Hunter had always known this moment would arrive. His interpretation of the First Law and his judgment of human frailty prevented him from revealing the existence of time travel. He also felt that revealing Wayne’s obstruction of the mission would, in fact, bring about consequences that would harm Wayne. Now that Hunter had completed the mission successfully, he saw no reason to allow such harm. None of Wayne’s illegal actions in the past, such as kidnapping Jane, could be proven in a contemporary court of law, so legal action was not an option. Hunter decided to delete information about Wayne’s presence on these missions.
“The First Law prohibits me from giving a detailed report,” Hunter said in a formal tone.
“This is an unacceptable answer,” Dr. Khanna said angrily. “You have put me off at every request. As the Oversight Committee, we have a right to this information.”
“The First Law makes no exceptions,” said Hunter.
Dr. Khanna drew in a long breath, his face contorted with anger. Before he could speak again, however, he was interrupted.
“That’s true,” said Dr. Redfield, stifling a smile. “We’re all roboticists here. Apparently Hunter has no choice.”
“I question his judgment on this matter,” Dr. Khanna said with barely controlled rage. “Must we dismantle Hunter to make sure of his efficiency?”
“He reports that he’s completed his assignment successfully,” said Dr. Redfield. “If that turns out to be true, then we have no real grounds to question him.”
“I will have MC Governor shut down and will arrange for him to be shipped to a lab of your choice,” said Hunter.
“We have to make arrangements first,” said Dr. Chin. “We’ll contact you when we are ready.”
“I suggest we confer among ourselves,” said Professor Post. “We should have Hunter sign off.”
“I must ask a question,” said Hunter. “Where does Dr. Wayne Nystrom stand in regard to your deliberations?”
“Nobody can stand him,” Dr. Khanna said, still angry.
“That’s a personal matter,” said Professor Post. “In professional terms, Dr. Nystrom will have to face a detailed review of his flawed creations.”
“Can you utilize his expertise in your upcoming research?” Hunter asked.
“Our oversight responsibility must be conducted without conflict of interest,” said Dr. Redfield. “However, once our judgment of existing flaws has been reached, that phase will have ended. When the repair process begins, we can consider contacting him for help.”
“Do you have a recommendation, Hunter?” Dr. Chin asked, “Why do you ask?”
“I will discuss a possible suggestion with you at a later time,” said Hunter. “I will sign off now.”
“Thanks for a great job,” Dr. Redfield added, just before the connection broke.
23
Without stopping to speak with the humans in MC Governor’s office, Hunter called Daladier again. “Did Wayne observe this call successfully?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a phone nearby? I want to speak with him directly.”
“Yes.” Daladier gave Hunter a number to call. “It’s right here in the lobby. I will tell Wayne to answer.”
Hunter called the number. A moment later, Wayne’s face appeared on Hunter’s internal screen.
“Yeah?” Wayne said cautiously, glaring at Hunter.
“You are well?” Hunter asked.
“Well enough. Get to the point, will you?”
“Based on the reaction of the Oversight Committee, I believe the members will consider your participation in correcting the flaws of the Governor robots.”
“Dr. Khanna never liked me. And the feeling’s mutual. They’re all jealous of my accomplishments.”
“If you are willing to participate, I believe they will work with you. In that event, your career may not be significantly harmed.”
Wayne said nothing for a moment, looking at Hunter. “Yeah?”
“I will offer you a deal in exchange for my recommending to the Oversight Committee that they ask for your help in the repair process.”
“How do you know they’ll bother to repair the Governor robots?” Wayne asked, in a less confrontational tone. “I always figured they’d just junk them entirely.”
“I cannot speak for them,” said Hunter. “But Or. Redfield raised the subject of a repair phase on her own. The Oversight Committee appears to have an open mind on the subject.”
“Well, yeah, I heard her mention that,” Wayne said slowly. “What do you want from me in return?”
“I want you to keep the existence of time travel a secret. The inherent harm to all humans is clearly immense.”
“Yeah, I know that. But what about the hardware?”
“The First Law will not allow me to discuss my plans. However, I offer the proposition that if no evidence of time travel continues to exist, anyone claiming to have visited the past will sound silly, not to mention professionally unreliable.”
Wayne hesitated, then nodded. “I hear the implied threat to my own future, Hunter. All right, you have a deal.”
“Good. You can find lodging in Mojave Center for the time being?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. Feel free to have Daladier continue to assist you. I will confer with you again later. Hunter out.”
“Hunter, city computer calling. The second conference call you requested stands by.”
“Please connect me.”
“Hunter, is everything okay?” Jane asked.
“Yes,” Hunter said aloud. “Jane, and Steve, please stand by. In a moment, we will return to the Bohung Institute.”
“Okay,” said Steve.
As the six specialists appeared on Hunter’s internal link, he greeted each one of them.
“What’s up, Hunter?” Chad Mora, the paleontologist who had helped find MC 1 in the Late Cretaceous era, grinned at him. “You don’t have to find another robot in the age of dinosaurs, do you?”
“No. We have completed our missions.”
A chorus of congratulations came from all of them except Harriet, who of course already knew that.
“I’m glad, Hunter,” said Rita Chavez, who had journeyed to Jamaica in the time of the buccaneers with the team.
“I want to thank you again, Hunter,” said Gene Titus. “For inviting me along to Roman Germany. It was a wonderful experience for a historian; I guess we all feel that way.”
“That’s right,” said Judy Taub, who had traveled back to the Battle of Moscow in 1941 with the team.
“I still can’t believe I met Marco Polo and Kublai Khan,” said Marcia Lew.
“Have any of you revealed that you traveled into the past?”
No one responded; several shook their heads.
“It’s been less than a week,” said Chad. “I’m still reviewing all the information I collected.”
“We all know the danger of revealing time travel to the world at large,” said Judy.
“I made significant discoveries,” said Harriet. “I may not be alone in that. But I know you want us to keep this a secret.”
“I will dismantle the time-travel ability of the sphere shortly,” said Hunter. “Of course, I cannot order you to keep this a secret. I can tell you that no evidence of time travel will exist, however. Certainly none of us will benefit by having the technology rediscovered.”
“I get the picture,” said Chad. “If we claim to have traveled through time, we’ll sound like cranks or lunatics.”
“As you know, I cannot allow harm to any of you,” said Hunter. “So I want you to know that maintaining the secret will be to your own advantage.”
“I can manage,” said Harriet. “Even though I can’t prove my information, I know where to pursue more archaeological research. Maybe I can arrange it.”
“I can, too,” said Chad. “Paleontology combines hard evidence with educated guesses all the time. I can advance my new information as theoretical. Since I’m right, no one can disprove it.” He laughed lightly. “And I know roughly where to dig next.”
“I didn’t learn much new history as such,” said Marcia. “I picked up the feel of the times. That helps me in my work, too.”
“Same for me,” said Gene.
“Yes, I would say that,” added Rita. “It all became real.”
“I have further work to do,” said Hunter. “Please excuse me for making this farewell so abrupt. I thank you all.” He disconnected and turned to Steve and Jane. “We must go back to the Bohung Institute now. Jane, can we safely leave MC Governor here?”