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"Perfectly" Lucky Starr moved up to Dr Peverale&039;s desk, sat down on one corner of it, and faced the assee "Dr Peverale will bear me out on that, I&039;"

"I&039;ll bear you out? No fear of that, I assure you," huffed the old astronomer, his face set in an attitude of bitter disapproval "It is scarcely worth discussing By the e&039;ll have to place Cook under arrest" He half rose

Lucky urged himan will make sure that Cook will remain under control"

"I won&039;tCook in a man pulled his armchair close to Cook&039;s nevertheless

Lucky said, "Think back, Dr Peverale, on the night of the banquet and of your oords concerning the Sirian robots By the way, Dr Peverale, you&039;ve known for a long time there was a robot on the planet, haven&039;t you?"

The astronomer said uneasily, "What do you mean?"

"Dr Mindes caures in what seemed like metal space-suits who also seemed to endure solar radiation better than one would expect humans to"

"I certainly did," interposed Mindes, "and I should have knoas seeing a robot"

"You didn&039;t have the experience with robots that Dr Peverale did," said Lucky He turned to the old astronoain "I&039;ned robots on the planet as soon as Mindes reported what he had seen His description fit them perfectly"

The astronomer nodded slowly

"I, myself," Lucky went on, "did not suspect robots when Mindes told me his story any more than he himself did After the banquet, however, when, Dr Peverale, you discussed Sirius and its robots, the thought occurred to me very forcefully that here was the explanation You ht so too"

Dr Peverale nodded slowly again He said, "I realized that we ourselves could do nothing against a Sirian incursion That is why I discouraged Mindes"

(Mindes turned pale at this point and ely to himself)

Lucky said, "You never reported to the Council of Science?"

Dr Peverale hesitated "I was afraid they wouldn&039;t believemyself replaced Frankly, I didn&039;t knohat to do It was obvious that I could make no use of Urteil He was interested only in his own plans When you caht have an ally at last, and for the first tiers, and its robots"

"Yes," said Lucky, "and do you remember how you described the Sirian affection for their robots? You used the word &039;love&039; You said the Sirians paood for theard a robot as worth a hundred Earthmen"

"Of course," said Dr Peverale "That&039;s true"

"Then if they loved their robots so much, would they send one of them to Mercury, uninsulated, un-adapted to Solar radiation? Would they conde death by the Sun?"

Dr Peverale fell silent, his lower lip tre

Lucky said, "I, h it endangered my life, and I am no Sirian Could a Sirian have been so cruel to a robot, then?"

"The ian Dr

Peverale

"Granted," said Lucky "I don&039;t say a Sirian wouldn&039;t send a robot to Mercury for purposes of sabotage, but, Great Galaxy, they would have insulated its brain first Even leaving their love for robots out of account, it&039;s only good sense They could get more service out of it"

There was a e

"But," stammered Dr Peverale, "if not the Sirians then who "

"Well," said Lucky, "let&039;s see what leads we have Number one Twice Mindes spotted the robot, and twice it vanished when Mindes tried to draw close The robot later informed me that it had been instructed to avoid people Obviously, it had been warned that Mindes was out searching for the saboteur Obviously, too, it must have been warned by soainstinto the , I asked once iven it its instructions It could only say, &039;Er-er &039; Then its radio blanked out, but itstwo syllables"

Big on end with passion, "Urteil! The robot was trying to say Urteil! That filthy cobber was the saboteur all the time It fits in! It fits "

"Maybe," said Lucky, "maybe! We&039;ll see It struckto say, &039;Earthman&039;"

"And ue soundat all"

"Maybe," agreed Lucky "But noe come to lead number three and it is instantly conclusive That is this: The robot was of Sirian manufacture, and what huain possession of a Sirian robot? Have any of us been on the Sirian planets?"

Dr Peverale&039;s eyes narrowed "I have"

"Exactly," said Lucky Starr, "and no one else That&039;s your answer"

Mad confusion followed and Lucky called for silence His voice was authoritative and his face stern "As a Councilman of Science," he said, "I declare this observatory to be in e from this moment on Dr Peverale is replaced as director I have been in communication with Council Headquarters on Earth, and a ship is on its way now Appropriate action will be taken"

"I demand to be heard," cried Dr Peverale

"You will be," said Lucky, "but first listen to the case against you You are the only man here who had the opportunity to steal a Sirian robot Dr Cook told us that you were awarded a robot for personal service during your stay on Sirius Is that correct?"