of the World Legislature's Science and Technology Committee except her appearance. There was real strength behind that fragile surface.
After a time she said, "Yes, I will-"
"Thank you."
"-insofar as it's possible for me to be," Li-hsing continued smoothly. "But you have to realize that, if at any time my taking a stand in your favor would appear to threaten my political career in a serious way, I might have to abandon you, since this isn't an issue that I feel to be at the very root of my beliefs. What I'm trying to say, Mr. Martin, is that I feel for you, I am saddened by your predicament, but I don't intend to wreck my political future for you. I'm trying to be as honest as I can with you."
"I'm grateful for that, and I can ask no more."
"And do you intend to fight?" she said.
"Yes. Yes, I do. I'll fight it through to the end, whatever the consequences. And I'll count on your help-but only for as long as you can give it."
Chapter Twenty
IT WAS NOT A DIRECT FIGHT. Andrew had given Simon DeLong the clue to the right strategy to use, and Andrew agreed with the tactic; but it was DeLong's considered professional opinion that the campaign was going to be roundabout and slow. DeLong counseled patience.
"I have an endless supply of that, I suppose," Andrew muttered grimly.
Feingold and Charney then entered into a campaign to narrow and restrict the area of combat.
A certain Roger Hennessey of San Francisco, who had been the recipient of a Martin prosthetic heart seven years before, had supplied robot janitorial services to the Feingold and Charney offices under a contract that had been in effect since the days of Paul Charney. Abruptly Feingold and Charney stopped paying Hennessey's bills. The account was a good one and it went back many years, so for a time Hennessey said nothing about it. But when five months of unpaid bills had piled up, Hennessey found an occasion to stop by at Feingold and Charney to have a chat with Simon DeLong.
"I'm sure you're not aware of it, Simon, but something seems to have gone wrong with your accounting procedures lately. What I mean is, my invoices have been sitting here open since December, and it's coming up on June now, and-"
"Yes. I know."
"-it really isn't at all like Feingold and Charney to let an account run 80-" Hennessey paused and blinked. "What did you say? You know, Simon?"
"Yes. The account has gone unpaid on my direct instructions, as a matter of fact."
Still blinking in astonishment, Hennessey said, "I must be losing my hearing. Or else you're starting to lose your mind, Simon. Did you actually say you're deliberately withholding payment?"
"That's right."
"For God's sake, why?"
"Because we don't want to pay you."
"What do you mean, you don't want to pay me? Do you know how many years my robots have been cleaning these offices, Simon? Have you ever had the slightest reason in all that time to complain about the quality of the work?"
"Never. And we intend to retain your services just as before. But we're not going to pay you any more, Roger."
Hennessey scratched his head and stared. "You've gone completely around the bend, haven't you? To sit there with a straight face and tell me a crazy thing like that? You know that what you're saying is absolute malarkey, so why are you saying it? What's the matter with you, man? How in the name of God's green Earth can you speak such insane drivel?"
DeLong smiled. "There's quite a good reason for it."
"And what may that be, can I dare to ask?"
DeLong said, "We aren't going to pay you because we don't have to. We've decided that your contract with us is invalid, and from now on your robots are going to work for us for nothing if they go on working here at all. That's the story, Roger. If you don't like it, sue us."
"What? What?" Hennessey cried, sputtering. "This gets crazier and crazier. Work for nothing? Back pay withheld? You people are lawyers! How can you let yourself spout such cockeyed nonsense? Contract invalid? For heaven's sake, why?"
"Because you're a robot, Roger. There's only one robot in the world who has the right to enter into binding contracts, and his name is Andrew Martin. The rest of you, because you are not free robots, have no legal right to enforce"
Hennessey turned bright scarlet and rose from his chair. "Hold it just a moment, you