Robots and Empire (Robot 4)

14. THE DUEL

65

Gladia watched Aurora's globe on the screen. Its cloud cover seemed caught in mid-swirl along the thick crescent that was shining in the light of its sun.

"Surely we're not that close," she said.

D.G. smiled. "By no means. We're seeing it through a rather good lens. It's still several days away, counting the spiral approach. If we ever get an antigravitic drive, which the physicists keep dreaming about but seem helpless to bring about, spaceflight will become really simple and fast. As it is, our Jumps can only deliver us safely to a rather goodish distance from a planetary mass."

"It's odd," said Gladia thoughtfully.

"What is, madam?"

"When we went to Solaria, I thought to myself. 'I'm going home,' but when I landed I found that I wasn't home at all. Now we're going to Aurora and I thought to myself, 'Now I'm going home,' and yet - that world down there isn't home, either."

"Where is home, then, madam?"

"I'm beginning to wonder. - But why do you persist in calling me 'madam'?"

D.G. looked surprised. "Do you prefer 'Lady Gladia,' Lady Gladia?"

"That's also mock respect. Do you feel that way about me?"

"Mock respect? Certainly not. But how else does a Seater address a Spacer? I'm trying to be polite and to conform to your customs - to do what makes you feel comfortable."

"But it doesn't make me feel comfortable. Just call me Gladia. I've suggested it before. After all, I call you 'D.G.'"

"And that suits me fine, although in front of my officers and men, I would prefer to have you address me as 'Captain,' and I will call you 'madam.'" Discipline must be maintained."

"Yes, of course," said Gladia absently, staring at Aurora again. "I have no home."

She whirled toward D.G., "Is it possible that you might take me to Earth, D.G.?"

"Possible," said D.G., smiling. "You might not want to go - Gladia."

"I think I want to go," said Gladia, "unless I lose my courage."

"Infection does exist," said D.G., "and that's what Spacers fear, isn't it?"

"Too much, perhaps. After all, I knew your Ancestor and wasn't infected. I have been on this ship and have survived. Look, you're near me right now. I was even on your world, with thousands crowding near me. I think I've worked up a certain amount of resistance."

"I must tell you, Gladia, that Earth is a thousand times as crowded as Baleyworld."

"Even so," said Gladia, her voice warming, "I've changed my mind completely - about many things. I've told you there was nothing left to live for after twenty-three decades and it turns out there is. What happened to me on Baleyworld - that talk I gave, the way it moved people - was something new, something I'd never imagined. It was like being born all over, starting again at the first decade. It seems to me now that, even if Earth kills me, it would be worth it, for I would die young and trying and fighting death, not old and weary and welcoming it."

"Well!" said D.G., lifting his arms in a mock-heroic gesture, "you sound like a hyperwave historical. Have you ever watched them on Aurora?"

"Of course. They're very popular."

"Are you rehearsing for one, Gladia, or do you really mean what you say?"

Gladia laughed. "I suppose I do sound rather silly, D.G but the funny thing is that I do mean it - if I don't lose my courage."

"In that case, we'll do it. We'll go to Earth. I don't think they'll consider you worth a war, especially if you report fully on events on Solaria, as they want you to, and if you give your word of honor as a Spacer woman - if you do things like that - to return."

"But I won't."

"But you may want to someday. - And now, my lady, I mean, Gladia - it is always a pleasure to speak with you, but I'm always tempted to spend too much time at it and I am certain I am needed in the control room. If I'm not and they can do without me, then I'd rather they didn't find out."

66

"Was that your doing, friend Giskard?"

"To what is it that you refer, friend Daneel?"

"Lady Gladia is anxious to go to Earth and even perhaps not to return. That is a desire so antithetical to what a Spacer such as she would want that I cannot help but suspect that you did something to her mind to make her feel so."

Giskard said, "I did not touch her. - It is difficult enough to tamper with any human being within the cage of the Three Laws. To tamper with the mind of the particular individual for whose safety one is directly responsible is more difficult still."

"Then why does she wish to go to Earth?"

"Her experiences on Baleyworld have changed her point of view considerably. She has a mission - that of ensuring peace in the Galaxy - and bums to work at it."

"In that case, friend Giskard, would it not be better to do what you can to persuade the captain, in your own fashion, to go to Earth directly?"

"That would create difficulties. The Auroran authorities are so insistent on Lady Gladia being returned to Aurora that it would be better to do so, at least temporarily."

"Yet it could be dangerous to do so," said Daneel.

"Then you still think, friend Daneel, that it is I whom they want to retain because they have learned of my abilities?"

"I see no other reason for their insistence on Lady Gladia's return."

Giskard said, "Thinking like a man has its pitfalls, I see. It becomes possible to suppose difficulties that cannot exist. Even if someone on Aurora were to suspect the existence of my abilities, it is with those abilities that I would remove the suspicion. There is nothing to fear, friend Daneel."

And Daneel said reluctantly, "As you say, friend Giskard."

67

Gladia looked about thoughtfully, sending off the robots with a careless motion of her hand.

She looked at her hand, as she did so, almost as though she were seeing it for the first time. It had been the hand with which she had shaken the hand of each of the crewmen of the ship before getting into the small tender that took her and D.G. down to Aurora. When she promised to return, they had cheered her and Niss had bawled out, "We won't leave without you, my lady."

The cheering had pleased her enormously. Her robots served her endlessly, loyally, patiently, but they never cheered her.

D.G., watching her curiously, said, "Surely you are at home now, Gladia."

"I am in my establishment," she said in a low voice. "It has been my establishment since Dr. Fastolfe assigned it to me twenty decades ago and yet it feels strange to me."

"It is strange to me," said D.G. "I'd feel rather lost staying here alone." He looked, about with a half-smile at, the ornate furnishings and the elaborately decorated walls.

"You won't be alone, D.G.," said Gladia. "My household robots will be with you and they have full instructions. They will devote themselves to your comfort."

"Will they understand my Settler accent?"

"If they fail to understand, they will ask you to repeat and you must then speak slowly and make gestures. They will prepare food for you, show you how to use the facilities in the guest rooms - and they will also keep a sharp eye on you to make sure that you do not act in an unguestly manner. They will stop you - if necessary - but they will do so without hurting you."

"I trust they won't consider me nonhuman."

"As the overseer did? No, I guarantee you that, D.G., though your beard and accent may confuse them to the point where they will be a second or two slow in reacting."

"And I suppose they'll protect me against intruders?"

"They will, but there won't be any intruders."

"The Council may want to come and get me."

"Then they will send robots and mine will turn them away."

"What if their robots overpower your robots?"

"That can't happen, D.G. An establishment is inviolate."

"Come on, Gladia. Do you mean that nobody has ever - "

"Nobody has ever!" she replied at once. "You just stay here comfortably and my robots will take care of all your needs. If you want to get in touch with your ship, with Baleyworld, even with the Auroran Council, they will know exactly what to do. You won't have to lift a finger."

D.G. sank down into the nearest chair, spread himself out over it, and sighed deeply. "How wise we are to allow no robots on the Settler worlds. Do you know how long it would take to corrupt me into idleness and sloth if I stayed in this kind of society? Five minutes at most. In fact, I'm corrupted already." He yawned and stretched luxuriously. "Would they mind if I sleep?"

"Of course they wouldn't. If you do, the robots will see to it that your surroundings are kept quiet and dark."

Then D.G. straightened suddenly. "What if you don't come back?"

"Why shouldn't I come back?"

"The Council seems to want you rather urgently."

"They can't hold me. I'm a free Auroran citizen and I go where I please."

"There are always emergencies when a government wishes to manufacture one - and in an emergency, rules can always be broken."

"Nonsense. Giskard, am I going to be kept there?"

Giskard said, "Madam Gladia, you will not be kept there. The captain need not be concerned with respect to that."

"There you are, D.G. And your Ancestor, the last time he saw me, told me I was always to trust Giskard."

"Good! Excellent! Just the same, the reason I came down with you, Gladia, was to make sure I get you back. Remember that and tell it to your Dr. Amadiro if you have to. If they try to keep you against your will, they will have to try to keep me as well - and my ship, which is in orbit, is fully capable of reacting to that."

"No, please," said Gladia, disturbed. "Don't think of doing that. Aurora has ships as well and I'm sure yours is under observation."

"There's a difference, though, Gladia. I doubt very much that Aurora would want to go to war over you. Baleyworld, on the other hand, would be quite prepared to."

"Surely not. I wouldn't want them to go to war on my account. And why should they, anyway? Because I was a friend of your Ancestor?"

"Not exactly. I don't think anyone can quite believe that you were that friend. Maybe your great-grandmother, not you. Even I don't believe it was you."

"You know it was I."

"Intellectually, yes. Emotionally, I find it impossible. That was twenty decades ago."

Gladia shook her head. "You have the short-lived view."

"Maybe we all do, but it doesn't matter. What makes you important to Baleyworld is the speech you gave. You're a heroine and they will decide you must be presented at Earth. Nothing will be allowed to prevent that."

Gladia said, a trifle alarmed, "Presented at Earth? With full ceremony?"

"The fullest."

"Why should that be thought so important as to be worth a war?"

"I'm not sure I can explain that to a Spacer. Earth is a special world. Earth is a - holy world. It's the only real world. It's where human beings came into being and it's the only world in which they evolved and developed and lived against a full background of life. We have trees on Baleyworld and insects - but on Earth they have a wild riot of trees and insects that none of us ever see except on Earth. Our worlds are imitations, pale imitations. They don't exist and can't exist except for the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual strength they draw from Earth."

Gladia said, "This is quite opposed to the opinion of Earth held by Spacers. When we refer to Earth, which we seldom do, it is as a world that is barbarous and in decay."

D.G. flushed. "That is why the Spacerworlds have been growing steadily weaker. As I said before, you are like plants that have pulled themselves loose from their roots, like animals that have cut out their hearts."

Gladia said, "Well, I look forward to seeing Earth for myself, but I will have to go now. Please treat this as your own establishment till I return." She walked briskly toward the door, stopped, then turned. "There are no alcoholic drinks in this establishment or anywhere on Aurora, no tobacco, no alkaloidal stimulants, nothing of any artificial kinds of - of whatever you may be used to."

D.G. grinned sourly. "We Settlers are aware of that. Very puritanical, you people."

"Not puritanical at all," said Gladia, frowning. "Thirty to forty decades of life must be paid for - and that's one of the ways. You don't suppose we do it by magic, do you?"

"Well, I'll make do on healthful fruit juices and sanitized near-coffee - and I'll smell flowers."

"You'll find an ample supply of such things," said Gladia coldly, and when you get back to your ship, I'm sure you can compensate for any withdrawal symptoms you will now suffer."

"I will suffer only from your withdrawal, my lady," said D.G. gravely.

Gladia found herself forced to smile. "You're an incorrigible liar, my captain. I'll be back. - Daneel. - Giskard."

68

Gladia sat stiffly in Amadiro's office. In many decades, she had seen Amadiro only in the distance or on a viewing screen and on such occasions, she had made it a practice to turn away. She remembered him only as Fastolfe's great enemy and now that she found herself, for the first time, in the same room with him - in face-to-face confrontation she had to freeze her face into expressionlessness, in order not to allow hate to peep through.

Although she and Amadiro were the only palpable human beings in the room, there were at least a dozen high officials - the Chairman himself among them - who were present by way of sealed-beam holovision. Gladia had recognized the Chairman and some of the others, but not all.

It was rather a grisly experience. It seemed so like the viewing that was universal of Solaria and to which she had been so accustomed as a girl - and which she recalled with such distaste.

She made an effort to speak clearly, undramatically, and concisely. When asked a question, she was as brief as was consistent with clarity and as noncommittal as was consistent with courtesy.

The Chairman listened impassively and the others took their cue from him. He was clearly elderly - Chairmen always were, somehow, for it was usually late in life that they attained the position. He had a long face, a still thick head of hair, and prominent eyebrows. His voice was mellifluous, but in no way friendly.

When Gladia was done, he said, "It is your suggestion, then, that the Solarians, had redefined 'human being' in a narrow sense that restricted it to Solarians."

"I do not suggest anything, Mr. Chairman. It is merely that no one has been able to think of another explanation that would account for the events."

"Are you aware, Madam Gladia, that in all the history of robotic science, no robot has ever been designed with a narrowed definition of 'human being'?"

"I am not a roboticist, Mr. Chairman, and I know nothing of the mathematics of positronic pathways. Since you say it has never been done, I, of course, accept that. I cannot say, of my own knowledge, however, whether the fact that it has never been done means that it can never be done in the future."

Her eyes had never looked as wide and innocent as they did now and the Chairman flushed and said, "It is not theoretically impossible to narrow the definition, but it is unthinkable."

Gladia said, with a downcast glance at her hands, which were loosely clasped in her lap, "People can think such peculiar things sometimes."

The Chairman changed the subject and said, "An Auroran ship was destroyed. How do you account for that?"

"I was not present at the site of the incident, Mr. Chairman. I have no idea what happened, so I can't account for it."

"You were on Solaria and you were born on the planet. Given your recent experience and early background, what would you say happened?" The Chairman showed signs of a badly strained patience.

"If I must guess," said Gladia, "I should say that our warship was exploded by the use of a portable nuclear intensifier similar to the one that was almost used on the Settler ship."

"Does it not strike you, however, that the two cases are different. In one, a Settler ship invaded Solaria to confiscate Solarian robots; in the other, an Auroran vessel came to Solaria to help protect a sister planet."

"I can only suppose, Mr. Chairman, that the overseers - the humanoid robots left to guard the planet - were insufficiently well-instructed to know the difference."

The Chairman looked offended. "It is inconceivable that they would not be instructed in the difference between Settlers and fellow Spacers."

"If you say so, Mr. Chairman. Nevertheless, if the only definition of a human being is someone with the physical appearance of a human being, together with the ability to speak in Solarian fashion - as it seemed to us, who were on the spot, that it must be - then Aurorans, who do not speak in Solarian fashion, might not fall under the heading of human beings where the overseers were concerned."

"Then you are saying that the Solarians defined their fellow Spacers as nonhuman and subjected them to destruction."

"I present it merely as a possibility because I can't think of any other way to explain the destruction of any Auroran warship. More experienced people may be able to present alternate explanations, to be sure." Again that innocent, almost blank, look.

The Chairman said, "Are you planning to return to Solaria, Madam Gladia?"

"No, Mr. Chairman, I have no such plan."

"Have you been requested to do so by your Settler friend, in order to clear the planet of its overseers?"

Slowly Gladia shook her head. "I have not been requested to do this. Had I been, I would have refused. Nor did I go to Solaria, to begin with, for any reason but that of fulfilling my duty to Aurora. I was requested to go to Solaria by Dr. Levular Mandamus of the Robotics Institute, working under Dr. Kelden Amadiro. I was requested to go so that, on my return, I might report on events - as I have just done. The request had, to my ears and understanding, the flavor of an order and I took the order" - she glanced briefly in Amadiro's direction - "as coming from Dr. Amadiro himself."

Amadiro made no visible response to that.

The Chairman said, "What are your plans for the future, then?"

Gladia waited a heartbeat or two, then decided she might as well confront the situation boldly.

"It is my intention, Mr. Chairman," said Gladia, speaking very clearly, "to visit Earth."

"Earth? Why should you wish to visit Earth?"

"It may be important, Mr. Chairman, for Auroran authorities to know what is taking place on Earth. Since I have been invited by the Baleyworld authorities to visit Earth and since Captain Baley stands ready to take me there, it would be an opportunity to bring back a report on events - as I have now reported on events taking place on Solaria and on Baleyworld."

Well, then, thought Gladia, will he violate the custom and, in effect, imprison her on Aurora? If so, there had to be ways of challenging the decision.

Gladia felt her tension rising and she cast a quick glance in the direction of Daneel, who, of course, seemed totally impassive.

However, the Chairman, looking sour, said, "In that respect, Madam Gladia, you have the right of an Auroran to do as you wish - but it will be on your own responsibility. No one is requesting this of you, as some requested, according to you, your visit to Solaria. For that reason I must warn you that Aurora will not feel bound to help you in case of any misadventure."

"I understand that, sir."

The Chairman said brusquely, "There will be much to discuss on the matter later on, Amadiro. I will be in touch with you. "

The images blanked out and Gladia found herself and her robots suddenly alone with Amadiro and his robots.

69

Gladia rose and said stiffly, carefully refusing to look directly at Amadiro as she did so, "The meeting, I presume, is over, so I will now leave."

"Yes, of course, but I have a question or two, which I hope you don't mind my asking." His tall figure seemed overwhelming as he rose and he smiled and addressed her in all courtesy, as though friendliness were long established between them. "Let me escort you, Lady Gladia. So you are going to Earth?"

"Yes. The Chairman raised no objections and an Auroran citizen may freely travel through the Galaxy in time of peace. And pardon me, but my robots - and yours, if necessary - will be sufficient escort."

"As you say, my lady." A robot held the door open for them. "I assume you will take robots with you when you go to Earth."

"There's no question as to that."

"Which robots, madam, if I may ask?"

"These two. The two robots I have with me." Her shoes made a firm clicking sound as she walked rapidly along the corridor, her back to Amadiro, making no effort to see to it that he heard her.

"Is that wise, my lady? They are advanced robots, unusual products of the great Dr. Fastolfe. You will be surrounded by barbarian Earthmen, who may covet them."

"Should they covet them, they nevertheless wouldn't get them."

"Don't underestimate the danger, nor overestimate robotic protection. You will be in one of their Cities, surrounded by tens of millions of these Earthmen, and robots may not harm human beings. Indeed, the more advanced a robot, the more sensitive it is to the nuances of the Three Laws and the less likely it is to take any action that will harm a human being in any way. - Isn't that so, Daneel?"

"Yes, Dr. Amadiro," said Daneel.

"Giskard, I imagine, agrees with you."

"I do," said Giskard.

"You see, my lady? Here on Aurora, in a nonviolent society, your robots can protect you against others. On Earth - mad, decadent, barbarous - there will be no way two robots can protect you or themselves. We would not want you to be deprived. Nor, to place it on a more selfish basis, would we of the Institute and the government care to see advanced robots in the hands of the barbarians. Would it not be better to take robots, of a more ordinary type that the Earthpeople would ignore? You can take any number in that case. A dozen if you wish."

Gladia said, "Dr. Amadiro, I took these two robots on a Settler ship and visited a Settler world. No one made a move to appropriate them."

"The Settlers don't use robots and claim to disapprove of them. On Earth itself, they still use robots."

Daneel said, "If I may interpose, Dr. Amadiro - It is my understanding that robots are being phased out on Earth. Mere are very few in the Cities. Almost all robots on Earth are now used in agricultural or mining operations. For the rest, nonrobotic automation is the norm."

Amadiro looked at Daneel briefly, then said to Gladia, "Your robot is probably right and I suppose there would be no harm in taking Daneel. He could well pass as human, for that matter. Giskard, however, may well be left in your establishment. He might arouse the acquisitive instincts of an acquisitive society - even if it is true that they are trying to free themselves of robots."

Gladia said, "Neither will be left, sir. They will come with me. I am the sole judge of which portions of my property may come with me and which may not."

"Of course." Amadiro smiled in his most amiable fashion. "No one disputes that. - Would you wait here?"

Another door opened, showing a room that was most comfortably furnished. It was without windows, but was illuminated by soft light and suffused with even softer music.

Gladia stopped at the threshold and said sharply, "Why?"

"A member of the Institute wishes to see you and speak to you. It will not take long, but it is necessary. Once that is done, you are free to go. You will not even be plagued by my presence from this moment on. Please." There was a touch of hidden steel in the last word.

Gladia reached out her arms for Daneel and Giskard. "We enter together."

Amadiro laughed genially. "Do you think I'm trying to separate you from your robots? Do you think they would allow that? You have been too long with Settlers, my dear."

Gladia looked at the closed door and said between her teeth, "I dislike that man intensely. And most intensely when he smiles and tries to be soothing."

She stretched, her elbow joints cracking slightly. "In any case, I'm tired. If someone comes with further questions about Solaria and Baleyworld, they are going to get short answers, I tell you."

She sat down on a couch that gave softly under her weight. She slipped her shoes off and lifted her feet to the couch. She smiled sleepily, took a deep breath as she sank to one side, and, with her head turned away from the room, was instantly and deeply asleep.

70

"It is well she was naturally sleepy," said Giskard. "I was able to deepen it without any hint of damage to her at all. - I would not want Lady Gladia to hear what is likely to come."

"What is likely to come, friend Giskard?" asked Daneel.

"What is to come is the result, I think, of my being wrong, friend Daneel, and of your being right. I should have taken your excellent mind more seriously."

"It is you, then, they want to keep on Aurora?"

"Yes. And in urgently calling for Lady Gladia's return, they were calling for mine. You heard Dr. Amadiro ask for us to be left behind. At first both of us and then myself alone."

"Might it be that his words have but the surface meaning, that he feels it dangerous to lose an advanced robot to the Earthmen?"

"There was an underlying current of anxiety, friend Daneel, that I judge to be far too strong to match his words."

"Can you tell whether he knows of your special abilities?"

"I cannot tell directly, since I cannot read thoughts themselves. Nevertheless, twice in the course of the interview with the Council members, there was a sudden sharp rise in the level of emotional intensity in Dr. Amadiro's mind. Extraordinarily sharp rises. I cannot describe it in words, but it would be analogous, perhaps, to watching a scene in black and white and having it splash - suddenly and briefly - into intense color."

"When did this happen, friend Giskard?"

"The second time was when Lady Gladia mentioned she would be going to Earth."

"That created no visible stir among the Council members. What were their minds like?"

"I could not tell. They were present through holovision and such images are not accompanied by any mental sensations that I can detect."

"We may conclude, then, that whether the Council is or is not disturbed by Lady Gladia's projected trip to Earth, Dr. Amadiro, at least, is disturbed."

"It is not simple disturbance. Dr. Amadiro seemed anxious in the highest degree; as we would expect, for instance, if he indeed had a project in hand, as we suspect, for the destruction of Earth and feared its discovery. What is more, at Lady Gladia's mention of this intention of hers, friend Daneel, Dr. Amadiro glanced briefly at me; the only moment in all the session that he did. The flash of emotional intensity coincided with that glance. I think it was the thought of my going to Earth that made him anxious. - As we might expect, if he felt that I, with my special powers, would be a particular danger to his plans."

"His actions might also be taken, friend Giskard, as fitting his expressed fear that the Earthmen would try to appropriate you as an advanced robot and that this would be bad, for Aurora."

"The chance of that happening, friend Daneel, and the extent of damage that might do the Spacer community is too small to account for his level of anxiety. What harm could I do Aurora if I were in Earth's possession - if I were simply the Giskard I am taken to be?"

"You conclude, then, that Dr. Amadiro knows you are not simply the Giskard you are taken to be."

"I am not sure. He may simply suspect it. If he knew what I was, would he not make every effort to avoid making his plans in my presence?"

"It may simply be his misfortune that Lady Gladia will not be separated from us. He cannot insist on your not being present, friend Giskard, without giving away his knowledge to you." Daneel paused, then said, "It is a great advantage you have, friend Giskard, being able to weigh the emotional contents of minds. - But you said that Dr. Amadiro's flash of emotion at the trip to Earth was the second. What was the first?"

"The first came with the mention of the nuclear intensifier - and that, too, seems significant. The concept of a nuclear intensifier is well known on Aurora. They don't have a portable device; not one light, enough and efficient enough to be practical on shipboard, but it's not something that would break upon him like a thunderbolt. Why, then, so much anxiety?"

"Possibly," said Daneel, "because an intensifier of that sort has something to do with his plans on Earth."

"Possibly."

And it was at this point that the door opened, a person entered, and a voice said, "Well - Giskard!"

71

Giskard looked at the newcomer and said in a calm voice, "Madam Vasilia."

"You remember me, then," said Vasilia, smiling warmly.

"Yes, madam. You are a well-known roboticist and your face is on the hyperwave news now and then."

"Come, Giskard. I do not mean that you recognize me. Anyone can do that. I mean, you remember me. You once called me Miss Vasilia."

"I remember that, too, madam. It was a long time ago."

Vasilia closed the door behind her and sat down in one of the chairs. She turned her face toward the other robot. "And you are Daneel, of course."

Daneel said, "Yes, madam. To make use of the distinction you have just advanced, I both remember you, for I was with Plainclothesman Elijah Baley once when he interviewed you, and I recognize you, too."

Vasilia said sharply, "You are not to refer to that Earthman again. - I recognize you as well, Daneel. You are as famous as I am in your own way. You are both famous, for you are the greatest creations of the late Dr. Han Fastolfe."

"Of your father, madam," said Giskard.

"You know very well, Giskard, that I attach no importance to that purely genetic relationship. You are not to refer to him in that manner again."

"I will not, madam."

"And this one?" She looked casually at the sleeping figure on the couch. "Since you two are here, I can reasonably assume that the sleeping beauty is the Solarian woman."

Giskard said, "She is Lady Gladia and I am her property. Do you want her awake, madam?"

"We will merely disturb her, Giskard, if you and I talk of old times. Let her sleep."

"Yes, madam."

Vasilia said to Daneel, "Perhaps the discussion that Giskard and I will have will be of no interest to you, either, Daneel. Would you wait outside?"

Daneel said, "I fear I cannot leave, my lady. My task is to guard Lady Gladia."

"I don't think she needs much guarding from me. You'll notice I do not have any of my robots with me, so Giskard alone will be ample protection for your Solarian lady."

Daneel said, "You have no robots in the room, madam, but I saw four robots just outside in the corridor when the door was opened. It will be best if I stay."

"Well, I won't try to override your orders. You can stay - Giskard!"

"Yes, madam."

"Do you remember when you were first activated?"

"Yes, madam.

"What do you remember?"

"First light. Then sound. Then a crystallization into the sight of Dr. Fastolfe. I could understand Galactic Standard and I had a certain amount of innate knowledge built into my positronic brain paths. The Three Laws, of course; a large vocabulary, with definitions; robotic duties; social customs. Other things I learned rapidly."

"Do you remember your first owner?"

"As I said, Dr. Fastolfe."

"Think again, Giskard. Wasn't it I?"

Giskard paused, then said, "Madam, I was assigned the task of guarding you in my capacity as a possession of Dr. Han Fastolfe."

"It was a bit more than that, I think. You obeyed only me for ten years. If you obeyed anyone else, including Dr. Fastolfe, it was only incidentally, as a consequence of your robotic duties and only insofar as it fit your prime function of guarding me."

"I was assigned to you, it is true, Lady Vasilia, but Dr. Fastolfe retained ownership. Once you left his establishment, he resumed full control of me as my owner. He remained my owner even when he later assigned me to Lady Gladia. He was my only owner for as long as he lived. Upon his death, by his will, ownership of me was transferred to Lady Gladia and that is how it stands now."

"Not so. I asked you if you remembered, when you were first activated and what you remembered. What you were when you were first activated is not what you are now."

"My memory banks, madam, are now incomparably fuller than they were then and I have much in the I way of experience that I did not have then."

Vasilia's voice grew sterner. "I am not talking about memory, nor am I talking about experience. I am talking about capacities. I added to your positronic pathways. I adjusted them. I improved them."

"Yes, madam, you did so, with Dr. Fastolfe's help and approval."

"At one time, Giskard, on one occasion, I introduced an improvement - at least, an extension, and without Dr. Fastolfe's help and approval. Do you remember that?"

Giskard was silent for a substantial period of time. Then he said, "I remember one occasion on which I did not witness your consulting him. I assumed that you consulted him at a time when I was not a witness."

"If you assumed that, you assumed incorrectly. In fact, since you knew he was off the world at the time, you could not possibly have assumed it. You are being evasive, to use no stronger word."

"No, madam. You might have consulted him by hyperwave. I considered that a possibility."

Vasilia, said, "Nevertheless, that addition was entirely mine. The result was that you became a substantially different robot afterward from what you had been before. The robot you have been ever since that change has been my design, my creation, and you know that well."

Giskard remained silent.

"Now, Giskard, by what right was Dr. Fastolfe your master at the time you were activated?" She waited, then said sharply, "Answer me, Giskard. That is an order!"

Giskard said, "Since he was designer and supervised the construction, I was his property - "

"And when I, in effect, redesigned and reconstructed you in a very fundamental way, did you not then become my property?"

Giskard said, "I cannot answer that question. It would require the decision of a law court to argue out the specific case. It would depend, perhaps, on the degree to which I was redesigned and reconstructed."

"Are you aware of the degree to which that took place?"

Giskard was again silent.

"This is childish, Giskard," said Vasilia. "Am I to be required to nudge you after each question? You are not to make me do that. In this case, at any rate, silence is a sure indication of an affirmative. You know what the change was and how fundamental it was and you know that I know what it was. You put the Solarian woman to sleep because you did not want her to learn from me what it was. She doesn't know, does she?"

"She does not, madam," said Giskard.

"And you don't want her to know?"

"I do not, madam," said Giskard.

"Does Daneel know?"

"He does, madam."

Vasilia nodded. "I rather suspected that from his eagerness to stay. - Now, then, listen to me, Giskard. Suppose that a court of law finds out that, before I redesigned you, you were an ordinary robot and that, after I redesigned you, you were a robot who could sense the mind-set of an individual human being and adjust it to his liking. Do you think they could possibly fail to consider it a change great enough to warrant the ownership to have passed into my hands?"

Giskard said, "Madam Vasilia, it would not be possible to let this come before a court of law. Under the circumstances, I would surely be declared the property of the state for obvious reasons. I might even be ordered inactivated."

"Nonsense. Do you take me for a child? With your abilities, you could keep the court from making any such judgment. But that is not the point. I'm not suggesting that we take this to court. I am asking you for your own judgment. Would you not say that I am your rightful owner and have been since I was a very young woman?"

Giskard said, "Madam Gladia considers herself to be my owner and, until the law speaks to the contrary, she must be considered that."

"But you know that both she and the law labor under a misapprehension. If you worry about the feelings of your Solarian woman, it would be very easy to adjust her mindset so that she wouldn't mind your no longer being her property. You can even cause her to feel relieved that I will take you off her hands. I will order you to do so as soon as you can bring yourself to admit what you already know that I am your owner. How long has Daneel known your nature?"

"For decades, madam."

"You can make him forget. For some time now, Dr. Amadiro has known and you can make him forget. There will be only you and I who will know."

Daneel said suddenly, "Madam Vasilia, since Giskard does not consider himself your property, he can easily make you forget and you will then be perfectly content with matters as they are."

Vasilia turned a cold eye on Daneel. "Can he? But you see, it is not for you to decide who it is that Giskard considers his owner. I know that Giskard knows that I am his owner, so that his duty, within the Three Laws, belongs entirely to me. If he must make someone forget and can do so without physical harm, it will be necessary for him, in making a choice, to choose anyone but me. He cannot make me forget or tamper with my mind in any way. I thank you, Daneel, for giving me the occasion of making this quite plain."

Daneel said, "But Madam Gladia's emotions are so enwrapped in Giskard that for him to force forgetfulness upon her might harm her."

Vasilia said, "Giskard is the one to decide that. - Giskard, you are mine. You know you are mine and I order you to induce forgetfulness in this man-aping robot who stands beside you and in the woman who wrongfully treated you as her property. Do it while she is asleep and there will be no harm done to her of any kind."

Daneel said, "Friend Giskard, Lady Gladia is your legal owner. If you induce forgetfulness in Lady Vasilia, it will not harm her."

"But it will," said Vasilia at once. "The Solarian woman will not be harmed, for she need only forget that she is under the impression that she is Giskard's owner. I, on the other hand, also know that Giskard has mental powers. Digging that out will be more complex and Giskard can surely tell by my intense determination to keep that knowledge that he could not help but inflict damage on me in the process of removing it."

Daneel said, "Friend Giskard - "

Vasilia said, in a voice that was diamond-hard, "I order you, Robot Daneel Olivaw, to be silent. I am not your owner, but your owner is asleep and does not countermand it, so my order must be obeyed."

Daneel fell silent, but his lips trembled as though he were trying to talk despite the order.

Vasilia watched that manifestation with an amused smile on her lips. "You see, Daneel, you cannot talk."

And Daneel said in a hoarse whisper, "I can, madam, I find it difficult, but I can, for I find that something takes precedence over your order, which is governed by only the Second Law."

Vasilia's eyes opened wide and she said sharply, "Silence, I say. Nothing takes precedence over my order but the First Law and I have already shown that Giskard will do least harm - indeed, no harm at all - if he returns to me. He will do harm to me, to whom he is least capable of doing harm, if he follows any other course of action." She pointed her finger at Daneel and said again with a soft hiss, "Silence!"

It was a clear effort for Daneel to make any sound at all. The small pump within him that manipulated the air current that produced the sound made a small, humming noise as it labored. Yet, though he spoke in an even lower whisper, he could still be heard.

He said, "Madam Vasilia, there is something that transcends even the First Law."

Giskard said, in a voice equally low, but unforced, "Friend Daneel, you must not say that. Nothing transcends the First Law. "

Vasilia, frowning slightly, showed a spark of interest. "Indeed? Daneel, I warn you that if you attempt to progress further in this odd line of argument, you will surely destroy yourself. I have never seen or heard of a robot doing what you are doing and it would be fascinating to watch your self-destruction. Speak on."

With the order given, Daneel's voice returned immediately to normal. "I thank you, Madam Vasilia. - Years ago, I sat at the deathbed of an Earthman to whom you have asked me not to refer. May I now refer to him or do you know who it is that I speak of?"

"You speak of that policeman Baley," said Vasilia tonelessly.

"Yes, madam. He said to me on his deathbed, 'The work of each individual contributes to a totality, and so becomes an undying part of the totality. That totality of human lives - past and present and to come - forms a tapestry that has been in existence now for many tens of thousands of years and has been growing more elaborate and, on the whole, more beautiful in all that time. Even the Spacers are an offshoot of the tapestry and they, too, add to the elaborateness and beauty of the pattern. An individual life is one thread in the tapestry and what is one thread compared to the whole? Daneel, keep your mind fixed firmly on the tapestry and do not let the trailing off of a single thread affect you.'"

"Mawkish sentimentality," murmured Vasilia.

Daneel said, "I believe Partner Elijah was attempting to protect me against the fact of his soon-to-come death. It was his own life he spoke of as but a thread in the tapestry, it was his own life that was 'the trailing off of a single thread' that was not to affect me. His words did protect me in that crisis."

"No doubt," said Vasilia, "but get to the point of transcending the First Law, for it is that which will now destroy you."

Daneel said, "For decades I have brooded over Plainclothesman Elijah Baley's statement and it is quite likely I would have understood it at once if the Three Laws had not stood in the way. I have been helped in my search by my friend Giskard, who has long felt the Three Laws to be incomplete. I have been helped also by points Lady Gladia made in a recent speech on a Settler world. What's more, this present crisis, Lady Vasilia, has served to sharpen my thinking. I am certain, now, as to the manner in which the Three Laws are incomplete."

"A robot who is also a roboticist," said Vasilia with a touch of contempt. "How are the Three Laws incomplete, robot?"

Daneel said, "The tapestry of life is more important than a single thread. Apply that not to Partner Elijah alone, but generalize it and - and - and we conclude that humanity as a whole is more important than a single human being."

"You stumble as you say it, robot. You do not believe."

Daneel said, "There is a law that is greater than the First Law. A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. I think of it now as the Zeroth Law of Robotics. The First Law should then be stated: 'A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate the Zeroth Law of Robotics."

Vasilia snorted. "And you still stand on your feet, robot?"

"I still stand on my feet, madam."

"Then I will explain something to you, robot, and we will see if you can survive the explanation. - The Three Laws of Robotics involve individual human beings and individual robots. You can point to any individual human being or to an individual robot. But what is your 'humanity" but an abstraction? Can you point to humanity? You can injure or fail to injure a specific human being and understand the injury or lack of injury that has taken place. Can you see an injury to humanity? Can you understand it? Can you point to it?"

Daneel was silent.

Vasilia smiled broadly. "Answer, robot. Can you see an injury to humanity and can you point to it?"

"No, madam, I cannot. But I believe such injury can exist nevertheless and you see that I still stand on my feet."

"Then ask Giskard as to whether he will - or can - obey your Zeroth Law of Robotics."

Daneel's head turned to Giskard. "Friend Giskard?"

Slowly Giskard said, "I cannot accept the Zeroth Law, friend Daneel. You know that I have read widely in human history. In it, I have found great crimes committed by some human beings against each other and the excuse has always been that the crimes were justified by the needs of the tribe, or of the state, or even of humanity. It is precisely because humanity is an abstraction that it can be called upon so freely to justify anything at all and your Zeroth Law is therefore unsuitable."

Daneel said, "But you know, friend Giskard, the fact that a danger to humanity now exists and that it will surely come to fruition if you become the property of Madam Vasilia. That, at least, is not an abstraction."

Giskard said, "The danger to which you refer is not something known, but is merely inferred. We cannot build our actions in defiance of the Three Laws on that."

Daneel paused, then said in a lower voice, "But you hope that your studies of human history will help you develop the Laws governing human behavior, that you will learn to predict and guide human history - or at lease make a beginning, so that someone someday will learn to predict and guide it. You even call the technique 'psychohistory.' In this, are you not dealing with the human tapestry? Are you not trying to work with humanity as a generalized whole, rather than with collections of individual human beings?"

"Yes, friend Daneel, but it is thus far no more than a hope and I cannot base my actions upon a mere hope, nor can I modify the Three Laws in accordance with it."

To that, Daneel did not respond.

Vasilia said, "Well, robot, all your attempts have come to nothing and yet you stand on your feet. You are strangely stubborn and a robot such as yourself that can denounce the Three Laws and still remain functional is a clear danger to every and any individual human being. For that reason, I believe you should be dismantled without delay. The case is too dangerous to await the slow majesty of the law, especially since you are, after all, a robot and not the human being you attempt to resemble."

Daneel said, "Surely, my lady, it is not fitting for you to reach such a decision on your own."

"I have reached it nevertheless and if there are legal repercussions hereafter, I shall deal with them."

"You will be depriving Lady Gladia of a second robot and one to which you make no claim."

"She and Fastolfe, between them, have deprived me of my robot, Giskard, for more than twenty decades and I do not believe this ever distressed either of them for a moment it will not now distress me to deprive her. She has dozens of other robots and there are many here at the Institute who will faithfully see to her safety until she can return to her own."

Daneel said, "Friend Giskard, if you will wake Lady Gladia, it may be that she may persuade Lady Vasilia - "

Vasilia, looking at Giskard, frowned and said sharply, "No, Giskard. Le the woman sleep."

Giskard, who had stirred at Daneel's words, subsided.

Vasilia snapped the finger and thumb of her right hand three times and the door at once opened and four robots filed, in. "You were right, Daneel. There are four robots. They will dismantle you and you are ordered not to resist. Thereafter Giskard and I will deal with all remaining matters."

She looked over her shoulder at the entering robots. "Close the door behind you. Now, quickly and efficiently, dismantle this robot," and she pointed at Daneel.

The robots looked at Daneel and for a few seconds did not move. Vasilia said impatiently, "I've told you he is a robot and you must disregard his human appearance. Daneel, tell them you are a robot."

"I am a robot," said Daneel, "and I will not resist."

Vasilia stepped to one side and the four robots advanced. Daneel's arms remained at his side. He turned to look at the sleeping Gladia one last time and then he faced the robots.

Vasilia smiled and said, "This should be interesting."

The robots paused. Vasilia said, "Get on with it."

They did not move and Vasilia turned to stare in amazement at Giskard. She did not complete the movement. Her muscles loosened and she crumpled.

Giskard caught her and seated her with her back against the wall.

He said in a muffled voice, "I need a few moments and then we will leave."

Those moments passed. Vasilia's eyes remained glazed and unfocused. Her robots remained motionless. Daneel had moved to Gladia in a single stride.

Giskard looked up and said to Vasilia's robots, "Guard your lady. Allow no one to enter until she wakes. She will waken peacefully."

Even as he spoke, Gladia stiffed and Daneel helped her to her feet. She said, wondering, "Who is this woman? Whose robots - How did she - "

Giskard spoke firmly, but there was a weariness in his voice. "Lady Gladia, later. I will explain. For now, we must hasten."

And they left.

***