“But staging a fake confrontation with the Settlers just to keep the Ironheads happy? Pretending you care about who owns which scraps of useless wasteland just to keep the electorate happy? What possible use can that be?”
Grieg lifted his hand and shook an admonitory finger at Alvar. “Be more careful with the facts, Sheriff. I only said I thought it was a false confrontation. It might actually turn out to be real. I must assume it is real in any event, so what difference does it make? Besides, I would submit that keeping the people happy does me a great deal of good. The more content the people are, the fewer recruits there will be for the Ironheads. ”
“But you’re wasting your time on all this nonsense when there is a planet to save! You should be concentrating on the terraforming project.”
Grieg’s expression grew serious. “You must understand, Sheriff. All this is nonsense-but it is an integral part of the terraforming effort. I need political cover if I am to have room to maneuver. If I am to get labor and materials and data, I am going to have to get them from the people that control them. It would do me no good at all to stare at engineering plans all day if the Ironheads got strong enough to pressure the engineers into refusing to provide their services.”
“But what use is it expending so much of your energy on this charade over jurisdiction?”
“Oh, it’s a very great deal of use. It short-circuits the Ironheads, keeps them from having an issue to use against me. It reassures the people that I am looking out for their interests-and perhaps by my bowing to their wishes this time, I will earn a bit of credit with them. Perhaps they will be patient with me, willing to go along with me on some other, more meaningful issue. I need to do some things to maintain my political standing. I might have the best intentions in the world, but I can’t do much good if I am impeached.”
“Well, to be blunt about it, Governor, you can do even less good if you’re assassinated. ”
“That thought has crossed my mind,” the Governor said with a note of grim humor. “But if I just holed up in some bunker under Government Tower to hide from the assassins, then not only would there be no way to kill me-but there would be no need to kill me. It would be such an admission of weakness and fear that I could do no good anyway.”
“Sirs, if I might interject-”
“Yes, what is it, Donald?” Kresh asked. To an outsider, it would surely have seemed incongruous, to say the least, for a mere robot to interrupt a conversation between the planetary Governor and the Sheriff of the planet’s largest city. But Donald had worked with Kresh for years, and Kresh knew that Donald would not speak unless it was something that would be of help to Kresh.
The robot turned and addressed the Governor directly. “Sir, there is a factor that you have not considered. ”
“And what might that be?” the Governor asked, smiling a bit more openly this time. Clearly, he found the idea that Donald could contribute to the conversation highly amusing.
Careful, Governor, Alvar thought. Don’t underestimate Donald. It’s always a mistake. People often assumed Donald was as subservient as his appearance made him seem. They were wrong to do so.
“I cannot permit you to attend the reception,” Donald told the Governor. Scarcely the words of a meek robot.
“Now just a minute-”
“I am sorry, sir, but I am afraid that the conversation I have just heard, coupled with the incident downstairs, has so heightened my concern for your safety, and my belief that the evening as planned will be dangerous to you, that First Law constrains me to prevent you from leaving this room.”
“ ‘A robot may not, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm,’ “ Kresh quoted with a chuckle.
Grieg looked at Donald, opened his mouth as if to protest, and then thought better of it. Sensible of him, Kresh thought. There was no appeal against a robot driven by a First Law imperative-especially an Inferno-built robot. The planet had a tradition of setting First Law potential very high indeed. Grieg had to know that arguing with Donald would be about as effective as shouting at a stone wall.
Grieg turned toward Kresh. “You set him up to this,” the Governor protested. “You had this planned.”
Alvar Kresh laughed and shook his head. “Sir, I wish I had set it up. But Donald deserves all the credit.”
“Or all the blame,” Grieg said, still rather irritated. He turned to the robot. “You know, Donald, it’s remarkable, really, how soon one forgets.”
“Forgets what, sir? The need to take reasonable precautions?”
“No. It’s remarkable how soon one forgets the habits of slavery.”
“I am afraid I don’t understand, sir. ”
