Джек Макдевитт - A Voice in the Night

It chuckled. “How would you reply if I asked you that question?”

“Okay,” said Murray. “You said you’re the Administrator. What do you administrate?”

“Mostly transportation among the five cities. I had other responsibilities as well. But nothing demanding.”

“What five cities? There are no cities out there.”

“Well, of course you can’t see them. How did you people manage to cross the void from the third world?”

“The cities are buried,” said Eddie.

“Very good. I always thought the monkeys—do I have the right word?—had possibilities.”

That stunned everybody. Patti broke the long silence that followed: “You’re familiar with Earth?”

“The third world? The People were familiar with it, and I through them.”

“The People?” said Patti. “You mean the Martians?”

“The People were not native to this world.”

Warren finally found his voice. “You’re talking about them in the past tense. Are they dead?”

“Extinct, yes. Dead.”

“How long ago?” asked Jill.

“This world has completed its orbit six thousand seventeen times since the last of them died. But they forgot who they were long before that.”

“And who were they?”

“A race of great accomplishment and much promise. But the very qualities that drove their energies betrayed them.”

“In what way?”

“They questioned everything. Disputed everything. And if they were thereby enabled to uncover the deepest secrets of the cosmos, they were also unable to achieve long-term political stability. Those who came here were refugees.”

“Where did they come from?”

“I am unable to think how I might show you. Let me say only that, if their home star were a hundred times closer, it would still not be visible, I suspect, to your unaided eyes.”

“And they came to Mars.” Murray looked out at the sterile landscape. “Why not Earth?”

“It was too crowded with predators. And life. The gravity index was too high. Practical matters aside, they considered this world more beautiful.”

“Why did they die off?” asked Bryan Trahan, who had been observing quietly. “What happened to them?”

“After we had settled, after a period of great achievement, they began again to disagree. Sometimes on form of government. Sometimes on the ethics of certain medical procedures. Sometimes on the value of literary works. Their quarrels splintered them into smaller and more hostile fragments. We could have removed the part of them that resisted socialization. Could have tamed them. But that issue itself became divisive. They loved combat.

“Eventually they became subject to their own technology, lost the knowledge without which reason is only of limited use. And they retreated into their own barbaric past.”

Jason picked up one of the tablets and inspected it.

“Yes. That is exactly right. They forgot who I was. Who they were. They converted the surface villas, which were designed to allow appreciation of the vistas of this world, into places of worship.”

“And you,” said Bryan, “became the resident deity.”

It laughed. The sound was bone-chilling. “Yes. Toward the end, they were killing one another to curry my favor.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?” asked Judy, her voice cold.

“It was not my prerogative to interfere, but only to help.”

“My God,” said Warren. “It sounds like one of the laws of robotics.”

“What?” asked Bryan.

Warren was surprised that anyone in that group would not have heard of the three laws of robotics. “A robot must obey a human,” he said.

“I am not a robot.”

Patti stared at the pyramid.

“And they did this while you watched?” asked Murray.

There was no answer. As the silence stretched out, they glanced uncomfortably at each other.

“Do you have a moral sense?” asked Eddie.

“That’s an impertinent question, Edward.”

“You know who I am.”

“I know who all of you are.”

“You,” said Bryan, “are able to tell us their whole history. Right?”

“Yes.”

“Not only here, but on the home world.”

“I do not have all that in my memory, but I can make it available.”

“How?”

“It is stored in the ships.”

Murray’s face clouded. “The ships,” he said. “The vehicles they used to cross the stars.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of vehicles?” asked Eddie. “How fast were they?”

“They traveled at multiples of light speed.”

“My God,” said Judy. “You can give us FTL.”

“There is little that the People did not understand about the mechanics of the universe. That which is allowed, they were capable of performing. I suspect you do not have anti-gravity?”

“No.”

“Temporal manipulation?”

“Probably not.”

“Quantum power?”

“Not to speak of. But you can make all this available to us?”

“If you wish. You might want to consider whether you have the wisdom to control the capabilities I can provide.”

“Where are the ships?” asked Abu.

“In the asteroid belt. I will give you their location if you will do something for me.”

“I thought,” said Judy, “there’d be something.”

Murray looked puzzled. “What could you possibly want from us?”

“I’ve been here a long time. I want you to disengage my circuits. Give me peace.”

“You mean kill you?” asked Patti, shocked.

“I mean terminate my existence.”

“We can’t do that,” said Bryan. “We can’t kill a sentient creature.”

“I’m a machine.”

Abu shook his head. “You said you weren’t a robot.”

“It is my request. You have an obligation to honor it.”

“We’re not bound to honor someone else’s code of conduct,” said Jason, lowering himself into a chair. “Listen, I understand you’ve been alone for centuries. But you’ll never be alone again. Someone will always be here.” He looked up at Murray. “Won’t we, Murray?”

“I don’t think you understand. I don’t wish to give offense, but you’re not appropriate companions for me. There’s hope for you, but you still lack the subtlety of an advanced intellect.”

Eddie sighed. “Advanced intellect? You used to run subways.”

“Good. I’m pleased to see you have a sense of humor. If the behavior exhibited on the reports coming in from your home world is typical, I can understand why.”