“Correct,” said Mandelbrot. “A somewhat converted lifepod. I modified it.”
“Alpha,” said Derec, shaking his head. “Mandelbrot, I mean.”
“I detect distress,” said Mandelbrot. “What is its cause?”
“Whatever your name is,” Ariel wailed, “we wanted to get out of here. But this little ship only has room for one.”
“I traveled with ‘im,” said Wolruf.
“Mandelbrot, why didn’t you tell us it could only carry one full-sized humanoid?” Derec asked. “I asked you where it was, what condition it was in, and so on.”
“The only subject of discussion at that time was the welfare of Jeff Leong. I surmised that you wanted it for his use. It is adequate for that purpose.”
“Yeah.” Derec sighed. “So it is.” He slipped an arm casually around Ariel’s shoulders. “I think it’s more important to get Ariel off the planet, though. She has-something to take care of.”
She took his hand and squeezed it, probably for not mentioning her disease in particular.
“How did you modify it?” Derec asked.
“I was able to give it a significant drive ability. Also, I was able to create space for Wolruf. I myself used the space principally intended for human use, but of course I do not have the supply requirements. The supply space was available for her provisions.”
Derec nodded, staring silently at the little ship. No one else spoke. They all seemed to understand the realization, and what it meant to him. Finally, when he turned away, they followed him back to the tunnel stop without a word.
By the time they returned to the facility, Research 1 and Surgeon 1 were just leaving the O.R.
“Are you finished already?” Ariel asked in surprise. “How is he?”
“The procedures have apparently been successful so far,” said Surgeon 1. “Unlike the transplantation into his robot body, which required no recovery period, his human body will require an extended recuperative phase with close attention from us.”
“The most important unknown factor now is his biological recuperative power, with which we have little experience,” said Research 1. “However, we-”
“You think he’ll be okay,” Derec interpreted. “Right?”
“Correct,” said Research 1.
“What about his, well, his attitude?” Ariel asked. “Will his emotional state be normal again?”
“We will have to wait for data about that question. He will sleep for many hours, yet,” said Surgeon 1. “We will also have him mildly tranquilized when he first awakens. to guard against further shock when he finds himself fully human again.”
“If his body is truly recovering,” said Research 1, “his serum levels in all cases should gradually return to normal. I surmise that the effect will not be immediate, but our information is poor on this subject.”
Ariel nodded.
“We’ll be moving along,” said Derec. “I’m going to get on the central computer and see about refurbishing a certain little spacecraft. Also, how many further modifications it might take. Keep us up to date on Jeff through my console, all right?”
Chapter 18. Lift-Off
Derec was able to assemble a work crew of function robots to take care of the spacecraft under Mandelbrot’s direction. The computer released them from normal du,ty with the understanding that Ariel’s welfare would be aided by her leaving the planet. It was not exactly a clear First Law requirement, but in the absence of significant objections, it was sufficient.
Derec was disappointed to learn that the ship would not support the modifications required to support a second human passenger, but he was not surprised. The entire craft was just too small. He and Ariel had watched the robots construct a hangar near where Mandelbrot had landed it, in which minor repairs could be made. He followed the robots’ progress with a certain intellectual interest.
Ariel did not seem to like talking about the ship, or where she would go in it. He understood that Aurora was off-limits, and neither of them really knew where she might reasonably look for a cure. Anyway, she wouldn’t discuss it.
She brightened for the first time when Research 1 called through the computer console. He told Derec that Jeff was alert, talking, and no longer drugged, for the first time since his body had been restored. She insisted that she and Derec visit him right away.
They found Jeff lying on an air cushion, wearing a soft, loose gown that billowed gently around him. Research 1 had told them that Jeff was self-conscious about the numerous scars he now bore, though they could be largely eliminated by further procedures later on. Derec looked at Jeff’s slender body and Asian face and thought he looked more as though he was Derec’s age than eighteen.
Jeff’s dark eyes darted back and forth suspiciously between them. He said nothing.
“How are you?” Ariel asked.
Jeff looked at her without speaking for a long moment. “Human,” he said quietly. “I guess.”
“Feeling better?” Derec asked. Jeff shrugged shyly.
“Are you angry?” Ariel asked.
“About what?” Jeff said cautiously.
Derec looked uncomfortably at Ariel. He hadn’t spoken to Jeff as often as she had, and didn’t know how to approach him.
“You’re not a robot any more,” she said.
Jeff shook his head almost imperceptibly. “I, uh…feel like I’ve been in a fog, or something. Like I’ve been dreaming. Almost like it wasn’t real. I remember it, I guess…” He looked up at them both sharply, watching for their reactions.
Derec looked at Ariel again.
“You think I’m lying?” Jeff’s voice had a hint of familiar belligerence. “You think I’m just trying to duck responsibility, I suppose. Why don’t you get out of here?”
“Come on,” Ariel said quietly, tugging at Derec’s sleeve. “Let’s leave him alone.”
Ariel led Derec into what had been the testing room. The original equipment had been put back into it, but it was still an adequate place to talk, especially since Jeff no longer had robotic hearing.
“We have to send him, not me,” Ariel said bluntly.
“What?” Derec straightened in surprise.
“He’s got to be the one to go.”
“He can wait, just like I’ll have to. Ariel, you’re the one who needs a cure. If Jeff knew that, he might not object, either.”
“Derec, did you see how he looked at us? He’s not over his-ordeal. He still thinks we’re out to get him in some way.”
“If you go, then he and I will get acquainted. We’ll make friends eventually, like you and I did. We’ll practically have to, being the only humans on the planet.”
“No, Derec. We have to prove to him that we don’t have a grudge-that people will help others just because they need it, and not because they’re going to get something selfish out of it.”
“Then let him prove it by helping you! You need to go worse than he does. That should be the basis for the decision.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t go, at least not yet.”
“What? What do you mean, you shouldn’t go?”
“Derec, I don’t know where to look for a cure. I could just go out and wander, but that’s not very reliable. Maybe if I stay here, Research 1 could take a culture from me and get to work on a cure. It might take a long time, but it would be a chance.”
He hesitated, and looked at the unidentifiable equipment around the room. “The level of medical knowledge here is pretty erratic…but I guess the First Law might require him to try.”
“And once that’s set up, then I could take the next chance I had to leave. “
“You could leave a culture with Research 1 now and go yourself.”
“Leaving Jeff here that way just doesn’t seem fair.” She shook her head. “Besides, it would just help convince him that we’re only out for ourselves.”
“Is that the only reason?”