Baley thought contentedly: I knew he would.
He let his eyes close again and felt himself moving rapidly but with the slight - yet definite - unevenness that meant he was being carried by someone who was walking. Then a stop and a slow adjustment until he was resting on something quite warm and comfortable. He knew it was the seat of a car covered, perhaps, with toweling, but did not question how he knew.
Then there was the sensation of smooth motion through the air and the feeling of soft absorbent fabric over his face and hands, the tearing open of his blouse, cold air upon his chest, and then the drying and blotting again.
After that, the sensations crowded in upon him.
He was in an establishment. There were flashes of walls, of illumination, of objects (miscellaneous shapes of furnishings) which he saw now and then when he opened his eyes.
He felt his clothes being stripped off methodically and made a few feeble and useless attempts to cooperate, then he felt warm water and vigorous scrubbing. It went on and on and he didn't want it to stop.
At one point, a thought occurred to him and he seized the arm that was holding him. "Giskard! Giskard!"
He heard Giskard's voice, "I am here, sir."
"Giskard, is Daneel safe?"
"He is quite safe, sir."
"Good." Baley closed his eyes again and made no effort whatever in connection with the drying. He felt himself turned over and over in the stream of dry air and then he was being dressed again in something like a warm robe.
Luxury! Nothing like this had happened to him since he was an infant and he was suddenly sorry for the babies for whom everything was done and who were not sufficiently conscious of it to enjoy it.
Or did they? Was the hidden memory of that infant luxury a determinant of adult behavior? Was his own feeling now just an expression of the delight of being an infant again?
And he had heard a woman's voice. Mother?
No, that couldn't possibly be.
Mamma?
He was sitting in a chair now. He could sense as much and he could also feel, somehow, that the short happy period of renewed infancy was coming to an end. He had to return to the sad world of self-consciousness and selfhelp.
But there had been a woman's voice. - What woman?
Baley opened his eyes. "Gladia?"
67
It was a question, a surprised question, but deep within himself he was not really surprised. Thinking back, he had, of course, recognized her voice.
He looked around. Giskard was standing in his alcove, but he ignored him. First things first.
He said, "Where's Daneel?"
Gladia said, "He has cleaned and dried himself in the robot's quarters and he has dry clothing. He is surrounded by my household staff and they have their instructions. I can tell you that no outsider will approach within fifty meters of my establishment in any direction without our all knowing it at once. Giskard is cleaned and dried as well."
"Yes, I can see that," said Baley. He was not concerned with Giskard, only with Daneel - He was relieved that Gladia seemed to accept the necessity of guarding Daneel and that he would not have to face the complications of explaining the matter.
Yet there was one breach in the wall of security and a note of querulousness entered in his voice as he said, "Why did you leave him, Gladia? With you gone, there was no human being in the house to stop the approach of a band of outside robots. Daneel could have been taken by force."
"Nonsense," said Gladia with spirit. "We were not gone long and Dr. Fastolfe had been informed. Many of his robots had joined mine and he could be on the spot in minutes if needed - and I'd like to see any band of outside robots withstand him."
"Have you seen Daneel since you returned, Gladia?"
"Of course! He's safe, I tell you."
"Thank you!" Baley relaxed and closed his eyes. Oddly enough, he thought: It wasn't so bad.
Of course it wasn't. He had survived, hadn't he? When he thought that, something inside himself grinned and was happy.
He had survived, hadn't he?
He opened his eyes and said, "How did you find me, Gladia?"
"It was Giskard. They had come here - both of them - and Giskard explained the situation to me quickly. I set right about securing Daneel, but he wouldn't budge until I had promised to order Giskard out after you. He was very eloquent. His responses with respect to you are very intense, Elijah.
"Daneel remained behind, of course. It made him very unhappy, but Giskard insisted that I order him to stay at the very top of my voice. You must have given Giskard some mighty strict orders. Then we got in touch with Dr. Fastolfe and, after that, we took my personal airfoil."
Baley shook his head wearily. "You should not have come along, Gladia. Your place was here, making sure Daneel was safe."
Gladia's face twisted into scorn. "And leave you dying in the storm, for all we knew? Or being taken up by Dr. Fastolfe's enemies? I have a little holograph of myself letting that happen. No, Elijah, I might have been needed to keep the other robots away from you if they had gotten to you first. I may not be much good in most ways, but any Solarian can handle a mob of robots, let me tell you. We're used to it."
"But how did you find me?"
"It wasn't so terribly hard. Actually, your airfoil wasn't far away, so that we could have walked it, except for the storm. We - "
Baley said, "You mean we had almost made it to Fastolfe's?"
"Yes," said Gladia. "Either your airfoil, in being damaged, wasn't damaged sufficiently to force you to a standstill sooner or Giskard's skill kept it going for longer than the vandals had anticipated. Which is a good thing. If you had come down closer to the Institute, they might have gotten you all. Anyway, we took my airfoil to where yours had come down. Giskard knew where it was, of course, and we got out - "