Baley, himself, had been ordered to keep his eyes open and Daneel might very likely have received similar instructions.
It would be natural for Gruer to suspect that espionage was possible. His job made it necessary for him to suspect that in any case where it was conceivable. And he would not fear Baley overmuch, an Earthman, representative of the least formidable world in the Galaxy.
But Daneel was a native of Aurora, the oldest and largest and strongest of the Outer Worlds. That would be different.
Gruer, as Baley now remembered, had not addressed one word to Daneel.
For that matter, why should Daneel pretend so thoroughly to be a man? The earlier explanation that Baley had posed for himself, that it was a vainglorious game on the part of Daneel’s Auroran designers, seemed trivial. It seemed obvious now that the masquerade was something more serious.
A man could be expected to receive diplomatic immunity; a certain courtesy and gentleness of treatment. A robot could not. But then why did not Aurora send a real man in the first place? Why gamble so desperately on a fake? The answer suggested itself instantly to Baley. A real man of Aurora, a real Spacer, would not care to associate too closely or for too long a time with an Earthman.
But if all this were true, why should Solaria find asingle murder so important that it must allow an Earthman and an Auroran to come to their planet?
Baley felt trapped.
He was trapped on Solaria by the necessities of his assignment. He was trapped by Earth’s danger, trapped in an environment he could scarcely endure, trapped by a responsibility he could not shirk. And, to add to all this, he was trapped somehow in the midst of a Spacer conflict the nature of which he did not understand.
4
A WOMAN IS VIEWED
He slept at last. He did not remember when he actually made the transition to sleep. There was just a period when his thoughts grew more erratic and then the headboard of his bed was shining and the ceiling was alight with a cool, daytime glow. He looked at his watch.
Hours had passed. The robots who ran the house had decided it was time for him to wake up and had acted accordingly.
He wondered if Daneel were awake and at once realized the illogic of the thought. Daneel could not sleep. Baley wondered if he had counterfeited sleep as part of the role he was playing. Had he undressed and put on nightclothes?
As though on cue Daneel entered. “Good morning, Partner Elijah.”
The robot was completely dressed and his face was in perfect repose. He said, “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,” said Baley dryly, “did you?”
He got out of bed and tramped into the bathroom for a shave and for the remainder of the morning ritual. He shouted, “If a robot comes in to shave me, send him out again. They get on my nerves. Even if I don’t see them, they get on my nerves.”
He stared at his own face as he shaved, marveling a bit that it looked so like the mirrored face he saw onEarth. If only the image were another Earthman with whom he could consult instead of only the light-mimicry of himself. If he could go over what he had already learned, small as it was …
“Too small! Get more,” he muttered to the mirror.
He came out, mopping his face, and pulled trousers over fresh shorts. (Robots supplied everything, damn them.)
He said, “Would you answer a few questions, Daneel?”
“As you know, Partner Elijah, I answer all questions to the best of my knowledge.”
Or to the letter of your instructions, thought Baley. He said, “Why are there only twenty thousand people on Solaria?”
“That is a mere fact,” said Daneel. “A datum. A figure that is the result of a counting process.”
“Yes, but you’re evading the matter. The planet can support millions; why, then, only twenty thousand? You said the Solarians consider twenty thousand optimum. Why?”
“It is their way of life.”
“You mean they practice birth control?”
“Yes.”
“And leave the planet
It would be natural for Gruer to suspect that espionage was possible. His job made it necessary for him to suspect that in any case where it was conceivable. And he would not fear Baley overmuch, an Earthman, representative of the least formidable world in the Galaxy.
But Daneel was a native of Aurora, the oldest and largest and strongest of the Outer Worlds. That would be different.
Gruer, as Baley now remembered, had not addressed one word to Daneel.
For that matter, why should Daneel pretend so thoroughly to be a man? The earlier explanation that Baley had posed for himself, that it was a vainglorious game on the part of Daneel’s Auroran designers, seemed trivial. It seemed obvious now that the masquerade was something more serious.
A man could be expected to receive diplomatic immunity; a certain courtesy and gentleness of treatment. A robot could not. But then why did not Aurora send a real man in the first place? Why gamble so desperately on a fake? The answer suggested itself instantly to Baley. A real man of Aurora, a real Spacer, would not care to associate too closely or for too long a time with an Earthman.
But if all this were true, why should Solaria find asingle murder so important that it must allow an Earthman and an Auroran to come to their planet?
Baley felt trapped.
He was trapped on Solaria by the necessities of his assignment. He was trapped by Earth’s danger, trapped in an environment he could scarcely endure, trapped by a responsibility he could not shirk. And, to add to all this, he was trapped somehow in the midst of a Spacer conflict the nature of which he did not understand.
4
A WOMAN IS VIEWED
He slept at last. He did not remember when he actually made the transition to sleep. There was just a period when his thoughts grew more erratic and then the headboard of his bed was shining and the ceiling was alight with a cool, daytime glow. He looked at his watch.
Hours had passed. The robots who ran the house had decided it was time for him to wake up and had acted accordingly.
He wondered if Daneel were awake and at once realized the illogic of the thought. Daneel could not sleep. Baley wondered if he had counterfeited sleep as part of the role he was playing. Had he undressed and put on nightclothes?
As though on cue Daneel entered. “Good morning, Partner Elijah.”
The robot was completely dressed and his face was in perfect repose. He said, “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,” said Baley dryly, “did you?”
He got out of bed and tramped into the bathroom for a shave and for the remainder of the morning ritual. He shouted, “If a robot comes in to shave me, send him out again. They get on my nerves. Even if I don’t see them, they get on my nerves.”
He stared at his own face as he shaved, marveling a bit that it looked so like the mirrored face he saw onEarth. If only the image were another Earthman with whom he could consult instead of only the light-mimicry of himself. If he could go over what he had already learned, small as it was …
“Too small! Get more,” he muttered to the mirror.
He came out, mopping his face, and pulled trousers over fresh shorts. (Robots supplied everything, damn them.)
He said, “Would you answer a few questions, Daneel?”
“As you know, Partner Elijah, I answer all questions to the best of my knowledge.”
Or to the letter of your instructions, thought Baley. He said, “Why are there only twenty thousand people on Solaria?”
“That is a mere fact,” said Daneel. “A datum. A figure that is the result of a counting process.”
“Yes, but you’re evading the matter. The planet can support millions; why, then, only twenty thousand? You said the Solarians consider twenty thousand optimum. Why?”
“It is their way of life.”
“You mean they practice birth control?”
“Yes.”
“And leave the planet
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