She remained as she was, while he crossed to the screen. She had positioned herself so that only her upper portion could be seen by the pickup. He activated it, knowing that the two-way connection would show his wife in the background. The Citizens would be monitoring this; their agents would be reassured, and no report would be made. But the moment the line was opened. Bane extended his electronic expertise. He tuned in on a nearby line reserved for Citizens, and fixed a limited diversion that would allow him to monitor it without being detected unless this specific device was suspected. This technology was not generally known; in fact, he was practicing the Proton equivalent of magic. Mach had become the Robot Adept, now far more talented in that respect than Bane. But Bane, unadvertised, had become the equivalent in Proton, and now he was drawing on these unique skills.
“Hold all calls, this hour,” he said. “Except from Citizens, of course.” Then he disconnected, not waiting for confirmation. This was his normal procedure; the nature of his first-hour activity was generally known. But now he had his secret loop established. Outsiders could neither call in nor spy on what happened here, but he would know what was going on outside. Already there was a stream of routine communications, as one Citizen contacted the office of another about some trifle. Mach monitored these on what in his living brain would have been a subconscious level; if any key reference occurred, he would be alerted. “Now thou mayest talk,” he told Nepe.
“Are you really changing sides. Daddy?” she asked, delighted. “How come?”
“The threats against thy mother and Fleta in Phaze repre sent a violation o’ our covenant. Mach and I agreed to serve the Adverse Adepts and Contrary Citizens in return for their protection and sanction o’ our liaisons with our chosen females. Since Mach made the first deal much has changed; he won the contest that required me to join him. But Stile’s opposition to Mach’s union with Fleta ended, so the original cause was gone; only our agreements held us. We have served loyally; as thou knowest, we finally did locate Flach and capture him, and through him, thee. But all along, we would have preferred to be on the other side. Evidently the Citizens and Adepts, knowing this, and balked for four years, decided to make one swift sweep and gain a permanent advantage by unethical means. They tried to conceal this from us, believing that they could secure the power they required in both frames before we realized. But Flach told me, and now I be acting, and Mach be acting, to remove ourselves and our loved ones from the enemy camp.”
“I’m glad, Daddy! I didn’t like hiding from you, but—”
“Each must serve the side he serves. Now we be united in purpose as well as in person, and needs must we plan for action. As soon as Agape be offplanet, we must get thee to Blue.”
“But what about you. Daddy? Once they find out, they will make you prisoner.”
“I have means o’ escape. Thou dost be the one we must free next. We can use not the ice cream ploy again. Mayhap we can send thee to a game while we—“ He hesitated.
“Daddy, I know what you do with Mommy. I kept track of you, those years, and Flach told me about Mach and Fleta.”
“How couldst thou keep track o’ that?” he asked, be mused. “E’en as Troubot, thou didst ne’er see the act.”
“Same way you keep track of the Citizens. In my metal aspect I learned some things about wiring.”
“Which doubtless be why it was so hard to find thee.”
“You never would have found me, if you hadn’t traced me through Flach,” she said smugly.
“But it be harder for thee to hide this time. An I send thee out, they will be watching.”
“I think you could carry me out, if I become part of you, like maybe a leg. Then you could use your blankout circuit to-”
“My what?”
“You know, the way you short around the circuits of the spybeams on you, and make yourself invisible to them. Then you could take me to Grandpa Blue—“ Bane was amazed again. How many of his secrets did she know? But probably that would work. By the time the Citizens realized that something was up, and checked the suite, they would find nothing there except ten gallons of ice cream mix.
“Very well. As soon as we be certain your mother be safe, and have not to emulate her any more—“ He broke off, for his intercept had just sent up a signal. . . . made the reservation while interviewing him, and now is heading for the spaceport. Better intercept her and find out whether this has anything to do with Bane. I’ll send a pair of androids with her person-code; there will be time.
“They be going to intercept and question Tania!” he ex claimed. “Must needs I stop that! Agape will be able to exchange with her not if there be androids there!”
“Go now. Daddy!” Nepe exclaimed. “I’ll cover!”
“What, for me?”
“I can do you too, with a few minutes to set up.” Already she was starting to change, her features melting.
“Thou dost be a wonder!” he said, stepping toward the portal. “I will return for thee when I can.”
“I’ll be waiting. Daddy,” she said bravely. He used his intercept circuit to tune in on the spy devices beyond the portal. In a moment he had nulled them without alerting their malfunction alarms. Then he opened the portal and stepped out.
A human serf was passing in the hall. Bane ignored him; it was only the spy device that counted. Later they might round up and question all serfs in the vicinity, and learn that Bane had been seen leaving, but by then it would be far too late.
He had little time. Agape would be meeting Tania about half an hour before the flight, and the androids could be arriving shortly before that, being dispatched from some local depot. The spaceport was a fair distance from this region. A walking pace would require at least an hour, and all he had was perhaps twenty minutes. A Citizen could readily get there in time, by taking private transport, but he was a serf. He had to have transportation—but the fast belts and rail tubes were all monitored, and he wasn’t sure he could remain in visible to them.
But he had an answer. He stepped into a service alcove. There was a hall-brushing machine, awaiting its call. It had a huge roller brush in front, and a large bin for refuse behind. Bane addressed it electronically, tapping into its commu nication circuit. He had talked verbally to Troubot, but then he had been walking openly; now he was hidden from electronic observation, and needed to remain so. Activate, he sent. Stand ready to accept load of refuse. Take that load via expedite route to spaceport depot and release it.
The sweeper did not question these orders. It hummed into its version of life and opened the lid to its refuse bin. Bane climbed up to stand in the bin. It was too small for him to hide in, being only half his height and too narrow to allow him to squat. He touched his body efficiently, and in a moment removed his right leg. He propped this in the front right comer, and then disconnected his left leg. He put his hands on the rim of the bin, hefted himself up, and let the left leg wobble into the front left comer. Then he lowered his torso down in a maneuver a living body would have found difficult, until it wedged against his standing legs at the bottom of the bin. He squeezed his arms down and into the scant remaining space.
The sweeper slid its lid back over. It clicked into place, making an airtight seal. Bane was glad that this body did not need to breathe; it did so only for appearances, and for verbal communication.
The sweeper trundled forward, heading for the expedite route. This was a network of tunnels used for the swift trans port of supplies and equipment. The sweeper rolled onto a transport cart, was tied down, and gave its destination. Abruptly the motion was savage. No human limitations of atmosphere or acceleration were considered; machines were tougher. It was like being launched by a swinging club; one moment the cart was stationary, the next it was rolling down the tube at a horrendous velocity. There was a violent jerk as it changed tracks, proceeding at an angle down a new tube, orienting on the spaceport. Bane’s legs raided against his torso. But high velocity was what he wanted! In only ten minutes the sweeper rolled into the spaceport depot. Its lid slid open. Bane got his arms up, put his hands on the rim on either side, and somewhat clumsily hoisted his body up. This was harder to do than letting it down, and getting the first leg attached was harder yet. But he managed to use his torso to nudge his leg into the appropriate place, and to set himself on it so that it took some weight; that freed a hand so that he could complete the connection. The second leg was easy.