‘Think so?’
‘Well – Do you think Congress will stand for an indefinite patrol off the robot world? It runs into money, and average Galactic citizens aren’t going to see it as worth the taxes. The psychological equations degenerate into the axioms of common sense. In fact, I don’t see why Murry agreed to consult Congress.’
‘Don’t you?’ The Board Master finally faced his junior. ‘Well, the fool considers himself a psychologist, Galaxy help us, and that’s his weak point. He flatters himself that he doesn’t want to destroy the robot world in his heart, but that it’s the good of the Federation that requires it. And he’ll jump at any reasonable compromise. Congress won’t agree to it indefinitely, you don’t have to point that out to me.’ He was talking quietly, patiently. ‘But I will ask for ten years, two years, six months-as much as I can get. I’ll get something. In that time, we’ll learn new facts about the world. Somehow we’ll strengthen our case and renew the agreement when it expires. We’ll save the project yet.’
There was a short silence and the Board Master added slowly and bitterly, ‘And that’s where Theor Reale plays a vital part.’
Brand Gerla watched silently, and waited. The Board Master said, ‘On that one point, Murry saw what we didn’t. Realo is a psychological cripple, and is our real clue to the whole affair. If we study him, we’ll have a rough picture of what the robot is like, distorted of course, since his environment has been a hostile, unfriendly one. But we can make allowance for that, estimate his nature in a – Ahh, I’m tired of the whole subject.’
The signal box flashed, and the Board Master sighed. ‘Well, he’s here. All right, Gorla, sit down, you make me nervous. Let’s take a look at him.’
Theor Realo came through the door like a comet and brought himself to a panting halt in the middle of the floor. He looked from one to the other with weak, peering eyes.
‘How did all this happen?’
‘All what?’ said the Board Master coldly. ‘Sit down. I want to ask you some questions.’
‘No. You first answer me.’
‘Sit down!’
Realo sat. His eyes were brimming. ‘They’re going to destroy the robot world.’
‘Don’t worry about that.’
‘But you said they could if the robots discovered interstellar travel. You said so. You fool. Don’t you see—’ He was choking.
The Board Master frowned uneasily. ‘Will you calm down and talk sense?’
The albino gritted his teeth and forced the words out. ‘But they’ll have interstellar travel before long.’
And the two psychologists shot toward the little man.
‘What!!’
‘Well . . . well, what do you think?’ Realo sprang upward with all the fury of desperation. ‘Did you think I landed in a desert or in the middle of an ocean and explored a world all by myself? Do you think life is a storybook? I was captured as soon as I landed and taken to a big city. At least, I think it was a big city. It was different from our kind. It had – But I won’t tell you.’
‘Never mind the city,’ shrieked the Board Master. ‘You were captured. Go ahead.’
‘They studied me. They studied my machine. And then, one night, I left, to tell the Federation. They didn’t know I left. They didn’t want me to leave.’ His voice broke. ‘And I would have stayed as soon as not, but the Federation had to know.’
‘Did you tell them anything about your ship?’
‘How could I? I’m no mechanic. I don’t know the theory or construction. But I showed them how to work the controls and let them look at the motors. That’s all.’
Brand Gerla said, to himself mostly, ‘Then they’ll never get it. That isn’t enough.’
The albino’s voice raised itself in sudden shrieking triumph. ‘Oh, yes, they will. I know them. They’re machines, you know. They’ll work on that problem. And they’ll work. And they’ll work. And they’ll never quit. And they’ll get it. They got enough out of me. I’ll bet they got enough.’
The Board Master looked long, and turned away – wearily. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’
‘Because you took my world away from me. I discovered it – by myself – all by myself. And after I had done all the real work, and invited you in, you threw me out. All you had for me was complaints that I had landed on the world and might have ruined everything by interference. Why should I tell you? Find out for yourselves if you’re so wise, that you could afford to kick me around.’
The Board Master thought bitterly, ‘Misfit! Inferiority complex! Persecution mania! Nice! It all fits in, now that we’ve bothered to take our eyes off the horizon and see what was under our nose. And now it’s all ruined.’
He said, ‘All right, Realo, we all lose. Go away.’
Brand Gorla said tightly,. ‘All over? Really all over?’
The Board Master answered, ‘Really all over. The original experiment, as such, is over. The distortions created by Realo’s visit will easily be large enough to make the pla,ns we are studying here a dead language. And besides – Murry is right. If they have interstellar travel, they’re dangerous.’
Realo was shouting, ‘But you’re not going to destroy them. You can’t destroy them. They haven’t hurt anyone.’
There was no answer, and he raved on, ‘I’m going back. I’ll warn them. They’ll be prepared. I’ll warn them.’
He was backing toward the door, his thin, white hair bristling, his red- rimmed eyes bulging.
The Board Master did not move to stop him when he dashed out. ‘Let him go. It was his lifetime. I don’t care any more.’
Theor Realo smashed toward the robot world at an acceleration that was half choking him.
Somewhere ahead was the dustspeck of an isolated world with artificial imitations of humanity struggling along in an experiment that had died. Struggling blindly toward a new goal of interstellar travel that was to be their death sentence.
He was heading toward that world, toward the same city in which he had been ‘studied’ the first time. He remembered it well. Its name was the first words of their language he had learned.
New York!
Blind Alley
