Robots and Empire

  Then came the time, years of dragging unhappiness later, when she found him dead, his skull crushed, and herself as the only possible suspect. Elijah Baley had saved her then and she had been taken away from Solaria and sent to Aurora.

  Now she was back, smelling Solaria.

  Nothing else was familiar. The house in the distance bore no resemblance to anything she remembered even faintly. In twenty decades it had been modified, torn down, rebuilt. She could not even gain any sense of familiarity with the ground itself.

  She found herself reaching backward to touch the Settler ship that had brought her to this world that smelled like home but was home in no other way—just to touch something that was familiar by comparison.

  Daneel, who stood next to her in the shadow of the ship, said, "Do you see the robots, Madam Gladia?"

  There were a group of them, a hundred yards away, amid the trees of an orchard, watching solemnly, motionlessly, shining in the sun with the grayish well-polished metal finish Gladia remembered Solarian robots to have.

  She said, "I do, Daneel."

  "Is there anything familiar about them, madam?"

  "Not at all. They seem to be new, models. I can't remember them and I'm sure they can't remember me. If D.G. was expecting anything hopeful to come of my supposed familiarity with the robots on my estate, he will have to be disappointed."

  Giskard said, "They do not seem to be doing anything, madam."

  Gladia said, "That is understandable. We're intruders and they've come to observe us and to report on us in accordance with what must be standing orders. They have no one now to report to, however, and can merely silently observe. Without further orders, I presume they will do no more than that, but they won't cease doing so, either."

  Daneel said, "It might be well, Madam Gladia, if we retired to our quarters on board ship. The captain is, I believe, supervising the construction of defenses and is not ready to go exploring yet. I suspect he will not approve your having left your quarters without his specific permission."

  Gladia said haughtily, "I'm not going to delay stepping out onto the surface of my own world just to suit his whim."

  "I understand, but members of the crew are engaged in the vicinity and I believe that some note your presence here."

  "And are approaching," said Giskard. "If you would avoid infection—"

  "I'm prepared," said Gladia. "Nose plugs and gloves."

  Gladia did not understand the nature of the structures being put up on the flat ground about the ship. For the most part, the crewmen, absorbed in the construction, had not seen Gladia and her two companions, standing as they were in the shadows. (It was the warm season on this portion of Solaria, which had a tendency to grow warmer—and on other occasions, colder—than Aurora did, since the Solarian day was nearly six hours longer than the Auroran day.)

  The crewmen approaching were five in number and one of them, the tallest and largest, pointed in the direction of Gladia. The other four looked, remained standing for a while as though merely curious, and then, at a gesture from the first, approached again, changing their angle slightly so as to head directly for the Auroran three.

  Gladia watched them silently and with her eyebrows raised in contempt. Daneel and Giskard waited impassively.

  Giskard said in a low voice to Daneel, "I do not know where the captain is. I cannot distinguish him from the crowd of crewmen in whose midst he must be."

  "Shall we retire?" said Daneel aloud.

  "That would be disgraceful," said Gladia. "This is my world."

  She held her ground and the five crewmen came closer in leisurely fashion.

  They had been working, doing hard physical labor (Like robots, thought Gladia with distain) and they were sweating. Gladia became aware of the odor that reeked from them. That would have served to force her away more than threats would, but she held her ground even so. The nose plugs, she was sure, mitigated the effect of the smell.

  The large crewman approached more closely than the others. His skin was bronzed. His bare arms glistened with moisture and with shining musculature. He might be thirty (as nearly as Gladia could judge the age of these shortlived, beings) and if he were washed and properly dressed, he might prove quite presentable.

  He said, "So you are the Spacer lady from Aurora that we've been carrying on our ship?" He spoke rather slowly, obviously trying to attain an aristocratic tinge to his Galactic. He failed, of course, and he spoke like a Settler—even more crudely than D.G. did.

  Gladia said, establishing her territorial rights, "I am from Solaria, Settler," and stopped in confused embarrassment. She had spent so much time thinking of Solaria just now that twenty decades had dropped away and she had spoken with a thick Solarian accent. There was the broad "a" in Solaria and the rough "r," while the "I" sounded horribly like "Oi".

  She said again, in a much lower, less commanding voice, but one in which the accent of Aurora University—the standard for Galactic speech through all the Spacer worlds—rang clear, "I am from Solaria, Settler."

  The Settler laughed and turned to the others. "She speaks la-di-da, but she had to try. Right, mates?"

  The others laughed, too, and one cried out, "Get her to talk some more, Niss. Maybe we can all learn to talk like Spacer birdies." And he placed one hand on his hip in as dainty a manner as he could manage, while holding the other hand out limply.

  Niss said, still smiling, "Shut up, all of you." There was instant silence.

  He turned to Gladia again, "I'm Berto Niss, First-Class Shipper. And your name, little woman?"

  Gladia did not venture to speak again.

  Niss said, "I'm being polite, little woman. I'm speaking gentlemanly. Spacer-like. I know you're old enough to be my great-grandmother. How old you are you, little woman?"

  "Four hundred," shouted one of the crewmen from behind Niss, "but she doesn't look it!"

  "She doesn't look one hundred," said another.

  "She looks suitable for a little ding-donging," said a third, "and hasn't had any for a long time, I guess. Ask her if she'd want some, Niss. Be polite and ask if we can take turns."

  Gladia flushed angrily and Daneel said, "First-Class Shipper Niss, your companions are offending Madam Gladia. Would you retire?"

  Niss turned to look at Daneel, whom, till now, he had totally ignored. The smile vanished from his face and he said, "Look, you. This little lady is off-limits. The captain said so. We won't bother her. Just a little harmless talk. That thing there is a robot. We won't bother with him and he can't hurt us. We know the Three Laws of Robotics. We order him to stay away from us, see. But you are a Spacer and the captain has give us no orders about you. So you"—he pointed a finger—"stay out of this and don't interfere or you'll get your pretty skin all bruised up and then you might cry."

  Daneel said nothing.

  Niss nodded his head. "Good. I like to see someone smart enough not to start anything he can't finish."

  He turned to Gladia, "Now, little Spacer woman, we will leave you alone because the captain doesn't want you bothered. If one of the men here made a crude remark, that's only natural. Just shake hands and let's be friends—Spacer, Settler, what's the difference?"

  He thrust out his hand toward Gladia, who shrank away in horror. Daneel's hand moved outward in a flick that was almost too fast to see and caught Niss's wrist, "First-Class Shipper Niss," he said quietly, "do not attempt to touch the lady."

  Niss looked down at his hand and at the fingers that enclosed his wrist firmly. He said in a low and menacing growl, "You have till the count of three to let go."

  Daneel's hand fell away. He said, "I must do as you say for I do not wish to harm you, but I must protect the lady—and if she doesn't wish to be touched, as I believe she doesn't, I may be forced into a position where I must cause you pain. Please accept my assurance that I will do all I can to minimize that."

  One of the crewmen shouted joyously, "Give it to him, Niss. He's a talker."

  Niss said, "Loo
k, Spacer, twice I told you to keep out and you touched me once. Now I tell you a third time and that's it. Make a move, say a word, and I take you apart. This little woman is going to shake hands, that's all, friendly like. Then we all go. Fair enough?"

  Gladia said in a low choking voice. "I won't be touched by him. Do what is necessary"

  Daneel said, "Sir, with all due respect, the lady does not wish to be touched. I must ask you—all of you—to leave."

  Niss smiled and one large arm moved as though to brush Daneel to one side—and to do it hard.

  Daneel's, left arm flickered and once again Niss was held by the wrist. "Please go, sir," said Daneel.

  Niss's teeth continued to show, but he was no longer smiling. Violently, he brought his arm up. Daneel's enclosing hand moved up for a short distance, slowed, and came to a halt. His face showed no strain. His hand moved down, dragging Niss's arm with it, and then, with a rapid twist, he bent Niss's arm behind the Settler's broad back and held it there.

  Niss, who found himself unexpectedly with his back to Daneel, brought his other arm up over his head, groping for Daneel's neck. His other wrist was seized and pulled down farther than it could easily go and Niss grunted in clear misery.

  The other four crewmen, who had been watching in eager anticipation, remained in place now, motionless, silent, mouths open.

  Niss, staring at them, grunted, "Help me!"

  Daneel said, "They will not help you, sir, for the captain's punishment will be all the worse if they try. I must ask you now to assure me that you will no longer trouble Madam Gladia and that you will leave quietly, all of you. Otherwise, I very much regret, First-Class Shipper, that I must pull your arms out of their sockets."

  As he said that, he tightened his grip on either wrist and Niss emitted a muffled grunt.

  "My apologies, sir," said Daneel, "but I am under the strictest orders. May I have your assurance?"

  Niss kicked backward with sudden viciousness, but well before his heavy boot could make contact, Daneel had faded to one side and pulled him off-balance. He went facedown heavily.

  "May I have your assurance, sir?" said Daneel, now pulling gently at the two wrists so that the crewman's arms lifted slightly up from the back.

  Niss howled and said, half-incoherent, "I give in. Let go."

  Daneel let go at once and stepped back. Slowly and painfully, Niss rolled over, moving his arms slowly and rotating his wrists with a twisted grimace.

  Then, when his right arm moved near the holster he wore, he snatched clumsily at his sidearm.

  Daneel's foot came down on his hand and pinned it to the ground. "Don't do that, sir, or I may be forced to break one or more of the small bones in your hand." He bent down and extracted Niss's blaster from its holster. "Now stand up."

  "Well, Mr. Niss," came another voice. "Do as you are told and stand up."

  D.G. Baley was standing at their side, beard bristling, face slightly flushed, but his voice was dangerously calm.

  "You four," he said, "hand me your sidearms, one at a time. Come on. Move a little faster. One—two—three—four. Now continue to stand there at attention. Sir,"—this to Daneel—"give me that sidearm you are holding. Good. Five. And now, Mr. Niss, at attention." And he placed the blasters on the ground beside him.

  Niss stiffened to attention, eyes bloodshot, face contorted, in obvious pain.

  "Would someone," said D.G., "please say what has been going on?"

  "Captain," said Daneel quickly, "Mr. Niss and I have had a playful altercation. No harm has been done."

  "Mr. Niss, however, looks somewhat harmed, said D.G.

  "No permanent harm, Captain," said Daneel.

  "I see. Well, we'll get back to this later. —Madam."—he turned on his heel to address Gladia—"I don't recall that I gave you permission to emerge from the ship. You will go back to your cabin with your two companions at once. I am captain here and this is not Aurora. Do as I say!"

  Daneel placed an apologetic hand on Gladia's elbow. Her chin lifted, but she turned and went up the gangplank and into the ship, Daneel at her side, Giskard following.

  D.G. then turned to the crewmen. "You five," he said, his voice never lifting from its flat calm, "come with me. We'll get to the bottom of this—or of you." And he gestured to a petty officer to pick up the sidearms and take them away.

  20.

  D.G. stared at the five grimly. He was in his own quarters, the only portion of the ship that had a semblance of size to it and the beginnings of an appearance of luxury.

  He said, pointing to each in turn, "Now, this is the way we'll work it. You tell me exactly what happened, word for word, motion for motion. When you're finished, you tell me anything that was wrong or left out. Then you the same, and then you, and then I'll get to you, Niss. I expect that you were all out of order, that you all did something unusually stupid that earned you all, but especially Niss, considerable humiliation. If, in your story, it would appear that you did nothing wrong and suffered no humiliation, then I'll know you're lying, especially as the Spacer woman will surely tell me what happened—and I intend to believe every word she says. A lie will make matters worse for you than anything you've actually done. Now," he barked, "start!"

  The first crewman stumbled hastily through the story, and then the second, somewhat correcting, somewhat expanding, then the third and the fourth. D.G. listened, stony-faced, to the recital, then motioned Berto Niss to one side.

  He spoke to the other four, "And while Niss was getting his face rightly mashed into the dirt by the Spacer, what were you four doing? Watching? Scared to move? All four of you? Against one man?"

  One of the men broke the thickening silence to say, "It all happened, so quick, Captain. We we're just getting set to move in and then it was all over."

  "And what were you getting ready to do in case you did manage to get to move someday?"

  "Well, we were going to pull the Spacer foreigner off our mate."

  "Do you think you could have?"

  This time no one offered to make a sound.

  D.G. leaned toward them. "Now, here's the situation. You had no business with the foreigners, so you're fined one week's pay each. And now let's get something straight. If you tell what has happened to anyone else—in the crew or out, now or ever, whether drunk or sober you'll be broken, every one of you, to apprentice shipper. It doesn't matter which one of you talks, you'll all four be broken, so keep an eye on each other. Now get to your assigned tasks and if you cross me at any time during this voyage, if you as much as hiccup against regulations, you'll be in the brig."

  The four left, mournful, hangdog, tight-lipped. Niss remained, a bruise developing on his face, his arms clearly in discomfort.

  D.G. regarded him with a threatening quiet, while Niss stared to the left, to the right, at his feet, everywhere but at the face of the captain. It was only when Niss's eyes, running out of evasion, caught the glare of the captain that, D.G. said, "Well, you look very handsome, now that you have tangled with a sissy Spacer half your size. Next time you better hide when one of them shows up."

  "Yes, Captain," said Niss miserably.

  "Did you or did you not, Niss, hear me in my briefing, before we left Aurora, say that the Spacer woman and her companions were on no account to be disturbed or spoken to?"

  "Captain, I wanted only a polite howdydo. We was curious for a closer look. No harm meant."

  "You meant no harm? You I asked how old she was. Was that your business?"

  "Just curious. Wanted to know."

  "One of you made a sexual suggestion."

  "Not me, Captain."

  "Someone else? Did you apologize for it?"

  "To a Spacer?" Niss sounded horrified,

  "Certainly. You were going against my orders."

  "I meant no harm," said Niss doggedly.

  "You meant no harm to the man?"

  "He put his hand on me, Captain."

  "I know he did. Why?"

  "Because he was
ordering me around."

  "And you wouldn't stand for it?"

  "Would you, Captain."

  "All right, then. You didn't stand for it. You fell down for it. Right on your face. How did that happen?"

  "I don't rightly know, Captain. He was fast. Like the camera was sped up. And he had a grip like iron."

  D.G. said, "So he did. What did you expect, you idiot? He is iron."

  "Captain?"

  "Niss, is it possible you don't know the story of Elijah Baley?"

  Niss rubbed his ear in embarrassment. "I know he's your great-something-grandfather, Captain."

  "Yes, everyone knows that from my name. Have, you ever viewed his life story?"

  "I'm not a viewing man, Captain. Not on history." He shrugged and, as he did so, winced and made as though to rub his shoulder, then decided he didn't quite dare do so.

  "Did you ever hear of R. Daneel Olivaw?"

  Niss squeezed his brows together. "He was Elijah Baley's friend."

  "Yes, he was. You do know something then. Do you know what the 'R' stands for in R. Daneel Olivaw?"

  "It stands for 'Robot,' right? He was a robot friend. There was robots on Earth in them days."

  "There were, Niss, and still are. But Daneel wasn't just a robot. He was a Spacer robot who looked like a Spacer man. Think about it, Niss. Guess who the Spacer man you picked a fight with really was."

  Niss's eyes widened, his face reddened dully. "You mean that Spacer was a ro—"

  "That was R. Daneel Olivaw."

  "But, Captain, that was two hundred years ago."

  "Yes and the Spacer woman was a particular friend of my Ancestor Elijah. She's been alive for two hundred and thirty-three years, incase you still want to know, and do you think a robot can't do as well as that? You were trying to fight a robot, you great fool."

  "Why didn't it say so?" Niss said with great indignation.

  "Why should it? Did you ask? See here, Niss. You heard what I told the others about telling this to anyone. It goes for you, too, but much more so. They are only crewmen, but I had my eye on you for crew leader. Had my eye, on you. If you're going to be in charge of the crew, you've got to have brains and not just muscle. So now it s going to be harder for you because you're going to have to prove you have brains against my firm opinion that you don't."