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.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlremember.I was probably in a fog.I usually am, these days.The agent looked at him. Isn t unauthorized anesthesia a crime on the Spacerworlds? It might be, but I doubt it.I doubt that it happens often enough for anyoneto pass a law against it.The robots would prevent it, usually. Hmmm, said the Terry, possibly reflecting that a robot-saturated societymight have its points. In any case, I now inform you that a blood sample wastaken from you on that occasion and carefully studied.The conclusion of thedoctors here, and at the Mayo, and in Bethesda, is that though you haveantitoxins to Burundi s, you have never had the disease in its severe form.Derec stared at him.Donovan continued,  Yet, something you said to the Spacer plague victim, andwhich she answered, indicates that your memory was lost in the characteristicfashion of this disease.Can you elucidate that, or do you wish to sit mute?The robots.thought Derec.Furniture to a Spacer, he had paid no attention.And usually a robot s discretion was proverbial, so much so that theirtestimony was rarely heard even in Spacer courts.But these had beeninstructed to record and play back everything that Ariel said.Derec couldn tremember what she and he had said, but they d given the game away more thanan Earthly week ago.Had they mentioned Robot City? Why do you ask? he asked warily. Do you suffer from amnesia? the other countered.Derec ought to sit mute.He considered that seriously, wondered if perhaps itwas already too late, then thought of a possible way around. Why do you ask? Surely it s no crime to suffer amnesia.Nor would I expectthe Terries to be called in even if a Spacer suffered.The condition isn tcontagious, you know. There are laws against harboring certain diseases, nevertheless, saidDonovan automatically, but he waved that aside. Public policy.No, thequestion here is more serious.Essentially, two things about you alarm us.One is that you do not remember your past.The other is that you are not onEarth.Derec gaped at him, almost started to ask exactly where St.Louis was. Officially, I mean, said Donovan, frowning in irritation. We ve done athorough computer check, and we find no sign of you before you appeared here acouple of weeks ago, eating at the section kitchen, big as life and twice asnatural.This was brought to our attention by the hospital s accountants andcomputer operators, who have never discovered how your partner s recordsvanished out of the hospital s computer.The Terry looked at him again. Normally I wouldn t reveal so much, butthere s a good deal of alarm in Washington.It s considered that you are notthe source of the mystery, and may in fact be unaware of it.Who sent you toEarth, and why?Derec s mind was spinning like a wheel, but he managed to say,  I suppose youfigure the ones who sent us have done this computer trick.How could theypossibly have?Donovan shrugged angrily. Any number of ways, I suppose.There s talk ofbandit programs that take over computers.More realistically, there s talk ofdisappearing programs, that automatically wipe themselves after a certaintime that is, they contain instructions that cause the computer to wipe them,do you see?Derec nodded, a memory clicking into place.He d heard of such programs astoys, but a good computer could usually retain them.And a network ofcomputers.if you were getting food or lodging with your ration tag, thatallocation would have to be routed through so many computers that though thefirst computer might lose the program, the memory of the transaction wouldremain.His little erasure at the hospital had been simple, and he d caughtPage 55ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe accounting trail early, so there was no trace.But of course there was no memory of their arrival in any Earthly computer.Only in one Earthly positronic brain. Violation of the Immigration Act can be charged against you, said Donovanchattily. We couldn t make it stick without proof that you knowingly anddeliberately invaded without the legal formalities.But we could hold youpending an investigation. We couldn t go far in any case, said Derec. Earth is one big jail.Donovan nodded. Any planet is.Derec tried to imagine how many computers in how many bureaus and branches ofgovernment would have to be foxed to slip a spy in.His mind boggled; nowonder they were concerned.Far easier to believe that a ship sneaked in anddropped someone, despite orbital radar and other detection devices.They were overreacting: easier to slip in spies in other guises, liketraveling sociology students.Except that Spacers never went anywhere onEarth, and now here were two of them. How many of you are there, on Earth? Donovan asked casually.It hit Derec that he didn t really know.He had supposed that Dr.Avery workedalone, but his belief that it was so didn t make it so.Besides, Dr.Averyworked through robots, and there could be any number of them I don t know, he said frankly. We were told little.I have reason to thinkthat we are the only two. He shrugged. It s hard to find volunteers forsocial studies on Earth.Too few Spacers care about the subject in the firstplace; they d rather study robotics.Donovan nodded, sitting leaning slightly toward him, not at all relaxed.Therewas so much energy and sheer competence in that pose that Derec had the suddenrealization that if he were to attack the Earthman, the other would pinion himas efficiently as any robot.If not quite as gently.The idea of concealingthe location of R.David and the apartment seemed silly.This man representeda planetwide investigative organization. Most of their agents are robots, he said, and that got an instant response,instantly blanked.A nice fat red herring for you to follow, he thought gleefully, and then idlywondered what a red herring was, and on what planet the phrase had originated. Any idea who they are? Donovan asked, casual again.Very little. Only that it s a sociological investigation.There s been sometalk about Laws of Humanics, the mathematical expressions that describe howhuman beings relate to each other.Studies of society have been made onvarious Spacer worlds, as disparate as Aurora and Solaria [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]