"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."
"Since you speak at my request and since your remarks are confined to this room" - the Chairman looked around; the wall niches were empty of robots - "there is no question of slander, unless it seems to me you speak with malice."
"In that case, Mr. Chairman," said Baley, "I had thought it possible that Dr. Amadiro detained me in his office by discussing matters with me at greater length than was perhaps necessary, so that there would be time for the damaging of my machine, then detained me further in order that I might leave after the thunderstorm had begun, thus making sure that I would be ill in transit. He had studied Earth's social conditions, as he told me several times, so he would know what my reaction to the storm might be. It seemed to me that it was his plan to send his robots after us and, when they came upon our stalled airfoil, to have them take us all back to the Institute grounds, presumably so that I might be treated for my illness but actually so that he might have Dr. Fastolfe's robots."
Amadiro laughed gently. "What motive am I supposed to have for all this? You see, Mr. Chairman, that this is supposition joined to supposition and would be judged slander in any court on Aurora."
The Chairman said severely, "Has Mr. Baley of Earth anything to support these hypotheses?"
"A line of reasoning, Mr. Chairman."
The Chairman stood up, at once losing some of his presence, since he scarcely unfolded to a greater than sitting height. "Let me take a short walk, so that I might consider what I have heard so far. I will be right back." He left for the Personal.
Fastolfe leaned in the direction of Baley and Baley met him halfway. (Amadiro looked on in casual unconcern, as though it scarcely mattered to him what they might have to say to each other.)
Fastolfe whispered, "Have you anything better to say?"
Baley said, "I think so, if I get the proper chance to say it, but the Chairman does not seem to be sympathetic."