Isaac Asimov - Robots and Empire

“It is possible, Commander, that Lady Gladia may not wish to leave my ship or to allow her property to do so.”

“She has no recourse, Captain. I am legally empowered by my government to demand her—and as an Auroran citizen, she must obey.”

“But I am not legally bound to deliver up anything on my ship at the demand of a foreign power. What if I choose to disregard your request?”

“In that case, Captain, I would have no choice but to consider it an unfriendly act. May I point out that we are within the sphere of the planetary system of which Earth is part. You had no hesitation in teaching me Auroran law. You will forgive me, then, if I point out that your people do not consider it proper to engage in hostilities within the space of this planetary system.”

“I am aware of that, Commander, and I wish no hostilities, nor do I intend an unfriendly act. However, I am bound for Earth under some urgency I lose time in this conversation and I would lose further time if I moved toward you—or waited for you to move toward me—so that we could carry through a physical transfer of Lady Gladia and her robots. I would prefer to continue onward toward Earth and formally accept all responsibility for the robot Giskard and his behavior until such a time as Lady Gladia and her robots return to Aurora.”

“May I make the suggestion, Captain, that you place the woman and two robots in a lifeboat and detach a member of your crew to pilot it to us? Once the woman and the two robots are delivered, we will ourselves escort the lifeboat to the immediate environs of Earth and we will compensate you adequately for your time and trouble. A Trader should not object to that.”

“I don’t, Commander, I don’t,” said D.G., smiling. “Still, the crewman detailed to pilot the lifeboat might be in great peril since he would be alone with this dangerous robot.”

“Captain, if the robot’s owner is firm in her control, your crewman will be in no greater danger on the lifeboat than he would be on your ship. We will compensate him for the risk.”

“But if the robot can, after all, be controlled by its owner, surely it is not so dangerous that it can’t be left with us.”

The Commander frowned. “Captain, I trust you are not trying to play games with me. You have my request and I would like to have it honored at once.”

“I presume I may consult with Lady Gladia.”

“If you do so immediately. Please explain to her exactly what is involved. If, meanwhile, you try to proceed toward Earth, I shall consider that an unfriendly act and take the appropriate action. Since, as you claim, your trip toward Earth is urgent, I advise you to proceed forthwith to consult with Gladia Solaria and come to the immediate decision to cooperate with us. You will then not be too long delayed.”

“I will do what I can,” said D.G., wooden-faced, as he moved out of focus.

“Well?” said D.G. gravely.

Gladia looked distressed. Automatically, she looked toward Daneel and Giskard, but they remained silent and motionless.

She said, “I don’t want to return to Aurora, D.G. They can’t possibly want to destroy Giskard; he is in perfect working order, I assure you. That’s only a subterfuge. They want me for some reason. I suppose there’s no way they can be stopped, though, is there?”

D.G. said, “That’s an Auroran warship—and a big one. This is only a Trading vessel. We’ve got energy shields and they can’t just destroy us at a blow, but they can wear us down eventually—quite soon, in fact—and then destroy us.”

“Is there any way you can strike at them?”

“With my weapons? I’m sorry, Gladia, but their shields can take anything I can throw at them for as long as I can possibly have energy to expend. Besides—”

“Yes?”

“Well, they’ve just about cornered me. Somehow I thought they would try to intercept me before I Jumped, but they knew my destination and they got here first and waited for me. We’re inside the Solar System—the planetary system of which Earth is part. We can’t fight here. Even if I wanted to, the crew wouldn’t obey me.”

“Why not?”

“Call it superstition. The Solar System is holy space to us—if you want to describe it in melodramatic terms. We can’t desecrate it by fighting.”

Giskard said suddenly, “May I contribute to the discussion, sir?”

D.G. frowned and looked toward Gladia.

Gladia said, “Please. Let him. These robots are highly intelligent. I know you find that hard to believe, but—”

“I’ll listen. I don’t have to be influenced.”

Giskard said, “Sir, I am certain that it is me that they want. I cannot allow myself to be the cause of harm to human beings. If you cannot defend yourself and are sure of destruction in a conflict with the other vessel, you have no choice but to give me up. I am sure that if you offer to let them have me, they will not seriously object if you wish to retain Lady Gladia and friend Daneel. It is the only solution.”

“No,” said Gladia forcefully. “You are mine and I won’t give you up. I’ll go with you—if the captain decides you must go—and I’ll see to it they don’t destroy you.”

“May I speak as well?” said Daneel.

D.G. spread his hands in mock-despair. “Please. Everyone speak.”

Daneel said, “If you decide you must give up Giskard, you must understand the consequences. I believe that Giskard thinks that if he is given up, those on the Auroran ship would do him no harm and that they will even release him. I do not believe this to be so. I believe the Aurorans are serious in thinking him to be dangerous and they may well have instructions to destroy the lifeboat as it approaches, killing whoever is on board.”

“For what reason would they do that?” asked D.G.

“No Auroran has ever encountered—or even conceived—of what they call a dangerous robot. They would take no chances of taking one on board one of their vessels.—I would suggest, Captain, that you retreat. Why not jump again, away from Earth? We are not close enough to any planetary mass to prevent that.”

“Retreat? You mean run away? I can’t do that.”

“Well, then, you have to give us up,” said Gladia with an air of resigned hopelessness.

D.G. said forcefully, “I’m not giving you up—And I’m not running away. And I can’t fight.”

“Then what’s left?” asked Gladia.

“A fourth alternative,” said D.G. “Gladia, I must ask you to remain here with your robots till I return.”

D.G. considered the data. There had been enough time during the conversation for the location of the Auroran vessel to be pinpointed. It was a bit farther from the sun than his own ship was and that was good. To Jump toward the sun, at this distance from it, would have been risky indeed; to Jump sideways would be, so to speak, a piece of cake in comparison. There was the chance of accident through probability deviation, but there was always that.

He had himself assured the crew that not a shot would be fired (which would do no good, in any case). Clearly, they had utter faith in Earth space protecting them as long as they didn’t profane its peace by offering violence. It was pure mysticism that D.G. would have scornfully derided had he not shared the conviction himself.

He moved back into focus. It had been a fairly long wait, but there had been no signal from the other side. They had shown exemplary patience.

“Captain Baley here,” he said. “I wish to speak to Commander Lisiform.”

There was not much of a wait. “Commander Lisiform here. May I have your answer?”

D.G. said, “We will deliver the woman and the two robots.”