“No,” said Amadiro. “The chance of accidental destruction is too small to be considered, far smaller than the chance that Dr. Fastolfe is responsible—so much smaller that to ignore Dr. Fastolfe’s guilt is irresponsible. I will not back down and I will win. Mr. Chairman, you know I will win and it seems to me that the only rational step to be taken is to force Dr. Fastolfe to accept his defeat in the interest of global unity.”

Fastolfe said quickly, “And that brings me to the matter of the investigation. I have asked Mr. Baley of Earth to undertake.”

And Amadiro said, just as quickly, “A move I opposed when it was first suggested. The Earthman may be a clever investigator, but he is unfamiliar with Aurora and can accomplish nothing here. Nothing, that is, except to strew slander and to hold Aurora up to the Spacer worlds in an undignified and ridiculous light. There have been satirical pieces on the matter in half a dozen important Spacer hyperwave news programs on as many different worlds. Recordings of these have been sent to your office.”

“And have been brought to my attention,” said the Chairman.

“And there has been murmuring here on Aurora,” Amadiro drove on. “It would be to my selfish interest to allow the investigation to continue. It is costing Fastolfe support among the populace and votes among the legislators. The longer it continues, the more certain I am of victory, but it is damaging Aurora and I do not wish to add to my certainty at the cost of harm to my world. I suggest—with respect—that you end the investigation, Mr. Chairman, and persuade Dr. Fastolfe to submit gracefully now to what he will eventually have to accept at much greater cost.”

The Chairman said, “I agree that to have permitted Dr. Fastolfe to set up this investigation may have been unwise. I say ‘may.’ I admit I am tempted to end it. And yet the Earthman”—he gave no indication of knowing that Baley was in the room—“has already been here for some time—”

He paused, as though to give Fastolfe a chance for corroboration, and Fastolfe took it, saying, “This is the third day of his investigation, Mr. Chairman.”

“In that case,” said the Chairman, “before I end that investigation, it would be fair, I believe, to ask if there have been any significant findings so far.”

He paused again, Fastolfe glanced quickly at Baley and made a small motion of his head.

Baley said in a low voice, “I do not wish, Mr. Chairman, to obtrude, unasked, any observations. Am I being asked a question?”

The Chairman frowned. Without looking at Baley, he said, “I am asking Mr. Baley of Earth to tell us whether he has any findings of significance.”

Baley took a deep breath. This was it.

“Mr. Chairman,” he began. “Yesterday afternoon, I was interrogating Dr. Amadiro, who was most cooperative and useful to me. When my staff and I left—”

“Your staff?” asked the Chairman.

“I was accompanied by two robots on all phases of my investigation, Mr. Chairman,” said Baley.

“Robots who belong to Dr. Fastolfe?” asked Amadiro. “I ask this for the record.”

“For the record, they do,” said Baley. “One is Daneel Olivaw, a humaniform robot, and the other is Giskard Reventlov, an older nonhumaniform robot.”

“Thank you,” said the Chairman. “Continue.”

“When we left the Institute grounds, we found that the airfoil we used had been tampered with.”

“Tampered with?” asked the Chairman, startled. “By whom?”

“We don’t know, but it happened on Institute grounds. We were there by invitation, so it was known by the Institute personnel that we would be there. Moreover, no one else would be likely to be there without the invitation and knowledge of the Institute staff. If it were at all thinkable, it would be necessary to conclude that the tampering could only have been done by someone on the Institute staff and that would, in any case, be impossible—except at the direction of Dr. Amadiro himself, which would also be unthinkable.”

Amadiro said, “You seem to think a great deal about the unthinkable. Has the airfoil been examined by a qualified technician to see if it has indeed been tampered with? Might there not have been a natural failing?” asked Amadiro.

“No, sir,” said Baley, “but Giskard, who is qualified to drive an airfoil and who has frequently driven that particular one, maintains that it was tampered with.”

“And he is one of Dr. Fastolfe’s staff and is programmed by him and receives his daily orders from him,” said Amadiro.

“Are you suggesting—” began Fastolfe.

“I am suggesting nothing.” Amadiro held up his hand in a benign gesture. I am merely making a statement—for the record.”

The Chairman stirred. “Will Mr. Baley of Earth please continue?”

Baley said, “When the airfoil broke down, there were others in pursuit.”

“Others?” asked the Chairman.

“Other robots. They arrived and, by that time, my robots were gone.”

“One moment,” said Amadiro. “What was your condition at the time, Mr. Baley?”

“I was not entirely well.”

“Not entirely well? You are an Earthman and unaccustomed to life except in the artificial setting of your Cities. You are uneasy in the open. Is that not so, Mr. Baley?” asked Amadiro.

“Yes, sir.”

“And there was a severe thunderstorm in progress last evening, as I am sure the Chairman recalls. Would it not be accurate to say that you were quite ill? Semiconscious, if not worse?”

“I was quite ill,” said Baley reluctantly.

“Then how is it your robots were gone?” asked the Chairman sharply. “Should they not have been with you in your illness?”

“I ordered them away, Mr. Chairman.”

“Why?”

“I thought it best,” said Baley, “and I will explain—if I may be allowed to continue.”

“Continue.”

“We were indeed being pursued, for the pursuing robots arrived shortly after my robots had left. The pursuers asked me where my robots were and I told them I had sent them away. It was only after that that they asked if I were ill. I said I wasn’t ill and they left me in order to continue a search for my robots.”

“In search of Daneel and Giskard?” asked the Chairman.

“Yes, Mr. Chairman. It was clear to me that they were under intense orders to find the robots.”

“In what way was that clear?”

“Although I was obviously ill, they asked about the robots before they asked about me. Then, later, they abandoned me in my illness to search for my robots. They must have received enormously intense orders to find those robots or it would not have been possible for them to disregard a patently ill human being. As a matter of fact, I had anticipated this search for my robots and that was why I had sent them away. I felt it all important to keep them out of unauthorized hands.”

Amadiro said, “Mr. Chairman, may I continue to question Mr. Baley on this point, in order to show the worthlessness of this statement?”

“You may.”

Amadiro said, “Mr. Baley. You were alone after your robots had left, were you not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Therefore you have no recording of events? You are not yourself equipped to record them? You have no recording device?”

“No to all three, sir.”

“And you were ill?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Distraught? Possibly too ill to remember clearly?”

“No, sir. I remember quite clearly.”

“You would think so, I suppose, but you may well have been delirious and hallucinating. Under those conditions, it seems clear that what the robots said or, indeed, whether robots appeared at all would seem highly dubious.”

The Chairman said thoughtfully, “I agree. Mr. Baley of Earth, assuming that what you remember—or claim to remember is accurate, what is your interpretation of the events you are describing?”

“I hesitate to give you my thoughts on the matter, Mr. Chairman,” said Baley, “lest I slander the worthy Dr. Amadiro.”