"Speaking of Ravensteel, do you have much trouble with them?"

"Not reallyIt's more of a Mexican standoffWhy?"

"Well, ever since I arrived here, I've been noticing the extensive security precautionsHeck, you can't turn around without tripping over a guardI notice Sam there has a voice lock on him."

Turner shrugged"It's something you learn to live with," he said"The reason we don't have any trouble with Ravensteel is that we have security tight enough to strangle an inchwormOtherwise the Ravensteel spies would be all over usThey haven't had an orig-inal idea since the IRAM split."

"I suppose you're right," Hosato conceded.

"As to Sam's voice lock, that's my own precautionIt's more of a safeguard against office politics than against Ravensteel."

"Office politics?"

"Be thankful you're out of it, Hayama." Turner grimaced"Sometimes I think we spend more time spying on each other than on the oppositionThe more the machines take over, the more time we have to bootlick and backstab over promotionsThere's noth-ing some of my fellow vice-presidents would like better than to steal my ideas or have advance information so they could do a little shotgunning at the planning ses-sionsI didn't get where I am today by trusting peo-ple."

"That bad, huh?" Hosato commented sympatheti-cally.

There was no replyHe glanced at Turner, to find the vice-president studying him with a new suspicion.

"Just to show you how paranoid someone in my position can get, Hayama," he said"It occurs to me you've got an awful lot of questions about security."

"Relax, Harry." Hosato smiled"The last thing I want to do is get people suspiciousThat's why I'm askingI have a hunch ignorance would not be ac-cepted as a valid excuse if I accidentally blundered into the wrong room or area."

"You're right there," Turner admitted"As a mem- ber of my personal staff, you've pretty much got free run of the complexJust stay out of the restricted areas."

"Where are they?"

"You can't miss 'emThere are warning signs and locks all over, not to mention the robots will automati-cally warn you off."

"Can you give me some specifics?"

"Mostly the offices and the manufacturing area.s.sasha can give you a map if you ask her."

Hosato made a face"I'd rather not," he said"I don't think she likes me."

"Don't take it personally, HayamaThe b.i.t.c.h doesn't like anybody."

Hosato almost smiled at the similarity between Turner's opinion of Sasha and Suzi's.

"How much authority does she have, anyway?" he asked.

"Too much," Turner said grimly"She reports di-rectly to the presidentBetween you and me, she could shoot anyone in this complex down in their tracks and not have to justify it to anybody but the boardSweet, huh?"

"Terrific," Hosato responded with heartfelt sincer-ity.

"Don't let it scare you off." Turner was suddenly conspiratorial"We won't have to put up with it much longerShe and her pack of goons will be out on their ears when. if my latest project idea works out."

Turner was suddenly guarded againHosato took the cue and didn't push for details.

"Well," he said, heaving to his feet, "you're busy, so I won't take up any more of your time."

"Drop in anytime, Hayama." Turner smiled.

The smile didn't reach his eyes.

Hosato sneaked a second glance as he reached the doorTurner was still sitting at his desk-robot but was staring thoughtfully at the wallHosato guessed he was reviewing what he had said and wondering if he had said too muchTurner hadn't said much, but he had said enough to set Hosato thinking.

The first immediate effect of Turner's comments was to change Hosato's plans for the balance of the morn-ingInstead of returning to his apartment, he set out to explore the complex.

If there was a security change in the wind, it might accelerate his plansEven though theoretically ma-chines were easier to fool, Hosato preferred to pit his abilities against human guardsHumans could be lulled by repet.i.tion of existing patterns, but a machine would check things as closely on its thousandth execu- tion of routine as it did on its first.

"Going my way, Hayama?"

Sasha had materialized in the corridor behind himHosato felt the instinctive surge of distrust he experi-enced with anyone who moved quieter than he did.

He shrugged"Just looking for a bite of breakfast."

"GoodI'll tag along and have a cup of coffeeOf course, just to keep it in the line of duty, I'll have to ask you a few questions."

"Fine." Hosato forced a note of cordiality into his voice.

"Who made your robot?" she asked, falling in step with him.

"Actually, it's a custom job."

"I know that." She smiled"But whose work is it?"

"I can't recall his name just offhandHe's dead nowI think it's on the schematics somewhere, if you want to check."

"I've checked already," she retorted"n.o.body rec-ognizes the name, and we can't find it in our computer files anywhere."

"I'll try to remember some details," Hosato prom-ised"WhyIs it important?"

"Not really," Sasha admitted"I'm just reflexively suspicious of anything new and unusualGoes with the jobBut it's awfully convenient, you and your robot turning up uninvited just when we need a coach."

"But is there anything specific that's worrying you?" Hosato asked"I didn't think Suzi was that different from most simple robots."

"Yes and no," Sasha commented thoughtfully"It seems to be awfully large for the functions of the schematicsYou could reduce its size drastically."

"Mechanically maybe," Hosato commented"But I think there's one function you're overlookingOne of my robot's primary duties is to act as a fencing part-ner, performing simple moves against a student while I watch and criticizeThe student needs a man-sized opponent to perform against, so a compact unit the size of a mailbox won't do at allDo you understand?"

"I suppose," Sasha said grudgingly"But there's still a lot of unused s.p.a.ce thereCouldn't you get by with less depth or maybe with a fold-out target panel?"

"Maybe," Hostao admitted"But I'm not rich enough to experimentI had this unit built and it worksThat's good enough for me."

"While you're here, you might see what some of our designer robots could come up with as an optionIt couldn't hurt to find outIncidentally, why do you have it rigged so you can open only one door at a time?"

"It's a safety factor," Hosato said easily"Some of the weapons I carry have real points and edgesI don't want them spilling out when-"

A high-pitched beeping interrupted the conversa-tionQuick as a flash, Sasha palmed the communica-tions unit off her belt, unreeled the ear plug, and fitted it to her ear in one easy motion.

"Go ahead," she barked into the mouthpiece"Uh-huh no, seal the area double the force at points Echo and Fred have Ralph standing-by with gas just in case..I'm on my way."

She collapsed the unit and replaced it on her belt.

"Guess we'll have to take a rain check, HayamaI still want to talk with you sometime, though."

"Trouble?" he asked politely.

She shrugged"Probably just routineWe average about two false alarms a weekMost likely some mes-senger robot's decided to take a shortcut through a re- stricted area."

"A McCrae robot?" Hosato murmured sarcastically, but he was talking to thin airSasha was already in full stride, heading off down the corridor.

He watched the distance-eating length of her stride without the slightest appreciation of the movement of her feminine hipsIt seemed Sasha and her team took their work very seriously if they reacted with that speed and intensity to a false alarmUnless.

Unless the whole thing had been carefully planned and executed just to impress him.

Suzi was waiting when Hosato returned to his quar-tersFor a change, she followed him in stoic silence instead of immediately expressing her annoyance as soon as the door closedOne part of his mind regis-tered this and breathed a silent note of thanks to the HungarianWhatever behavior recognition patterns had been built into the robot, they were definitely programmed correctlyHe had a lot of heavy think-ing to do and didn't need a nagging a.s.sistant to dis-tract him.

The silence lasted as he made himself a pot of teaLoading cup and pot onto the small end table, he kicked off his shoes and draped himself over the large reading chair.

He spent several thoughtful moments sipping the tea and collecting his thoughts before he spoke.

"Suzi, give me the layout prints of the complex."

The robot obediently swiveled around, and the viewscreen blinked to life, showing the line drawings of the buildings that made up the McCrae complex.

"Exclude the living quarters and mall and give me an enlargement on the rest."

The display changed according to his specifications.

"Confirm corridors in Administrative Building lobby and Personnel areas Turner's office subterranean tunnels to all buildings corridors in southern half of Household Manufacturing Building. also external lines on all buildings."

As he described the various areas, the designated lines on the drawing changed from blue to redThe data being displayed had been provided by Raven-54 steel and was quite detailedHosato's plans called for believing none of it without confirmationHe was not prepared to risk his life relying on other people's dataRefilling his cup, he studied the new displayThere was still too much blue showing to make concrete plans.

"Problems?" Suzi prodded gently.

"Yeah," he responded absently"Problems."

"Want to talk it out?"

Hosato thought for a few more moments, then shrugged"Why notI'm supposed to put this com-plex out of business for an indefinite period of time. the longer the betterThe problem, of course, is how."

He rose and began to pace restlessly as he contin-ued.

"Right off the bat, we can forget about the living quarters and the mallThey exist independently of the complex proper, so hitting them wouldn't slow production a bitSimilarly, the Administrative Build-ing is safeThey don't even store records there, it's all terminal tie-in with the main computer banksThat leaves the manufacturing areas and the main computer-control building."

"If I might suggest," interrupted Suzi, "the obvious weakness in the complex is the main computer-control buildingAll of the automated design and manufac- turing functions are controlled from there, and if my understanding is correct, it also serves as storage for most or all of the corporation's financial records, cor- respondence, and design programsSabotaging that unit would be certain to disrupt the functioning of Mc-Crae Enterprises perhaps permanently."

Hosato grimaced"You're right, SuziIt's obvious. too obviousIt's apparently occurred to several people here at McCrae that it's their major vulnera-bility, because they're guarding it d.a.m.n closeEvery corridor leading to that unit is loaded with sensors and live guards, both stationary and roamingIt would mean a major undertaking just to approach the unit, much less penetrate it."

"But you've-"

"I've saved the best for lastThe whole build-ing is subterranean, just like our charts showWhat the charts don't show is that it's completely sealedThe only ones who can get in are the technical-maintenance teams, and they haven't set foot in the place for three yearsIt requires two keys turned si-multaneously at different locations to spring the lock, and even if I could beat that, there's another little problemThe unit is kept at planetary surface conditions. no pressurization, and minus three hun-dred degrees FahrenheitThe controls to bring it to humanly bearble conditions are alarmed and guardedThat means I'd have to wear a full surface suit to sur-vive inside, and it might make me a little conspicuous walking through the corridors."

There was a few moments' silence; then Suzi changed her display to show an enlargement of the manufacturing areas.

"Right," said Hosato.

He poured himself another cup of tea before he turned his attention to the new display.

"That brings us to our current problem-the man-ufacturing areas." Hosato spoke as much to himself as to Suzi"The first problem is that we aren't talking about one building, we're talking about threeMcCrae has divided their operations into three product fam-ilies: Household, Office, and IndustrialEvery one of the product families has its own separate building, bless their paranoid little heartsThat means I have to gimmick three separate areas if I want to get paid."

"You keep talking about the manufacturing areas," Suzi interrupted"What about the mining and ore processing?"

"No go," Hosato proclaimed"Same story as the computer areas-conditions unfit for human survivalThe mining is done at planetary conditions, and the ore- processing area is hot enough to cook a human in a minute and a half."

"Do the humans here have any means of going out on the planet surface?"

"They've got a few surface suits, and there're a cou-ple sand-crawler-type vehicles, but they're unarmed and lack the power to do any real damageBelieve me, Suzi, it's going to have to be the manufacturing areasUnfortunately I don't know what the interior layouts are or what kind of machines are operating in thereUntil I know what I'm up against, I can't settle on a plan for gimmicking it."

"What was the source of your information?" Suzi asked"Some of it was not on the data tapes supplied by RavensteelHow or from whom did you obtain it?"

"From one of the maintenance crew, Rick HandelHe was in the bar grumbling about the firings, and I bought him a couple drinks."

"I thought you were picky about whom you drank with?"

"I am, but this was businessLook, do you want to hear this or not?"

"SorryYou were saying."

"Right.i.t seems McCrae has just dismissed a third of their maintenance staff, the crew that used to work the manufacturing area, and replaced them with ro-bot repairmenHandel ran down the list of the com-plex areas for me, complaining at great length about the problems involved in keeping them functionalThat's how I got the information."

"Would it be possible to persuade your newfound friend to take you on a walking tour of the manu-facturing areas?"

"NegativeI've already tried it, and it's no go on two countsFirst, the remaining maintenance crew is avoiding the manufacturing areas in quiet protest over the dismissalsSecond, Security will let them in-to those areas only with a signed work order."

"Well, can you get the necessary information direct from Handel?"

"I might be able to get a few details out of him, but not enough and not fast enoughI'm going to have to make an advance scouting trip of my own to get the data before time runs out."

"Your contract with Ravensteel contains no time requirement."

"Not Ravensteel's requirementsMineI don't know what Turner has up his sleeve, but I want to finish this mission before he has a chance to imple-ment it."

"What bearing does Harry Turner have on events?"

"Oh, something he said when I was talking to him" this morningAs near as I can tell, he's working on a robot security system to replace human guards."