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wife. I said that had nothing to do with it and finally she said, well, she d
speak to somebody, and then about a month later she came to me and said it was
all right and I joined and I ve been at meetings ever since.
Baley looked at her sadly.  And you never told me?
Jessie s voice trembled.  I m sorry, Lije.
 Well, that won t help. Being sorry, I mean. I want to know about the
meetings. In the first place, where were they held?
A sense of detachment was creeping over him, a numbing of emotions. What he
had tried not to believe was so, was openly so, was unmistakably so. In a
sense, it was a relief to have the uncertainty over.
She said,  Down here.
 Down here? You mean on this spot? What do you mean?
 Here in the motorway. That s why I didn t want to come down here. It was a
wonderful place to meet, though. We d get together--
 How many?
 I m not sure. About sixty or seventy. It was just a sort of local branch.
There d be folding chairs and some refreshments and someone would make a
speech, mostly about how wonderful life was in the old days and how someday
we d do away with the monsters, the robots, that is, and the Spacers, too. The
speeches were sort of dull really, because they were all the same. We just
endured them. Mostly, it was the fun of getting together and feeling
important. We would pledge ourselves to oaths and there d be secret ways we
could greet each other on the outside.
 Weren t you ever interrupted? No squad cars or fire engines passed?
 No. Never.
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R. Daneel interrupted,  Is that unusual, Elijah?
 Maybe not, Baley answered thoughtfully.  There are some side passages that
are practically never used. It s quite a trick, knowing which they are,
though. Is that all you did at the meetings, Jessie? Make speeches and play at
conspiracy?
 It s about all. And sing songs, sometimes. And of course, refreshments. Not
much. Sandwiches, usually, and juice.
 In that case, he said, almost brutally,  what s bothering you now?
Jessie winced.  You re angry.
 Please, said Baley, with iron patience,  answer my question. If it were all
as harmless as that, why have you been in such a panic for the last day and a
half?
 I thought they would hurt you, Lije. For heaven s sake, why do you act as
though you don t understand? I ve explained it to you.
 No, you haven t. Not yet. You ve told me about a harmless little secret
kaffee-klatsch you belonged to.
Did they ever hold open demonstrations? Did they ever destroy robots? Start
riots? Kill people?
 Never! Lije, I wouldn t do any of those things. I wouldn t stay a member if
they tried it.
 Well, then, why do you say you ve done a terrible thing? Why do you expect to
be sent to jail?
 Well ... Well, they used to talk about someday when they d put pressure on
the government. We were supposed to get organized and then afterward there
would be huge strikes and work stoppages. We could force the government to ban
all robots and make the Spacers go back where they came from. I
thought it was just talk and then, this thing started; about you and Daneel, I
mean. Then they said,  Now we ll see action, and  We re going to make an
example of them and put a stop to the robot invasion right now. Right there
in Personal they said it, not knowing it was you they were talking about. But
I
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knew. Right away.
Her voice broke.
Baley softened.  Come on, Jessie. It was all nothing. It was just talk. You
can see for yourself that nothing has happened.
 I was so--so suh--scared. And I thought: I m part of it. If there were going
to be killing and destruction, you might be killed and Bentley and somehow it
would be all muh--my fault for taking part in it, and I
ought to be sent to jail.
Baley let her sob herself out. He put his arm about her shoulder and stared
tight-lipped at R. Daneel, who gazed calmly back.
He said,  Now, I want you to think, Jessie. Who was the head of your group?
She was quieter now, patting the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.  A
man called Joseph Klemin was the leader, but he wasn t really anybody. He
wasn t more than five feet four inches tall and I think he was terribly
henpecked at home. I don t think there s any harm in him. You aren t going to
arrest him, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter,
http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
are you, Lije? On my say-so? She looked guiltily troubled.
 I m not arresting anyone just yet. How did Klemin get his instructions?
 I don t know.
 Did any strangers come to meeting? You know what I mean: big shots from
Central Headquarters?
 Sometimes people would come to make speeches. That wasn t very often, maybe
twice a year or so.
 Can you name them?
 No. They were always just introduced as  one of us or  a friend from Jackson
Heights or wherever.
 I see. Daneel!
 Yes, Elijah, said R. Daneel.
 Describe the men you think you ve tabbed. We ll see if Jessie can recognize
them.
R. Daneel went through the list with clinical exactness. Jessie listened with
an expression of dismay as the categories of physical measurements lengthened
and shook her head with increasing firmness.
 It s no use. It s no use, she cried.  How can I remember? I can t remember
how any of them looked.
I can t--
She stopped, and seemed to consider. Then she said,  Did you say one of them
was a yeast farmer?
 Francis Clousarr, said R. Daneel,  is an employee at New York Yeast.
 Well, you know, once a man was making a speech and I happened to be sitting
in the first row and I
kept getting a whiff, just a whiff, really, of raw yeast smell. You know what
I mean. The only reason that
I remember is that I had an upset stomach that day and the smell kept making
me sick. I had to stand up and move to the back and of course I couldn t
explain what was wrong. It was so embarrassing. Maybe that s the man you re
speaking of. After all, when you work with yeast all the time, the odor gets
to stick to your clothes. She wrinkled her nose.
 You don t remember what he looked like? said Baley.
 No, she replied, with decision.
 All right, then. Look, Jessie, I m going to take you to your mother s.
Bentley will stay with you, and none of you will leave the Section. Ben can
stay away from school and I ll arrange to have meals sent in and the corridors
around the apartment watched by the police.
 What about you? quavered Jessie. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]