Inferno

“Bissal just walked right in,” Fredda said. “The SSS agents on the door were already gone by then, ordered to stand down.”

“Burning hells,” Kresh said. “You’re right, it all looks like it points to SSS involvement-but damn it, Devray, you know as well as I do it doesn’t take a conspiracy for things to go wrong when you have this many services jostling each other. Your people, mine, the SSS, the Governor’s staff, the local powers-that-be, hell, the caterers, and the media people. It was chaos around here. Sheer incompetence and missed communications and distrust between Spacer and Settler are all it would take. All the plotters would have to do was wait for their chances to slip through the cracks. Or maybe just spread a little financial lubricant around. Maybe tell a few SSS agents that your uncle really wants to sneak in just long enough to see the Governor. Or maybe it is a top-to-bottom conspiracy in the SSS with Cinta Melloy pulling all the strings.”

“With what motive?” Fredda asked.

“I don’t know. Ask Justen. Maybe they’re homesick and figure if they raise enough hell, the Settlers will have to pack up and go home.”

Justen Devray shook his head. “They might even be right. ”

“They can’t be right,” Kresh said, all the tiredness suddenly gone from his voice, his words hard as iron. “We can’t let it be right. We need the Settlers,” he said. “Don’t ever forget that. You should know that better than anyone. Our planet is dying, and we no longer know how to save it by ourselves. Only the Settlers can save it for us. If we drive them away, this planet is doomed. Let’s keep that in mind, shall we?”

“What are you saying?”

“I mean we not only have to solve this case-we have to solve it without starting interstellar incidents. If we determine that, for example, the SSS killed Grieg, that is going to require very careful handling.”

“Meaning we let them get away with it?”

“I don’t know. You tell me. If it’s a choice between making an arrest and keeping the planet alive, what should we do?”

The room was silent for a moment. Fredda spoke up, trying to break the tension. “Look,” she said, “let’s not borrow trouble. Maybe it won’t come tp that. Let’s just take it one step at a time, all right? Now, Justen, where were we?”

“The alleged SSS agents, Blare, and Deam all got in during a ten-minute period when the logging system went out. About two hours into the party, Blare and Deam staged their scuffle with Tonya Welton. Which means we have to consider her too. She was part of the diversionary plan. Whether or not she was a willing participant is another question. Suppose she was ru

“What would her motive be?” Fredda asked.

“Maybe she wanted to get Shelabas Quellam into office,” Kresh said. “Maybe she got tired of dealing with an overbearing Governor like Grieg. Quellam has as much backbone as a bucketful of water. With him as Governor, she could more or less run the planet herself.”

“But Quellam would only succeed if Grieg was impeached and convicted,” Fredda said. “As it is, Grieg’s Designate becomes Governor. ”

“The story is that Quellam is the Designate, “ Kresh pointed out.

“But is the story true?” Fredda asked. “Suppose that’s not true, and Tonya Welton’s intelligence is good enough to tell her that? Maybe she figured Grieg was going to be thrown out of office, and didn’t want Quellam in there. Or maybe her intelligence people managed to find out who the Designate is, and she decided she liked that person so much she wanted her or him to be Governor right now. Or maybe she found out Grieg was about to choose a Designate she didn’t like as much as the present name, and took steps to put her choice in office. Or maybe she wanted to precipitate such a shambles that she would have a viable pretext for pulling her people out of this forsaken vermin hole. If she wanted to abandon the planet and let everyone and everything on it die, what difference if the Governor dies a little before everyone else?”

“Do you really think she was behind it?” Devray asked. “You both know her. You make her sound like she’s capable of practically anything. I can believe she’s no shrinking violet, but is she really that ruthless?”

“I think Tonya Welton is capable of doing whatever she believes to be necessary,” Kresh said. “Anything. But no, I don’t think she did it. She’s had lots of chances to walk away from Inferno, and she hasn’t. And if she wanted to take over the planet, she wouldn’t bother with this sort of hole-and-corner stuff. She’d just bring in a fleet with all guns blazing. On the other hand, that fleet could still show up anytime and there wouldn’t be a lot we could do about it.”

“You’ve got a real positive attitude about all this, don’t you?” Fredda asked. “All right, so there’s the diversionary fight. Meanwhile Bissal is waiting to get in-”

“Excuse me, Dr. Leving, but I must interject,” Donald said. ” There were another set of participants in the staged altercation. Aside from Tierlaw Verick, they are, in fact, the only suspects we currently have in custody. ”

“In custody?” Kresh said. “We have suspects in custody?”

“Yes, sir. Caliban and Prospero. They surrendered to me personally about one hour ago. I had only just returned from taking them into custody as I arrived here for the briefing. A condition of their surrender was that I was forced to agree that I would not reveal it to you until such time as I could do so in front of Commander Devray and one other witness, though I do not know the reason for that condition. ”

“Caliban and Prospero?” Fredda asked. “Why didn’t you say something at the start of the briefing session?”

“Sheriff Kresh ordered me to report on Ottley Bissal,” Donald said.

But that weak excuse didn’t fool Fredda. A robot as sophisticated as Donald did not have to be that literal-minded in interpreting such an order. Donald had a flair for the dramatic. Not surprising, considering that his job was the solving of mysteries. Judging-quite rightly-that it would do no harm to discuss other issues first, he had waited until the proper dramatic moment to unleash his bombshell.

Or, to give a less anthropomorphic explanation, Donald understood human psychology and knew that humans would give greater attention-and greater credence-to his suspicions regarding the two robots if he waited until the proper moment.

Fredda herself wasn’t sure which explanation was right. Maybe Donald himself didn’t know. Humans didn’t always know why they did things. Why should robots? “Where are Caliban and Prospero?” Fredda asked.

“Under heavy guard in a storeroom similar to the one Bissal used as a hiding place,” Donald replied. “But with your permission, I would like to point out several facts that strengthen the case against them.”

“Very well,” Kresh said.

“First, they were involved in the staged fight. If that in and of itself is enough to cast suspicion on Tonya Welton, then it is enough to cast suspicion on Caliban and Prospero.”

“He’s got a point,” Kresh said. “No one seemed to think anything of their actions at the time, but why were they obeying the Three Laws? Maybe just to look good. Maybe not.”

“You anticipate my next point, sir. The ambiguities of the New Laws might well permit Prospero to be a willing participant in a murder.”

“Donald!” Fredda said.

He turned and looked at her with a steady gaze. “I regret saying so, Dr. Leving, particularly to you, the author of those Laws, but it is nonetheless true. The New First Law says a robot must not harm a human-but says nothing about preventing harm. A robot with foreknowledge of a murder is under no compulsion to give anyone warning. A robot who witnesses a murder is not compelled to prevent it.

“The New Second Law says a robot must ‘cooperate’ with humans, not obey them. Which humans? Suppose there are two groups of humans, one intent on evil, the other on good? How does a New Law robot choose?