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Baley was losing his fight Reason alone was not enough

Baley told himself over and over: Men live in the open all their lives The Spacers do so now Our ancestors on Earth did it in the past There is no real harm in wall-lessness It is only

But all that did not help So above and beyond reason cried out for walls and would have none of space

As tiht he would not succeed He would be cowering at the end, tre and pitiful The Spacer they would send for hiloves on his hands to prevent contact) would not even honestly despise hiust

Baley held on grimly

When the ship stopped and the deceleration harness automatically uncoupled, while the hydraulic system retracted into the wall, Baley remained in his seat He was afraid, and determined not to show it

He looked away at the first quiet sound of the door of his roo There was the eye-corner flash of a tall, bronze-haired figure entering; a Spacer, one of those proud descendants of Earth who had disowned their heritage

The Spacer spoke "Partner Elijah!"

Baley&039;s head turned toward the speaker with a jerk His eyes rounded and he rose almost without volition

He stared at the face; at the broad, high cheekbones, the absolute calm of the facial lines, the symmetry of the body, most of all at that level look out of nerveless blue eyes

"D-daneel"

The Spacer said, "It is pleasant that you remember me, Partner Elijah"

"Re was a bit of Earth, a friend, a comfort, a savior He had an almost unbearable desire to rush to the Spacer and eh and pound his back and do all the foolish things old friends did when ain after a separation

But he didn&039;t He couldn&039;t He could only step forward, and hold out his hand and say, "I&039;et you, Daneel"

"That is pleasant," said Daneel, nodding gravely "As you are well aware, it is quite iet you It is well that I see you again"

Daneel took Baley&039;s hand and pressed it with fir to a co it

Baley hoped earnestly that the creature&039;s unreadable eyes could not penetrate Baley&039;s mind and see that wild moment, just past and not yet entirely subsided, when all of Baley had concentrated into a feeling of an intense friendship that was almost love

After all, one could not love as a friend this Daneel Olivaas not a man at all, but only a robot

The robot that looked so like a round-transport vessel be connected to this ship by air", Baley frowned "An air-tube?"

"Yes It is a common technique, frequently used in space, in order that personnel and materiel be transferred from one vessel to another without the necessity of special equipainst vacuum It would seem then that you are not acquainted with the technique"

"No," said Baley, "but I get the picture"

"It is, of course, rather coround vehicle, but I have requested that it be done Fortunately, the h priority Difficulties are sned to the murder case too?"

"Have you not been infor told you at once" There was, of course, no sign of regret on the robot&039;s perfect face "It was Dr Han Fastolfe, who our previous partnership and whoested you as an appropriate investigator in this case He ned to ith you once ed a smile Dr Fastolfe was a native of Aurora and Aurora was the strongest of the Outer Worlds Apparently the advice of an Auroran bore weight

Baley said, "A team that works shouldn&039;t be broken up, eh?" (The first exhilaration of Daneel&039;s appearance was fading and the co)

"I do not know if that precise thought was in his mind, Partner Elijah From the nature of his orders to ned to ith you one ould have experience with your world and would know of your consequent peculiarities"

"Peculiarities!" Ba1ey frowned and felt offended It was not a term he liked in connection with hie the air-tube, for example I am well aware of your aversion to open spaces as a result of your upbringing in the Cities of Earth"

Perhaps it was the effect of being called "peculiar," the feeling that he had to counterattack or lose caste to a e the subject sharply Perhaps it was just that lifelong training prevented hiical contradiction undisturbed

He said, "There was a robot in charge of my welfare on hoard this ship; a robot" (a touch of malice intruded itself here) "that looks like a robot Do you know it?"

"I spoke to it before conation? How do I make contact with it?"

"It is RX-2475 It is customary on Solaria to use only serial numbers for robots" Daneel&039;s calm eyes swept the control panel near the door "This contact will signal it"

Baley looked at the control panel himself and, since the contact to which Daneel pointed was labeled RX, its identification seeer over it and in less than a minute, the robot, the one that looked like a robot, entered

Baley said, "You are RX-2475"

"Yes, sir"

"You told me earlier that someone would arrive to escort me off the ship Did you mean him?" Baley pointed at Daneel

The eyes of the two robots met RX-2475 said, "His papers identify him as the one as toabout him other than his papers? Was he described to you?"

"No, sir I was given his naave you the information?"

"The captain of the ship, sir"

"Who is a Solarian?"

"Yes, sir"

Baley licked his lips The next question would be decisive

He said, "What were you told would be the na?"

RX-2475 said, "Daneel Olivaw, sir"

"Good boy! You may leave now"

There was the robotic bow and then the sharp about - face RX-2475 left

Baley turned to his partner and said thoughtfully, "You are not telling me all the truth, Daneel"

"In ay, Partner Elijah?" asked Daneel

"While I was talking to you earlier, I recalled an odd point RX-2475, when it told me I would have an escort said a man would come for me I remember that quite well"

Daneel listened quietly and said nothing

Baley went on "I thought the robot ht also that perhaps a ned toinfore But you heard iven your naiven your name at that, was it, Daneel?"

"Indeed, it was not given reed Daneel

"Your name is not Daneel Olivaw, but R Daneel Olivaw, isn&039;t it? Or, in full, Robot Daneel Olivaw"

"You are quite correct, Partner Elijah"

"From which it all follows that RX-2475 was never informed that you are a robot It was allowed to think of you as a man With your manlike appearance, such a "

"Then let&039;s proceed" Baley was feeling the gerht He was on the trace of sohe could do well It was soh to be called half across space to do He said, "Nohy should anyone want to deceive a miserable robot? It doesn&039;t matter to it whether you are man or robot It follows orders in either case A reasonable conclusion then is that the Solarian captain who informed the robot and the Solarian officials who informed the Captain did not themselves know you were a robot As I say, that is one reasonable conclusion, but perhaps not the only one Is this one true?"

"I believe it is"

"All right, then Good guess Nohy? Dr Han Fastolfe, in reco you as my partner allows the Solarians to think you are a hu? The Solarians, if they find out, ry Why was it done?"

The humanoid robot said, "It was explained to me thus, Partner Elijah Your association with a human of the Outer Worlds would raise your status in the eyes of the Solarians Your association with a robot would lower it Since I was familiar with your ways and could ith you easily, it was thought reasonable to allow the Solarians to acceptthem by a positive statement to that effect"

Baley did not believe it It seemed like the kind of careful consideration for an Earths that did not cohtened a one as Fastolfe

He considered an alternative and said, "Are the Solarians well known a the Outer Worlds for the production of robots?"

"I a the inner economy of Solaria"

"Not a word," said Baley "I can guess the spelling of the word Solaria and there e stops"

"Then I do not see, Partner Elijah, what it was that impelled you to ask that question, but it is a most pertinent one You have hit the mark My mind-store of information includes the fact that, of the fifty Outer Worlds, Solaria is by far the best known for the variety and excellence of robot models it turns out It exports specialized models to all the other Outer Worlds"

Baley nodded in grim satisfaction Naturally Daneel did not follow an intuitivepoint Nor did Baley feel i If Solaria turned out to be a world expert in robotics, Dr Han Fastolfe and his associates ht have purely personal and very hu their own prize robot It would have nothing at all to do with an Earths

They would be asserting their own superiority by allowing the expert Solarians to be fooled into accepting a robot of Auroran handiwork as a fellow-e that all the thought, all the intellectual powers he couldhilory succeeded at once

The recognition of the vainglory of the Spacers helped too

He thought: Jehoshaphat, we&039;re all human; even the Spacers

Aloud he said, alround-car? I&039; well adapted to its present use Man and hu flexible ht (In space, Baley ihtlessly froth of the tube, impelled by an initial Jump)

Toward the other end the tube narrowed cluiant hand had constricted it Daneel, carrying the flashlight, got down on all fours and so did Baley They traveled the last twenty feet in that fashion, round-car

Daneel closed the door through which they had entered, sliding it shut carefully There was a heavy, clicking noise that ht have been the detachment of the air-tube

Baley looked about curiously There was nothing too exotic about the ground-car There were two seats in tandem, each of which could hold three There were doors at each end of each seat The glossy sections that ht ordinarily have been ere black and opaque, as a result, undoubtedly, of appropriate polarization Baley was acquainted with that

The interior of the car was lit by two round spots of yellow illu Baley felt to be strange was the transmitter set into the partition immediately before the front seat and, of course, the added fact that there were no visible controls