Asimov, Isaac - The Naked Sun

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9. A Robot Is Stymied

10. A Culture Is Traced

11. A Farm is inspected

12. A Target Is Missed

13. A Roboticist Is Confronted

14. A Motive Is Revealed

15. A Portrait Is Colored

i6. A Solution Is Offered

17. A Meeting Is Held

i8. A Question Is Answered

Partly it was the sense of urgency introduced by any order for plane

travel. Partly it was the thought of the plane; simply that. Still, that

was just the beginning of uneasiness and, as yet, easy to suppress.

After all, Lije Baley had been in a plane four times before. Once he

had even crossed the continent. So, while plane travel is never pleasant,

it would, at least, not be a complete step into the unknown.

And then, the trip from New York to Washington would take only an

hour. The take-off would be from New York Runway Number 2, which,

like all official Runways, was decently enclosed, with a lock opening to

the unprotected atmosphere only after air speed had been achieved.

The arrival would be at Washington Runway Number 5, which was simi-

larly protected.

Furthermore, as Baley well knew, there would be no windows on the

plane. There would be good lighting, decent food, all necessary conven-

iences. The radio-controlled flight would be smooth; there would

scarcely be any sensation of motion once the plane was airborne.

He explained all this to himself, and to Jessie, his wife, who had

never been air-borne and who approached such matters with terror.

She said, "But I don't like you to take a plane, Lije. It isn't natural.

Why can't you take the Expressways?"

“Because that would take ten hours" - Baley's long face was set in

dour lines - "and because I'm a member of the City Police Force and

have to follow the orders of my superiors. At least, I do if I want to

keep my C-6 rating."

There was no arguing with that.

other passengers on the plane (he could not help noticing that much)

and each one of them had his private right to whatever degree of fear

and anxiety his nature and upbringing made him feel.

Baley would certainly resent the intrusion of anyone else on his own

uneasiness. He wanted no strange eyes on the whiteness of his knuckles

where his hands gripped the armrest, or the dampish stain they would

leave when he took them away.

He told himself: I'm enclosed. This plane is just a little City.

But he didn't fool himself. There was an inch of steel at his left; he

could feel it with his elbow. Past that, nothing- Well, air! But that was

nothing, really.

A thousand miles of it in one direction. A thousand in another. One

mile of it, maybe two, straight down.

He almost wished he could see straight down, glimpse the top of the

buried Cities he was passing over; New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore,

Washington. He imagined the rolling, low-slung clustercomplexes of

domes he had never seen but knew to be there. And under them, for a

mile underground and dozens of miles in every direction, would be the

Cities.

The endless, hiving corridors of the Cities, he thought, alive with

people; apartments, community kitchens, factories, Expressways; all

comfortable and warm with the evidence of man.

And he himself was isolated in the cold and featureless air in a small

bullet of metal, moving through emptiness.

His hands trembled, and he forced his eyes to focus on the strip of

paper and read a bit.

fortable, and their descendants had lowered the bars to immigration.

They had penned in Earth and their Earthman cousins. And Earth's City

civilization completed the task, imprisoning Earthmen within the Cities

by a wall of fear of open spaces that barred them from the robot-run

farming and mining areas of their own planet; from even that.

Baley thought bitterly: Jehoshaphat! If we don't like it, let's do

something about it. Let's not just waste time with fairy tales.

But there was nothing to do about it, and he knew it.

Then the plane landed. He and his fellow-passengers emerged and

scattered away from one another, never looking.

Baley glanced at his watch and decided there was time for freshen-

ing before taking the Expressway to the Justice Department. He was

glad there was. The sound and clamor of life, the huge vaulted chamber

of the airport with City corridors leading off on numerous levels, eve-

rything else he saw and heard, gave him the feeling of being safely and

warmly enclosed in the bowels and womb of the City. It washed away

anxiety and only a shower was necessary to complete the job.

He needed a transient's permit to make use of one of the commu-

nity bathrooms, but presentation of his travel orders eliminated any

difficulties. There was only the routine stamping, with privatestall

privileges (the date carefully marked to prevent abuse) and a slim strip

of directions for getting to the assigned spot.

Baley was thankful for the feel of the strips beneath his feet. It

was with something amounting to luxury that he felt himself accelerate

as he moved from strip to moving strip inward toward the speeding

Expressway. He swung himself aboard lightly, taking the seat to which

his rating entitled him.

all spoke of the good things of life that came with the liberal rations

obtained by those high in Administration.

Baley felt sallow and rawboned in comparison. He was conscious of

his own large hands, deep-set eyes, a general sense of cragginess.

Minnim said cordially, "Sit down, Baley. Do you smoke?"

"Only a pipe, sir," said Baley.

He drew it out as he spoke, and Minnim thrust back a cigar he had

half drawn.

Baley was instantly regretful. A cigar was better than nothing and

he would have appreciated the gift. Even with the increased tobacco

ration that went along with his recent promotion from C-5 to C-6 he

wasn't exactly swimming in pipe fixings.

"Please light up, if you care to," said Minnim, and waited with a kind

of paternal patience while Baley measured out a careful quantity of

tobacco and affixed the pipe baffle.

Baley said, his eyes on his pipe, "I have not been told the reason for

my being called to Washington, sir."

"I know that," said Minnim. He smiled. "I can fix that right now. You

are being reassigned temporarily."

"Outside New York City?"

"Quite a distance."

Baley raised his eyebrows and looked thoughtful. "How temporarily,

sir?"

"I'm not sure."

Baley was aware of the advantages and disadvantages of reassign-

ment. As a transient in a City of which he was not a resident, be would

probably live on a scale better than his official rating entitled him to.

at the prospect of another such detail, or anything approaching it.

He said, "Would you tell me where I'm going? The nature of the re-

assignment? What it's all about?"

He was trying to weigh the Undersecretary's "Quite a distance" and

make little bets with himself as to his new base of operations. The

"Quite a distance" had sounded emphatic and Baley thought: Calcutta?

Sydney?

Then he noticed that Minnim was taking out a cigar after all and was

lighting it carefully.

Baley thought: Jehoshaphat! He's having trouble telling me. He

doesn't want to say.

Minnim withdrew his cigar from between his lips. He watched the

smoke and said, "The Department of Justice is assigning you to tempo-

rary duty on Solaria."

For a moment Baley's mind groped for an illusive identification: So-

laria, Asia; Solaria, Australia. . .

Then he rose from his seat and said tightly, "You mean, one of the

Outer Worlds?"

Minnim didn't meet Baley's eyes. "That is right!"

Baley said, "But that's impossible. They wouldn't allow an Earthman

on an Outer World."

"Circumstances do alter cases, Plainclothesman Baley. There has

been a murder on Solaria."

Baley's lips quirked into a sort of reflex smile. "That's a little out

of our jurisdiction, isn't it?"

"They've requested help."

fortythree. I ve got a wife and child. I couldn t leave Earth.

"That's not our choice, Plainclothesman. You were specifically asked

for."

"Plainclothesman Elijah Baley, C-6, of the New York City Police

Force. They knew what they wanted. Surely you see why."

Baley said stubbornly, "I'm not qualified."

"They think you are. The way you handled the Spacer murder has

apparently reached them."

"They must have got it all mixed up. It must have seemed better

than it was."

Minnim shrugged. "In any case, they've asked for you and we have

agreed to send you. You are reassigned. The papers have all been taken

care of and you must go. During your absence, your wife and child will

be taken care of at a C-7 level since that will be your temporary rating

during your discharge of this assignment." He paused significantly.

"Satisfactory completion of the assignment may make the rating per-

manent."

It was happening too quickly for Baley. None of this could be so. He

couldn't leave Earth. Didn't they see that?

He heard himself ask in a level voice that sounded unnatural in his

own ears. "What kind of a murder? What are the circumstances? Why

can't they handle it themselves?"

Minnim rearranged small objects on his desk with carefully kept fin-

gers. He shook his head. "I don't know anything about the murder. I

don't know the circumstances."

"Then who does, sir? You don't expect me to go there cold, do you?"

And again a despairing inner voice: But I can't leave Earth.

For Solaria? The hell with them.

"For us, Baley. For us." Minnim paused. Then he went on, "You know

the position of Earth with respect to the Spacers. I don't have to go

into that."

Baley knew the situation and so did every man on Earth. The fifty

Outer Worlds, with a far smaller population, in combination, than that

of Earth alone, nevertheless maintained a military potential perhaps a

hundred times greater. With their underpopulated worlds resting on a

positronic robot economy, their energy production per human was thou-

sands of times that of Earth. And it was the amount of energy a single

human could produce that dictated military potential, standard of liv-

ing, happiness, and all besides.

Minnim said, "One of the factors that conspires to keep us in that

position is ignorance. Just that. Ignorance. The Spacers know all about

us. They send missions enough to Earth, heaven knows. We know noth-

ing about them except what they tell us. No man on Earth has ever as

much as set foot on an Outer World. You will, though."

Baley began, "I can't. - ."

But Minnim repeated, "You will. Your position will be unique. You will

be on Solaria on their invitation, doing a job to which they will assign

you. When you return, you will have information useful to Earth."

Baley watched the Undersecretary through somber eyes. "You mean

I'm to spy for Earth."

"No question of spying. You need do nothing they don't ask you to

do. Just keep your eyes and mind open. Observe! There will be special-

ists on Earth when you return to analyze and interpret your observa-

tions."

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摘要：

9.ARobotIsStymied10.ACultureIsTraced11.AFarmisinspected12.ATargetIsMissed13.ARoboticistIsConfronted14.AMotiveIsRevealed15.APortraitIsColoredi6.ASolutionIsOffered17.AMeetingIsHeldi8.AQuestionIsAnsweredPartlyitwasthesenseofurgencyintroducedbyanyorderforplanetravel.Partlyitwasthethoughtoftheplane;simpl...

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