be quite good enough."
"Good enough for what?" Beddle asked.
Gildern was about to reply when the ground suddenly gave a strange, sharp little shudder and the building rattled and shook hard enough that it seemed close to folding itself back up. The air was suddenly full of dust, seemingly thrown up from out of nowhere. There was a distant rumbling and a muted boom! that seemed to come from somewhere far off.
Gildern gestured reassuringly. "There's no danger," he said. "Notice that none of our robots even bothered to rush in to our rescue. But to answer your question-good enough for one of those. For a burrow bomb-a seismic sounder."
"A burrow bomb?"
"They've set off any number of them around here. The scientists want to understand the underlying geology of this area as thoroughly as possible before the impact, so they can better interpret the results of the impact. The explosions cause seismic shock. The bombs themselves are carefully calibrated. They can burrow themselves deep into the earth and set themselves off at a predetermined time and depth. By measuring the vibrations produced by the explosions from various receiving stations, and seeing how they have been changed, the scientists can determine what sort of strata the vibrations have gone through. It's an unusually destructive way of doing geology, but it gets the job done fast-and what difference does it make when the comet is going to destroy everything anyway? We are virtually certain that Valhalla is underground. If we set off a burrow bomb close enough to Valhalla, the shock waves should collapse the entire city, killing or trapping everyone inside.
"There are four or five researcher agencies setting off these devices. I have taken steps to establish a real seeming, research group myself. Everything is being done in such a frantic hurry, with the comet bearing down, that it was easy to get all the various approvals. Our little operation has already set off three sounders, all duly reported ahead of time and properly recorded and so on. In order to stay legal, there need only be an hour or two's notice of your explosion. You will not be violating any law at all."
"How could that be?"
"The New Law robots have no legal standing. Technically, they are abandoned property themselves, and they certainly can't own property. They have never registered any title to Valhalla-how could they, when no one knows where it is?"
Beddle nodded impatiently. The arguments were all familiar to him. "Yes, yes, you don't have to convince me of anything. But don't be naive. Those legal arguments have never been settled. Some lower courts have ruled that they can own land. Even if the laws had been settled, and in our favor, a thing does not have to be illegal before it causes us trouble." Beddle paused for a moment, and then smiled. "However, if it means the destruction of nearly all the New Law robots, I am willing to contend with a whole world of trouble. The price might be high, but, even so, it would be a bargain. " Beddle leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. "And you believe all this is feasible? That it has a reasonable chance of success?"
"Yes, sir. I won't insult your intelligence by pretending it's a sure thing. But I think it can be done."
Simcor Beddle looked at his second-in-command thoughtfully. It was a risky scheme. There was no doubt about that. It was all but a certainty that they would be found out.
But would that be such a bad thing? There were plenty of people, everywhere on the political spectrum, who would be quite relieved to be rid of the New Law robots. Even if the Ironheads took some heat for it, they would earn a lot of credit as well.
Besides, how could he possibly turn his back on this opportunity? This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Gildern was offering him his dreams on a silver platter. How could he say no? Why would he say no?
He leaned forward across the table and smiled at Gildern. "Not only can it be done, Gildern. It will be. It will be."
NORLAN FIYLE SMILED as well, as he listened through the thin partition. Jadelo Gildern rarely made mistakes, but when he did make one, it was of the largest size. The room on the other side of the partition might well have been swept for electronic bugs only a hour before, but that was of no use. Not against an underling with a