Barrington Bayley - The Rod of Light

Yoshibo backed off. ‘But the field has been worked for more than fifty years. I have no idea where the shaft is, if it exists… this has never occurred to me till now.’

Jasperodus could only attribute this failing to an unwillingness to escape, though robots, of course, would not be particularly mindful of the air circulation system, since they needed none. Jasperodus had pieced together his deductions after about six months, and had cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. But then, it had taken him some time to learn how the mine was engineered.

‘Are there robots who have been here longer than you?’ he asked.

‘Yes, some of the Borgor constructs. Brass may be one of the oldest. He’s been here a long time.’

‘Then recruit him as a guide. Perhaps he knows about the air shaft, even.’

‘Brass is loyal: he would never assist a robot to escape. Besides, getting out of the mine is only the beginning, Jasperodus. Where can one go once above ground? We are in the middle of Borgor! I prefer to stay here, where at least I am useful.’

‘Useful to the enemies of your true masters, Yoshibo!’ snapped Jasperodus. ‘Think back! Where is the senator? Where are his wife and children?’

‘Murdered! All murdered!’ agreed Yoshibo in a strangled tone. ‘My master! My pupils! And yet—’

With a clank, Jasperodus placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘I mean to leave this mine. You will find Brass and bring him to me. That is an order.’

He watched Yoshibo’s muddy yellow eyes flicker. A struggle was taking place in the one-time tutor’s brain. For the past two decades the discipline of the mine had been his only influence—and Jasperodus knew from experience how seductive that ethic could be. He had tried to weaken it by reminding Yoshibo of his former life. Mainly, though, he was counting on being able to elicit the automatic obedience proper to the normal construct.

‘Very well, Jasperodus,’ Yoshibo said meekly, the struggle over. ‘I will go now, and find Brass.’

‘Do not tell him we plan an escape, of course, Jasperodus said pensively. ‘Do not mention the air shaft at all. Tell him we are going to show him the sun. Tell him we can prove that a world exists above ground. Will that bring him here?’

Yoshibo brightened. ‘Yes, it will. And of course it is true! Put that way, there can be no objection to our coopting him! I am merely bringing the truth to Brass!’

So saying, he hurried off. Jasperodus squatted down on his haunches, his back to the rock wall. He could not switch off the lamp that was clamped to his skull by a headband; so he removed it and buried its face in the dust of the tunnel floor.

In the darkness, he waited. Hours passed, before there were footsteps and he saw the light of two beams.

It was Yoshibo and a companion: as promised, Brass. Jasperodus rose, retrieving his lamp and fastening it in place.

‘Well?’ Brass looked about him challengingly. ‘I see nothing new. All is as before—in fact we should not be here—’

‘Wait,’ said Jasperodus. ‘Wait.’ He looked into their faces one by one as they stood close together. The three headlamps, turned inwards from the corners of a triangle, made a conspiratorial cache of light. ‘Yoshibo told you why I sent for you?’

‘He said he could show me this fantastic world he tries to convince me of, where all is light.’

‘That is so. I will show you the world. You shall enter it. But first you must leave this world.’

He paused, letting his words sink in, then continued quietly: ‘I understand you know about all parts of the mine. Including the abandoned parts.’

‘I know something, it is true.’

‘Brass, in the old workings there is a secret way to the upper world. Together we can find it.’

Brass shook his had. ‘It is not permitted to enter the old workings. Yoshibo was wrong even to bring me here. We are transgressing—’

‘Listen to me. I want you to think back to your early life. Think to when you were first activated. The mine must have been smaller then than it is now.’

‘Smaller in one way. The working part isn’t much bigger today than it was then.’

‘But it spreads further.’

‘That is because there are so many old workings.’

‘And could you find your way about those workings?’

‘Oh, it wouldn’t be permitted,’ Brass said, waving his head about in knowledgeable fashion. ‘Not unless a foreman ordered it.’

‘Well, listen. How did the coal and scurry leave the mine in those days?’

‘The same way. Except the adit came to a different place.’

‘At the opposite end of the workings from the adit, there was another place where there was an engine, wasn’t there? A place where you weren’t permitted to go. Isn’t that so?’

‘We had lots of engines, just like it is now.’

‘This was a special place where no work was done, except for occasional maintenance. Perhaps it was closed off by a door, with just a vent for air to go through. Do you remember it?’

Brass thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. ‘Yes, it was at the other end. Robots never went there, but I remember hearing the engine. It was a pump. Whenever there was a new foreman the others took him in there, but they usually didn’t stay long.’

That was it! Jasperodus thought with excitement. A newcomer to the mine would be shown the emergency exit and how to use it.

‘Was there a strong draught of air near that place?’ he asked. Brass only stared at him. He reminded himself that the Borgor robot would not have the sensitivity to feel air currents. His body shell was probably only crudely sensored.

‘A funny thing,’ Brass said thoughtfully. ‘I saw a foreman come out of the forbidden place once. But I hadn’t seen him go in.’

‘That is because he came down from the upper world, Brass. Now, could you find your way to this pump?’

‘Oh, I don’t suppose it is still there. All the equipment is moved out of abandoned workings.’

‘It is still there,’ Jasperodus assured him. There would be no point in sinking a new air shaft every time the faces changed, and besides, efficient circulation of air was enhanced if proven conduits were used where possible. It was only necessary to keep the airways open. ‘Can you find it?’ he asked.

‘Only if I were ordered to do so.’

‘You are ordered. I order you, and that countermands any previous order. Come, we shall begin the journey.’

He extended an arm to usher the robot along the tunnel. But Brass drew back. ‘Oh no, we are not allowed!’

‘This is an order ,’ Jasperodus said harshly. ‘A direct order!’

Brass’ confusion was even greater than Yoshibo’s. The notion of disobedience was practically incomprehensible to him. But never before had he been faced with conflicting demands. His eyes dimmed and almost went out.

Then he tried to make a break for it, lurching back up the tunnel the way he had come. Jasperodus sprang forward and caught him by the wrist. After a brief tussle he flung him further along the passage, standing between him and escape.

He cast a glance behind him. ‘What of you, Yoshibo?’

‘I elect to remain here,’ Yoshibo murmured. ‘The adventure is not to my liking.’

‘Very well—but be sure you do not betray me.’

‘I will try not to, but what if I am asked where you are?’

‘Tell them when you saw me last, but nothing else.’

Perhaps he should junk Yoshibo for safety’s sake, Jasperodus thought. But he was unlikely to be questioned. The foremen were so careless and contemptuous of the robots under their command that he doubted his absence would be noticed at all.

He pushed Brass further down the tunnel, forcing him to walk. Soon the silence deepened: the silence of a way that had not been trodden for years.