Robots and Empire (Page 70)

"Of course not, but it was in one of the codes we’ve broken."

D.G. nodded his head thoughtfully, then said, "Very interesting. I take it they didn’t have anyone who could speak Solarian."

"Obviously," said Pandaral weightily. "Unless someone can find where the Solarians went, this woman of yours is the only available Solarian in the Galaxy."

"And they let me have her, didn’t they? Tough on the Aurorans."

"At any rate, I was going to announce the destruction of the Auroran ship last night. In a matter-of-fact way – no gloating. Just the same, it would have excited every Settler in the Galaxy. I mean, we got away and the Aurorans didn’t."

"We had a Solarian," said D.G. dryly. "The Aurorans didn’t."

"Very well. It would make you and the woman look good, too. – But it all came to nothing. After what the woman did, anything else would have come as anticlimax, even the news of the destruction of an Auroran warship."

D.G. said, "To say nothing of the fact that once everyone has finished applauding kinship and love, it would go against the grain – for the next half hour anyway – to applaud the death of a couple of hundred of the Auroran kin."

"I suppose so. So that’s an enormous psychological blow that we’ve lost."

D.G. was frowning. "Forget that, Director. You can always work the propaganda at some other, more appropriate time. The important thing is what it all means. – An Auroran ship was blown up. That means they weren’t expecting a nuclear intensifier to be used. The other ship was ordered away and that may mean it wasn’t equipped with a defense against it – and maybe they don’t even have a defense. I should judge from this that the portable intensifier – or semiportable one, anyway – is a Solarian development specifically and not a Spacer development generally. That’s good news for us – if it’s true. For the moment, let’s not worry about propaganda brownie points but concentrate on squeezing every bit of information we can out of that intensifier. We want to be ahead of the Spacers in this – if possible."

Pandaral munched away at a bun and said, "Maybe you’re right. But in that case, how do we fit in the other bit of news?"

D.G. said, "What other bit of news? Director, are you going to give me the information I need to make intelligent conversation or do you intend to toss them into the air one by one and make me jump for them?"

"Don’t get huffy, D.G. There’s no point in talking with you if I can’t be informal. Do you know what it’s like at a Directory meeting? Do you want my job? You can have it, you know."

"No, thank you, I don’t want it. What I want is your bit of news."

"We have a message from Aurora. An actual message. They actually deigned to communicate directly with us instead of sending it by way of Earth."

"We might consider it an important message, then – to them. What do they want?"

"They want the Solarian woman back again."

"Obviously, then, they know our ship got away from Solaria and has come to Baleyworld. They have their monitoring stations, too, and eavesdrop on our communications as we eavesdrop on theirs."

"Absolutely," said Pandaral with considerable irritation. "They break our codes as fast as we break theirs. My own feeling is we ought to come to an agreement that we both send messages in the clear. Neither of us would be worse off."

"Did they say why they want the woman?"

"Of course not. Spacers don’t give reasons; they give orders."

"Have they found out exactly what it was that the woman accomplished on Solaria? Since she’s the only person who speaks authentic Solarian, do they want her to clear the planet of its overseers?"

"I don’t see how they could have found out, D.G. We only announced her role last night. The message from Aurora was received well before that. – But it doesn’t matter why they want her. The question is: What do we do? If we don’t return her, we may have a crisis with Aurora that I don’t want. If we do return her, it will look bad to the Baleyworlders and Old Man Bistervan will have a field day pointing out that we’re crawling to the Spacers."

They stared at each other, then D.G. said slowly, "We’ll have to return her. After all, she’s a Spacer and an Auroran citizen. We can’t keep her against Aurora’s will or we’ll put at risk every Trader who ventures into Spacer territory on business. But I’ll take her back, Director, and you can put the blame on me. Say that the conditions of my taking her to Solaria were that I would return her to Aurora, which is true, actually, even if not a matter of written formality, and that I am a man of ethics and felt I had to keep my agreement. – And it may turn out to our advantage."

"In what way?"

"I’ll have to work it out. But if it’s to be done, Director, my ship will have to be refitted at planetary expense. And my men will need healthy bonuses. – Come, Director, they’re giving up their leave."

45

Considering that he had not intended to be in his ship again for at least three additional months, D.G. seemed in genial spirits.

And considering that Gladia had larger and more luxurious quarters than she had before, she seemed rather depressed.

"Why all this?" she asked.

"Looking a gift horse in the mouth?" asked D.G.

"I’m just asking. Why?"

"For one thing, my lady, you’re a class-A heroine and when the ship was refurbished, this place was rather tarted up for you."

"Tarted up?"

"Just an expression. Fancied up, if you prefer."

"This space wasn’t just created. Who lost out?"

"Actually, it was the crew’s lounge, but they insisted, you know. You’re their darling, too. In fact, Niss – you remember Niss?"