Robots and Empire

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.

15. THE HOLY WORLD

PART V.

EARTH

15. THE HOLY WORLD

72

Amadiro bit his lower lip and his eyes flicked in the direction of Mandamus, who seemed lost in thought.

Amadiro said defensively, "She insisted on it. She told me that only she could handle this Giskard, that only she could exert a sufficiently strong influence over him and prevent him from using these mental powers of his."

"You never said anything of this to me, Dr. Amadiro."

"I wasn’t sure what there was to tell, young man. I wasn’t sure she was correct."

"Are you sure now?"

"Completely. She remembers nothing of what went on – "

"So that we know nothing of what went on."

Amadiro nodded. "Exactly. And she remembers nothing of what she had told me earlier."

"And she’s not acting?"

"I saw to it that she had an emergency electroencephalogram. There have been distinct changes from the earlier records."

"Is there a chance she will recover her memory with time?"

Amadiro shook his head bitterly. "Who can tell? But I doubt it."

Mandamus’ eyes still downcast and full of thought, said, "Does it matter, then? We can take her account of Giskard as true and we know that he has the power to affect minds. That knowledge is crucial and it is now ours. – In fact, it is well that our roboticist colleague has failed. If Vasilia had gained control of that robot, how long do you suppose it would have been before you, too, would have been under her control – and I, as well, – assuming she would think I was worth controlling?"

Amadiro nodded. "I suppose she might have had something like that in mind. Right now, though, it’s hard to tell what she has in mind. She seems, superficially at least, undamaged except for the specific loss of memory – she apparently remembers everything else – but who knows how this will affect her deeper thought processes and her skill as a roboticist? That Giskard could do this to someone as skilled as she makes him an incredibly dangerous phenomenon.

"Does it occur to you, Dr. Amadiro, that the Settlers may be right in their distrust of robots?"

"It almost does, Mandamus."

Mandamus rubbed his hands together. "I assume from your depressed attitude that this whole business was not uncovered before they had time to leave Aurora."

"You assume correctly. That Settler captain has the Solarian woman and both of her robots on his ship and is heading toward Earth."

"And where does that leave us now?"

Slowly Amadiro said, "By no means defeated, it seems to me. If we complete our project, we have won – Giskard or no Giskard. And we can complete it. Whatever Giskard can do with and to emotions, he can’t read thoughts. He might be able to tell when a wash of emotion crosses a human mind, or even distinguish one emotion from another, or change one to another, or induce sleep or amnesia – dull edged things like that. He cannot be sharp, however, cannot make out actual words or ideas."

"Are you sure of that?"

"So said Vasilia."

"She may not have known what she was talking about. She did not, after all, manage to control the robot, as she said she was sure of doing. That’s not much of a testimonial to her accuracy of understanding."

"Yet I believe her in this. To actually be able to read thoughts would demand so much complexity in the positronic pathway pattern that it is totally unlikely that a child could have inserted it into the robot over twenty decades ago. It is actually far beyond even the present-day state of the art, Mandamus. Surely you must agree."

"I would certainly think it was. And they’re going to Earth?"

"I’m sure of it."

"Would this woman, brought up as she was, actually go to Earth?"

"She has no choice if Giskard controls her."

"And why should Giskard want her to go to Earth? Can he know about our project? You seem to think he doesn’t."

"It is possible he doesn’t. His motivation for going to Earth might be nothing more than to place himself and the Solarian woman beyond our reach."

"I shouldn’t think he’d fear us if he could handle Vasilia."

"A long-range weapon," said Amadiro icily, "could bring him down. His own abilities must have a limited range. They can be based on nothing other than the electromagnetic field and he must be subject to the inverse square law. So we get out of range as the intensity of his powers weaken, but he will then find that he is not out of range of our weapons."

Mandamus frowned and looked uneasy. "You seem to have an un-Spacer liking for violence, Dr. Amadiro. In a cast like this, though, I suppose force would be permissible.

"A case like this? A robot capable of harming human beings? I should think so. We’ll have to find a pretext for sending a good ship in pursuit. It wouldn’t be wise to explain the actual situation – "

"No," said Mandamus emphatically. "Think of how many would wish to have personal control of such a robot."