It was a friendly, powerful voice, very deep and resonant, yet there was something slightly unnatural about it. A computer? Duncan asked himself.
That was too easy an assumption; in any case, there was no way of distinguishing between computer vocalization and human speech-especially now that a realistic number of “ers,” “wells,” incomplete sentences, and downright grammatical errors could be incorporated to make the nonelectronic participants in a conversation feel at ease. He guessed that he was listening to a, man talking through a speech-disguising circuit.
While Duncan was still trying to decide if any answer was necessary, another speaker took over. This time, the voice emerged about half a meter from his left ear.
“It’s only fair to reassure you on one point, Mr. Makenzie. As far as we can ascertain, no Terran laws have been broken. We are not here to investigate a _crime—only to solve a mystery, to explain a tragedy. If any
Titanian regulations are involved, that is your problem-not ours. I hope you understand. ““Yes Duncan replied. “I assumed that was the case, but I’m glad to have your confirmation.”
This was indeed a relief, but he knew better than to relax. Perhaps this statement was exactly what it seemed to be-a friendly plea for cooperation. But it might also be a trap.
Now a woman’s voice came from immediately be hind him, and he had to resist the impulse to swing around and look at the speaker. Was this
quite unnecessary shifting of sound focus a deliberate at tempt to disorient him? How naieve did they take him to be?
“To save us all time, let me explain that we have a complete summary of Mr.
Helmer’s background.” And mine, thought Duncan. “Your government has been most helpful, but you may have information which is unknown to us, since you were one of his closest friends.”
Duncan nodded, without bothering to speak. They would know all about that friendship, and its ending.
As if responding to some hidden signal, Mr. Smith opened his briefcase and carefully laid a small object on the table.
“You’ll recognize this, of course,” the female voice continued. “The Helmer family has asked that it be handed over to you for safe custody, with the other property of the deceased.”
The sight of Karl’s Minisec-virtually the same model as his own-was in itself such a shock that at first the remainder of the message failed to get through. Then Duncan reacted with a start and said: “Would you please repeat that?”
There was such a surprisingly long delay that he wondered if the speaker was on the Moon; during the course of the session, Duncan became almost certain of it. With all the other interrogators, there was a quick give-and-take, but with the lone woman there was always this invariable time-lag.
“The Helmers have asked that you be custodian of their son’s effects, until disposition is settled.”
It was a gesture of peace, across the grave of all their hopes, and Duncan felt his eyes stinging with unshed tears. He looked at the handful of microelectronics on the table and felt a deep reluctance even to touch it.
There were all Karl’s secrets. Would the Helmers have asked him to accept this if they had anything to hide? But there was a great deal, Duncan was certain, that Karl had concealed from his own family; there would be much in the Minisec that only he had ever known. True, it would be guarded by carefully chosen code words, some of them possibly
linked with ERASE circuits to prevent unauthorized intrusion. “Naturally,” continued the voice from the Moon (if it was from the Moon), 66we are interested in what may be in this Minisec. In particular, we would like any list of contacts on Earth-addresses or personal numbers.”
Yes, thought Duncan, I can understand that. I’m sure you must have been tempted to do some interrogation already, but are scared of possible ERASE circuits and want to explore other alternatives first…. He stared thoughtfully at that little box on the table, with its multitudinous studs and its now darkened read-out panel. There lay a device of a complexity beyond all the dreams of earlier ages-a virtual micro simulacrum of a human brain. Within it were billions of bits of information, stored in endless atomic arrays, waiting to be recalled by the right signal—or obliterated by the wrong one. At the rhoment it was lifeless, inert, like consciousness itself in the profoundest depths of sleep. No-not quite inert; the clock and calendar circuits would still be operating, ticking off the seconds and minutes and days that now were no concern of Karl’s.
Another voice broke in, this time from the right.
“We have asked Mr. Armand Helmer if his son left any code words with him, as is usual in such cases. You may be hearing more on the matter shortly.
Meanwhile, no attempt will be made to obtain any read-outs. With your permission, we would like to retain the Minisec for the present.”
Duncan was getting a little tired of having decisions made for him-and the
Helmers had apparently stated that he was to take possession of Karl’s effects. But there was no point in objecting; and if he did, some legal formality would undoubtedly materialize out of the same thin air as these mysterious voices.
Mr. Smith was digging into his case again.
“Now there is a second matter-I’m sure you’ll also recognize this.”
“Yes. Karl usually carried a sketchbook. Is this the one he had with him when-“
“It is. Would you like to go through it, and see if there is anything
that strikes you as unusual-note255 worthy-of any possible value to this investigation? Even if it seems utterly trivial or irrelevant, please don’t hesitate to speak.”
What a technological gulf, thought Duncan, between these two objects! The
Minisec was a triumph of the Neoelectronic Age; the sketchbook had existed virtually unchanged for at least a thousand years -and so had the pencil tucked into it. It was very true, as some philosopher of history had once said, that mankind never completely abandons any of its ancient tools. Yet
Karl’s sketchbooks had always been something of an affectation; he could make competent engineering drawings, but had never shown any genuine sign of artistic talent.
As Duncan slowly turned the leaves, he was acutely conscious of the hidden eyes all around him. Without the slightest doubt, every page here had been carefully recorded, using all the techniques that could bring out invisible marks and erasures. It was hard to believe that he could add much to the investigations that had already been made.
Karl apparently used his sketchbooks to make notes of anything that interested him, to conduct a sort of dialogue with himself, and to express his emotions. There were cryptic words and numbers in small, precise handwriting, fragments of calculations and equations, mathematical sketches
And there were spaces capes obviously rough drawings of scenes on the outer moons, with the formalized circle-and-ellipse of Saturn hanging in the sky . circuit diagrams, with more calculations full of lambdas and omegas, and vector notations that Duncan could recognize, but could not understand . and then suddenly, bursting out of the pages of impersonal notes and rather inept sketches, something that breathed life, something that might have been the work of a real artist-a portrait of Calindy, drawn with obvious, loving care.
It should have been instantly recognizable; yet strangely enough, for a fraction of a second, Duncan stared at it blankly. This was not the
Calindy he now knew, for the real woman was already obliterating the image from the past. Here was Calindy as they had both remembered her-the girl frozen forever in the bubble stero, beyond the reach of Time.