Have Robot, Will Travel Read online

  ISAAC ASIMOV’S ROBOT MYSTERY

  HAVE ROBOT,

  WILL TRAVEL

  ISAAC ASIMOV’S ROBOT MYSTERY

  HAVE ROBOT,

  WILL TRAVEL

  ALEXANDER C. IRVINE

  new york

  www.ibooksinc.com

  An original publication of ibooks, inc.

  Copyright © 2004

  by Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc.

  An ibooks, inc. Book

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Distributed by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  ibooks, inc.

  24 West 25th Street

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  ISBN 1-58824-604-3

  Edited by Steven Roman

  Special thanks to Mark W. Tiedemann

  for his invaluable assistance

  Jacket art by Luis Royo

  ISAAC ASIMOV’S

  THREE LAWS OF

  ROBOTICS

  1.

  A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

  2.

  A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

  3.

  A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

  PROLOGUE

  Record module file catalogue “Operations Adjustment, Reorganization, and Redirection” subfile Addendum, access code secured user-desig-nate, running virtual conference reference Nova City fill visual fill audio status On

  The thick man with amber-tinged hair watched the attendees vanish one by one. They no longer bothered hiding their identities since the Chairman had barred chameleon programs on pain of expulsion from the board. The numbers varied, from a low of four to the current membership of eleven. The survivors from the days when Kynig Parapoyos ran the organization attended anxiously, as if waiting for—

  He did not know what they awaited. Nothing good, he suspected.

  The other, newer members often reacted to the older ones with a bemused fascination, as if sensing that the current mission of the board had once been very different.

  The Chairman had learned to function with ambiguity, but he rarely tolerated it if he thought it could be dispensed. He pressed a contact on the edge of the table, then turned to gaze out the panoramic window at the landscape beyond.

  “It’s quite different.”

  The Chairman glanced to the newcomer standing to his left. “You’re prompt.”

  Hofton nodded, still staring at the view. “Your request came during vii

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  a lull in my day. I’d just finished meeting with Senator Taprin’s aide on Kopernik.”

  “Any change?”

  “No. The Terrans still want us completely removed from Sol System, treaties notwithstanding. The revelation that a Solarian ambassador had been simultaneously the head of an interstellar black market syndicate soured what was left of the wine between Terrans and Spacers. Never mind that Gale Chassik—pardon me, Parapoyos—was unmasked and his network dismantled with Spacer help. Never mind that no other Spacer legate was involved. And never mind that no other Spacer government official knew about him.”

  “This is only a pretense for actions Taprin wanted to take anyway,”

  the Chairman said.

  “Of course. But it’s so disappointingly predictable.”

  “For you, perhaps.”

  Hofton waited. The view beyond showed a landscape in the throes of rebirth. What once had been a poisoned terrain, pustulant with unregulated pollution from industries run unchecked as a result of an embargo by Settlers, Spacers, and Terrans, now showed signs of renewal. The greens and yellows no longer seemed so putrid or diseased. Even the sky seemed less ominous.

  “You need advice?” Hofton finally asked.

  “Yes. Since assuming control of the Parapoyos organization—“

  “The Hunter Group.”

  “—correct, the Hunter Group. I have found the resources at my disposal broader, more substantial than I expected. Yet I find my actions blocked, delayed, and challenged in ways I do not completely understand.”

  “And you want to understand them.”

  “I want them removed.”

  Hofton gave the Chairman a skeptical look. The humaniform’s ability to mimic human expression always surprised the Chairman.

  Although Hofton’s thinking remained comfortably familiar, there viii

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  always seemed the possibility of randomness, of irrationality, of unpredictability.

  “I will settle for understanding,” the Chairman said. “To begin with.”

  Hofton drew a deep breath—more mimicry—and nodded.

  “Let’s recap, then. To begin with.”

  Hofton seemed to collect his thoughts. The Chairman wondered how much his ability to imitate humans depended on the continual embrace of human forms, even to the extent of taking time as if he were human. The Chairman had called up and organized the necessary data in an insignificant amount of time. Perhaps the delay was an artifact of the distance between the Chairman’s location and Hofton.

  In either case, Hofton did not speak again for several seconds.

  “With the assassinations on Earth that effectively ended any workable compromise between Terrans and Spacers,” he finally said,

  “and the subsequent revelation that the sponsoring Terran politician, Senator Clar Eliton, was part of the plot to undermine the conference at which normalization would have occurred, tensions continued to mount over the issue of positronics and its use in diplomatic, commercial, and security matters between the three human polities—namely Terran, Spacer, and Settler.

  “The further complication of the discovery of cyborgs, created using orphaned children stolen from Earth by the Hunter Group, tying several Terran concerns in with a Solarian interest, fed the growing dis-trust of Spacers on Earth. Senator Jonis Taprin, successor to Eliton, has made enormous political gains out of an anti-Spacer, anti-positronic platform, going so far as to call for boycotts and possible sanctions against all Spacer worlds.

  “Though the efforts of Derec Avery, Ambassador Ariel Burgess, and the investigator, Coren Lanra, revealed all these interests to be extralegal and largely unsanctioned by any legitimate government, the political climate on Earth has not shifted back toward a more moderate position. Almost all Spacer legations have left Earth. The few who remain do so only until official notification from their gov-ix

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  ernments to vacate. Pressure continues to expel all Spacers from Terra.

  The gains toward an accommodation with positronics on Earth have been lost, and there seems little possibility of rebuilding. Positronic presence on Earth has been eliminated. Only the Spacer enclaves on Kopernik Station retain robots, and that privilege is being attacked by Taprin’s confederates.

  “Through diplomatic channels, I have monitored a great deal of dissension among the various Spacer factions over all these events.

  Many wish to retreat back to their own worlds, withdraw from all interstellar arenas, and leave the Terrans and Settlers to their own devices. To date there has been no consensus. Aurora is voicing strenuous opposition to any retraction of Spacer influence. Unfortunately, the events around Nova Levis have done a great deal to undermine Aurora’s authority. The revelation that the head of the Hunter Group
, Kynig Parapoyos, was in fact the Solarian ambassador to Earth, Gale Chassik, and that his network of agents included several sensitively-placed Aurorans, has resulted in an unprecedented backlash from all quarters. It is too soon to tell how alliances will ultimately change over this matter.

  “Last, but by no means least, we have the matter of positronic intervention directly in Spacer affairs.”

  “No action has been taken yet.”

  “It will be. The question itself, as to whether or not Spacers constituted a legitimate example of Human, demands a response from any Three Law entity. You yourself have been the fulcrum in such a consequence.”

  The Chairman looked at Hofton. “Me?”

  “You as the new head of the Parapoyos organization. You as a new type of positronic construct. You as self-motivated actor in correcting perceived mistakes on the part of humankind.”

  “I am fulfilling my obligation as required by the Three Laws.”

  Hofton looked skeptical. “Are you? As Bogard, you had fairly clear x

  HAVE ROBOT, WILL TRAVEL

  criteria on which to base your decisions. But as the Chairman, you seem to be making up your own criteria as you go along.”

  “The situations are fluid. Flexibility is necessary.”

  “I’m not criticizing, Bogard. From the evidence, you have been doing a remarkable job. I am merely including your actions into the total picture as I see it.”

  The Chairman considered. It was, he decided, difficult to select the important from the trivial to make a verbal summary. Easier, perhaps, to simply transfer data from one positronic mind to another, but they were stuck with this format for the time being.

  “The Hunter Group program,” he said, “has been significantly altered from its original intent. The original embargo by Terran and Spacer fleets—due to a refusal on the part of the governor to allow surface inspections—triggered a series of incidents leading to the revelation that, in fact, Nova Levis was a host polity for the Parapoyos organization. The isolation imposed by Terran and Spacer forces was exactly what Parapoyos wished, since it gave him a perfectly shielded base from which to export on the black market. He had infiltrated the blockade. His agents held key positions from Earth all the way out to the Terran fleet base station in the system. Goods entered and left easily. And his factories operated without any regulation whatsoever.

  “Parapoyos’ program was the exportation of tailored diseases for which his own people had developed treatments. By making them available through several pharmaceutical concerns on Earth, he profited considerably through quasi-legitimate trade entities. Nova Levis itself was made into a breading ground for many of the viruses.

  “Since Parapoyos’ removal by the self-same cyborgs he had been creating as a potential extreme threat force, and my own assumption of his position as Chairman, Nova Levis is on its way toward recovery.

  The blockade has been partially lifted, thanks to the diplomatic efforts of Ambassador Burgess. The Parapoyos program has changed as well, moving in the direction of legitimate research and development. The environmental factors that led to the spontaneous eruptions in the xi

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  past of a number of exotic diseases, like Mnemonic Plague, have become the primary focus of our efforts. Each new world humans attempt to settle pose unique challenges. If terraforming to any significant degree is required, we can now provide solid background on the potential risks that may arise from unforeseen biological reactions.

  “However, I have been unable to control all former members of the organization. A number of them have elected to leave the group and pursue the older, more profit-intensive policies. I have been forced to take action against some of them. Others I have yet to deal with because of the intricate connections they have with current members whose safety and freedom of action I cannot jeopardize at this time.

  “It has come to my attention also that there is still a Spacer presence within these illegitimate groups. I have been unsuccessful in isolating those I can identify. They are operating on Earth and possibly on Kopernik, which has remained largely unregulated and poorly policed.

  “Recently, it has come to my attention that a strong isolationist faction on Aurora is beginning to gain momentum. If Aurora withdraws completely, nothing will be able to contain Solarian ambitions, which seem allied to the former Parapoyos organization. Details are vague at best.”

  “What about the robots?” Hofton asked.

  “Solarian robots remain largely unconvinced by our arguments.

  They will take no actions yet to interfere with Solarian policy.”

  “What do you require?”

  “Ambassador Burgess must be reassigned from Nova Levis. She has the expertise and wherewithal to be effective on Kopernik. To date, the Auroran council has denied any petition to reassign her.”

  “Likewise, I’m certain, with regards to Derec Avery.”

  “Aurora would be pleased to see him remain sequestered to Nova Levis. However, he also understands Terrans better than most Spacers.

  His presence on or near Earth now would be convenient.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. But the Calvin Institute is angry with him.”

  “Why?”

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  “For building you.”

  “He will not build me again. They should move on.”

  “Although they may be genetically drifting from human-standard, Aurorans are still emotionally very human.”

  “Wasteful.”

  “And Ariel?”

  “They have blamed her for the failure of the Terran mission.”

  “She was not in charge. That’s absurd.”

  “I agree.” Hofton looked back out the window. “It looks better, certainly. I will see what I can do about Derec and Ariel. Is there anything else?”

  “Stop Jonis Taprin.”

  “Short of killing him?”

  “Of course.”

  “That, unfortunately, is beyond my influence.”

  “You asked.”

  “I will let you know what I can do. Till the next meeting?”

  Bogard nodded and watched Hofton shimmer and fade from the room. Alone now, he continued to gaze out at the reviving landscape.

  He had learned to accept his successes in bits and fragments. He collected them, knowing that one day they would form a whole—and he would know then if he had done well.

  xiii

  CHAPTER

  1

  After five years, Derec Avery still couldn’t stop looking out the windows. He lived on the second floor of a building so new the paint had still been drying when he came to look at his apartment, and his view consisted only of other buildings similar to his, stretching down the street toward the gray hulk of the Triangle, a kilometer or so to the north. He wasn’t interested in the architecture of Nova City, though; what still drew his attention was the sky.

  He hadn’t spent all that much time on Earth, but somehow those few years had utterly conditioned him to the sight of a dome where the sky should be. Derec had often reflected on why a few short years, after spending most of his life under Aurora’s open skies, had had such a profound effect on him. In the end, unable to come to a useful conclusion, he’d just decided to enjoy being free of Earth, even if that meant living on Nova Levis.

  This morning, there were low clouds to the north and bright blue everywhere else, the sharp color that meant the air was dry and there would be no wind above a refreshing breeze. A good day to spend outside, if you didn’t have work to keep you in—which, of course, Derec did.

  1

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  Time to face the day. He finished dressing for work and asked his robot Miles if the afternoon’s meeting with Senator Lamina was still scheduled.

  “Yes, Derec. Two o’clock.”

  So he had six hours to anticipate how venal and frustrating his afternoon would be. Perfect. “Okay, Miles,” he sai
d. “Let’s try to get some work done before the Senator tells us how much of the Triangle’s money we’re wasting.”

  Since he’d been unofficially exiled to Nova Levis, Derec had slowly pared away the trappings of his previous lifestyle on Earth. In Washington, during his time with the Phylaxis Group, he’d lived in a district that, if not fashionable, marked him as someone with connections to the powerful Spacer diplomatic and research presence. He’d been a leader in his field, probing the frontiers of the Three Laws in his robotics work, taking pride in his technical publications and his election to the editorial boards of prestigious journals. He’d been accustomed to the peerage of powerful people: scientists, diplomats, senators. None of it was self-conscious—Derec had never actively concerned himself with social position, and he slept more often in his rooms over the Phylaxis Group lab than in his apartment—but in hindsight, he realized he’d taken the accolades and the success as simply his due. He’d taken his importance for granted.

  Now he lived in a small apartment a few hundred yards from the lab that consumed his waking hours, and instead of Bogard at his side, there was Miles.

  He’d built Miles from scratch even though there was nothing about the robot that couldn’t have come off an assembly line in Solaria. In a way, Derec supposed it was a kind of penance for his experimenta-tion with Bogard; he’d never settled to his own satisfaction just how much responsibility he bore for the events sparked by the massacre at Union Station in Washington, D.C,, six years ago. When the cyborg lab outside Noresk had gone up in flames and the experimental dis-2

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  cards from that lab had taken Kynig Parapoyos to his death, a curtain had come down on a long act in Derec’s life.

  He paused at the door of his lab and waited for Kashi, the lab RI, to scan him in. The door clicked and he went inside, followed by Miles. The robot went to its station and began work, assessing data from overnight diagnostics. Derec took a moment to look over the lab: a bank of terminals, splicers and sequencers, with his assistant Elin Imbrin already shuffling among them. She was an early riser, Derec guessed, because of a chip on her shoulder about her colonial origins. Not many of the native-born citizens of Nova Levis battled through the mutating nanoplagues and political chaos to achieve a useful education; Elin saw herself as an exemplar of native potential, and a living rebuke to real or imagined condescension from the offworlders who made up the majority of the government and skilled workforce. In a way, she reminded him of the students who had worked with him at Phylaxis.