration with the other Spacer worlds, or whether we leave it to Earth. Dr. Amadiro and the Globalists favor having Aurora shoulder the burden alone; Dr. Fastolfe wishes to leave it to Earth.
“If we can settle this matter, then the affair of the robot can be left to the civil courts, and the question of the Earthman's behavior will probably become moot, and we can simply get rid of him.
“Therefore, let me begin by asking whether Dr. Amadiro is prepared to accept Dr. Fastolfe's position in order to achieve unity of decision or whether Dr. Fastolfe is prepared to accept Dr. Amadiro's position with the same end in view.”
He paused and waited.
Amadiro said, “I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, but I must insist that Earthmen be confined to their planet and that the Galaxy be settled by Aurorans only. I would be willing to compromise, however, to the extent of allowing other Spacer worlds to share in the settlement if that would prevent needless strife among us.”
“I see,” said the Chairman. “Will you, Dr. Fastolfe, in view of this statement, abandon your position?”
Fastolfe said, “Dr. Amadiro's compromise has scarcely anything of substance in it, Mr. Chairman. I am willing to offer a compromise of greater significance. Why should not the worlds of the Galaxy be thrown open to Spacers and Earthpeople alike? The Galaxy is large and there would be room for both. I would be willing to accept such an arrangement.”
“No doubt,” said Amadiro quickly, “for it is no compromise. The over eight billion population of Earth is more than half again the population of all the Spacer worlds combined. Earth's people are short-lived and are used to replacing their
losses quickly. They lack our regard for individual human life. They will swarm over the new worlds at any cost, multiplying like insects, and will preempt the Galaxy even while we are making a bare beginning. To offer Earth a supposedly equal chance at the Galaxy is to give them the Galaxy—and that is not equality. Earthpeople must be confined to Earth.”
“And what have you to say to that, Dr. Fastolfe?” asked the Chairman.
Fastolfe sighed. “My views are on record. I'm sure I don't need to repeat them. Dr. Amadiro plans to use humaniform robots to build the settled worlds that human Aurorans will then enter, ready-made, yet he doesn't even have humaniform robots. He cannot construct them and the project would not work, even if he did have them. No compromise is possible unless Dr. Amadiro consents to the principle that Earthpeople may at least share in the task of the settlement of new worlds.”
“Then no compromise is possible,” said Amadiro.
The Chairman looked displeased. “I'm afraid that one of you two must give in. I do not intend Aurora to be torn apart in an emotional orgy on a question this important.”
He looked at Amadiro blankly, his expression carefully signifying neither favor nor disfavor. “You intend to use the inoperability of the robot, Jander, as an argument against Fastolfe's view, do you not?”
“I do,” said Amadiro.
“A purely emotional argument. You are going to claim that Fastolfe is trying to destroy your view by falsely making humaniform robots appear less useful than they, in effect, are.”
“That is exactly what he is trying to do—”
“Slander!” put in Fastolfe in a low voice.
“Not if I can prove it, which I can,” said Amadiro. “The argument may be an emotional one, but it will be effective. You see that, Mr. Chairman, don't you? My view will surely win, but left to itself it will be messy. I would suggest that you persuade Dr. Fastolfe to accept inevitable defeat and spare Aurora the enormous sadness of a spectacle that will weaken our position among the Spacer worlds and shake our own belief in ourselves.”
“How can you prove that Dr. Fastolfe rendered the robot inoperative?”
“He himself admits he is the only human being who could have done so. You know this.”
“I know,” said the Chairman, “but I wanted to hear you say this, not to your constituency, not to the media, but to me—in private. And you have done so.”
He turned to Fastolfe. “And what do you say, Dr. Fastolfe? Are you the only man who could have destroyed the robot?”
“Without leaving physical marks? I am, as far as I know. I don't believe that Dr. Amadiro has the skill in robotics to do so and I am constantly amazed that, after having founded his Robotics Institute, he is so eager to proclaim his own incapacity, even with all his associates at his back—and to do so publicly.” He smiled at Amadiro, not entirely without malice.
The Chairman sighed. “No, Dr. Fastolfe. No rhetorical tricks now. Let us dispense with sarcasm and clever thrusts. What is your defense?”
“Why, only that I did no harm to Jander. I do not say anyone did. It was chance—the uncertainty principle at work on the positronic pathways. It can happen every so often. Let Dr. Amadiro merely admit that it was chance, that no one be accused without evidence, and we can then argue the competing proposals about settlement on their own merits.”
“No,” said Amadiro. “The chance of accidental destruction is too small to be considered, far smaller than the chance that Dr. Fastolfe is responsible—so much smaller that to ignore Dr. Fastolfe's guilt is irresponsible. I will not back down and I will win. Mr. Chairman, you know I will win and it seems to me that the only rational step to be taken is to force Dr. Fastolfe to accept his defeat in the interest of global unity.”
Fastolfe said quickly, “And that brings me to the matter of the investigation I have asked Mr. Baley of Earth to undertake.”
And Amadiro said, just as quickly, “A move I opposed when it was first suggested. The Earthman may be a clever investigator, but he is unfamiliar with Aurora and can accomplish nothing here. Nothing, that is, except to strew slander and to hold Aurora up to the Spacer worlds in an undignified and ridiculous light. There have been satirical pieces on the matter in half a dozen important Spacer hyperwave news programs on as many different worlds. Recordings of these have been sent to your office.”
“And have been brought to my attention,” said the Chairman.
“And there has been murmuring here on Aurora,” Amadiro drove on. “It would be to my selfish interest to allow the investigation to continue. It is costing Fastolfe support among the populace and votes among the legislators. The longer it continues, the more certain I am of victory, but it is damaging Aurora and I do not wish to add to my certainty at the cost of harm to my world. I suggest—with respect—that you end the investigation, Mr. Chairman, and persuade Dr. Fastolfe to submit gracefully now to what he will eventually have to accept—at much greater cost.”
The Chairman said, “I agree that to have permitted Dr. Fastolfe to set up this investigation may have been unwise. I say ‘may’ I admit I am tempted to end it. And yet the Earthman“—he gave no indication of knowing that Baley was in the room—”has already been here for some time—”
He paused, as though to give Fastolfe a chance for corroboration, and Fastolfe took it, saying, “This is the third day of his investigation, Mr. Chairman.”
“In that case,” said the Chairman, “before I end that investigation, it would be fair, I believe, to ask if there have been any significant findings so far.”
He paused again, Fastolfe glanced quickly at Baley and made a small motion of his head.
Baley said in a low voice, “I do not wish, Mr. Chairman, to obtrude, unasked, any observations. Am I being asked a question?”
The Chairman frowned. Without looking at Baley, he said, “I am asking Mr, Baley of Earth to tell us whether he has any findings of significance.”
Baley took a deep breath. This was it.
76
“Mr. Chairman,“ he began. “Yesterday afternoon, I was interrogating Dr. Amadiro, who was most cooperative and useful to me. When my staff and I left—”
“Your staff?” asked the Chairman.
“I was accompanied by two robots on all phases of my investigation, Mr. Chairman,” said Baley.
“Robots who belong to Dr. Fastolfe?” asked Amadiro. “I ask this for the record.”
“For the record, they do,” said Baley. “One is Daneel Olivaw, a humaniform robot, and the other is Giskard Reventlov, an older nonhumaniform robot.”
“Thank you,” said the Chairman. “Continue.”
“When we left the Institute grounds, we found that the airfoil we used had been tampered with.”
“Tampered with?” asked the Chairman, startled. “By whom?”
“We don't know, but it happened on Institute grounds. We were there by invitation, so it was known by the Institute personnel that we would be there. Moreover, no one else would be likely to be there without the invitation and knowledge of the Institute staff. If it were at all thinkable, it would be necessary to conclude that the tampering could only have been done by someone on the Institute staff and that would, in any case, be impossible—except at the direction of Dr. Amadiro himself, which would also be unthinkable.”
Amadiro said, “You seem to think a great deal about the unthinkable. Has the airfoil been examined by a qualified technician to see if it has indeed been tampered with? Might there not have been a natural failing?” asked Amadiro.
“No, sir,” said Baley, “but Giskard, who is qualified to drive an airfoil and who has frequently driven that particular one, maintains that it was tampered with.”
“And he is one of Dr. FastohVs staff and is programmed by him and receives his daily orders from him,” said Amadiro.
“Are you suggesting—” began Fastolfe.
“I am suggesting nothing.” Amadiro held up his hand in a benign gesture. “I am merely making a statement— for
the record.”
The Chairman stirred. “Will Mr. Baley of Earth please continue?”
Baley said, “When the airfoil broke down, there were others in pursuit.”
“Others?” asked the Chairman.
“Other robots. They arrived and, by that time, my robots were gone.”
“One moment,” said Amadiro. “What was your condition at the time, Mr. Baley?”
“I was not entirely well.”
“Not entirely well? You are an Earthman and unaccustomed to life except in the artificial setting of your Cities. You are uneasy in the open. Is that not so, Mr. Baley?” asked Amadiro.
“Yes, sir.”
“And there was a severe thunderstorm in progress last evening, as I am sure the Chairman recalls. Would it not be accurate to say that you were quite ill? Semiconscious, if not worse?”
“I was quite ill,” said Baley reluctantly.
“Then how is it your robots were gone?” asked the Chairman sharply. “Should they not have been with you in your illness?”
“I ordered them away, Mr. Chairman.”
“Why?”
“I thought it best,” said Baley, “and I will explain—if I may be allowed to continue.”
“Continue.”
“We were indeed being pursued, for the pursuing robots arrived shortly after my robots had left. The pursuers asked me where my robots were and I told them I had sent them away. It was only after that that they asked if I were ill. I said I wasn't ill and they left me in order to continue a search for my robots.”
“In search of Daneel and Giskard?” asked the Chairman.
“Yes, Mr. Chairman. It was clear to me that they were under intense orders to find the robots.”
“In what way was that clear?”
“Although I was obviously ill, they asked about the robots before they asked about me. Then, later, they abandoned me in my illness to search for my robots. They must have received enormously intense orders to find those robots or it would not have been possible for them to disregard a patently ill human being. As a matter of fact, I had anticipated this search for my robots and that was why I had sent them away. I felt it all-important to keep them out of unauthorized hands.”
