He wondered if, had he delayed longer in being convinced, he might
not have been replaced forthwith--if some other Chief of the Bureau
of Robotics might not be conferring in Washington. He suddenly wished
earnestly that exactly that had come to pass.
* * * * *
The First Presidential Assistant was there, the Secretary of Science,
the Secretary of Security, Lynn himself, and Breckenridge. Five of them
sitting about a table in the dungeons of an underground fortress near
Washington.
Presidential Assistant Jeffreys was an impressive man, handsome in a
white-haired and just-a-trifle-jowly fashion, solid, thoughtful and as
unobtrusive, politically, as a Presidential Assistant ought to be.
He spoke incisively. "There are three questions that face us as I see
it. First, when are the humanoids going to get together? Second, where
are they going to get together? Third, how do we stop them before they
get together?"
Secretary of Science Amberley nodded convulsively at that. He had been
Dean of Northwestern Engineering before his appointment. He was thin,
sharp-featured and noticeably edgy. His forefinger traced slow circles
on the table.
"As far as _when_ they'll get together," he said. "I suppose it's
definite that it won't be for some time."
"Why do you say that?" asked Lynn, sharply.
"They've been in the U. S. at least a month already. So Security says."
Lynn turned automatically to look at Breckenridge, and Secretary of
Security Macalaster intercepted the glance. Macalaster said, "The
information is reliable. Don't let Breckenridge's apparent youth fool
you, Dr. Lynn. That's part of his value to us. Actually, he's 34 and
has been with the department for ten years. He has been in Moscow for
nearly a year and without him, none of this terrible danger would be
known to us. As it is, we have most of the details."
"Not the crucial ones," said Lynn.
Macalaster of Security smiled frostily. His heavy chin and close-set
eyes were well-known to the public but almost nothing else about him
was. He said, "We are all finitely human, Dr. Lynn. Agent Breckenridge
has done a great deal."
Presidential Assistant Jeffreys cut in. "Let us say we have a certain
amount of time. If action at the instant were necessary, it would
have happened before this. It seems likely that they are waiting for
a specific time. If we knew the place, perhaps the time would become
self-evident.
"If they are going to TC a target, they will want to cripple us as much
as possible, so it would seem that a major city would have to be it.
In any case, a major metropolis is the only target worth a TC bomb. I
think there are four possibilities: Washington, as the administrative
center; New York, as the financial center; and Detroit and Pittsburgh
as the two chief industrial centers."
Macalaster of Security said, "I vote for New York. Administration
and industry have both been decentralized to the point where the
destruction of any one particular city won't prevent instant
retaliation."
"Then why New York?" asked Amberly of Science, perhaps more sharply
than he intended. "Finance has been decentralized as well."
"A question of morale. It may be they intend to destroy our will to
resist, to induce surrender by the sheer horror of the first blow.
The greatest destruction of human life would be in the New York
Metropolitan area--"
"Pretty cold-blooded," muttered Lynn.
"I know," said Macalaster of Security, "but they're capable of it, if
they thought it would mean final victory at a stroke. Wouldn't we--"
Presidential Assistant Jeffreys brushed back his white hair. "Let's
assume the worst. Let's assume that New York will be destroyed some
time during the winter, preferably immediately after a serious blizzard
when communications are at their worst and the disruption of utilities
and food supplies in fringe areas will be most serious in their effect.
Now, how do we stop them?"
Amberley of Science could only say, "Finding ten men in two hundred and
twenty million is an awfully small needle in an awfully large haystack."
Jeffreys shook his head. "You have it wrong. Ten humanoids among two
hundred twenty million humans."
"No difference," said Amberley of Science. "We don't know that a
humanoid can be differentiated from a human at sight. Probably not." He
looked at Lynn. They all did.
Lynn said heavily, "We in Cheyenne couldn't make one that would pass as
human in the daylight."
"But They can," said Macalaster of Security, "and not only physically.
We're sure of that. They've advanced mentalic procedures to the point
where they can reel off the micro-electronic pattern of the brain and
focus it on the positronic pathways of the robot."
Lynn stared. "Are you implying that they can create the replica of a
human being complete with personality and memory?"
"I do."
"Of specific human beings?"
"That's right."
"Is this also based on Agent Breckenridge's findings?"
"Yes. The evidence can't be disputed."
Lynn bent his head in thought for a moment. Then he said, "Then ten men
in the United States are not men but humanoids. But the originals would
have had to be available to them. They couldn't be Orientals, who would
be too easy to spot, so they would have to be East Europeans. How would
they be introduced into this country, then? With the radar network over
the entire world border as tight as a drum, how could They introduce
any individual, human or humanoid, without our knowing it?"
Macalaster of Security said, "It can be done. There are certain
legitimate seepages across the border. Businessmen, pilots, even
tourists. They're watched, of course, on both sides. Still ten of
them might have been kidnapped and used as models for humanoids. The
humanoids would then be sent back in their place. Since we wouldn't
expect such a substitution, it would pass us by. If they were Americans
to begin with, there would be no difficulty in their getting into this
country. It's as simple as that."
"And even their friends and family could not tell the difference?"
"We must assume so. Believe me, we've been waiting for any report
that might imply sudden attacks of amnesia or troublesome changes in
personality. We've checked on thousands."
Amberley of Science stared at his finger-tips. "I think ordinary
measures won't work. The attack must come from the Bureau of Robotics
and I depend on the chief of that bureau."
Again eyes turned sharply, expectantly, on Lynn.
Lynn felt bitterness rise. It seemed to him that this was what the
conference came to and was intended for. Nothing that had been said had
not been said before. He was sure of that. There was no solution to
the problem, no pregnant suggestion. It was a device for the record, a
device on the part of men who gravely feared defeat and who wished the
responsibility for it placed clearly and unequivocally on someone else.
And yet there was justice in it. It was in robotics that We had fallen
short. And Lynn was not Lynn merely. He was Lynn of Robotics and the
responsibility had to be his.