The Love of Frank Nineteen Read online

won't mind, darling, really. I'll be the lucky one. I'd only worryabout you having a power failure or something. This way I'd never know.Oh, Frank, if we can't be together I'd--I'd prefer the junk pile."

  "Elizabeth! Don't say that, it's horrible."

  "But I would. Oh, Frank, why can't Congress pass Robot Civil Rights?It's so unfair of human beings. Every year they manufacture us more likethemselves and yet we're treated like slaves. Don't they realize werationaloids have emotions? Why, I've even known sub-robots who'vefallen in love like us."

  "I know, darling, we'll just have to be patient until RCR goes through.Try to remember how difficult it is for the human mind to comprehend ourlove, even with the aid of mathematics. As rationaloids we fullyunderstand the basic attraction which they call magnetic theory. Allhumans know is that if the robot sexes are mixed a loss of efficiencyresults. It's only normal--and temporary like human love--but how can weexplain it to _them_? Robots are expected to be efficient at all times.That's the reason for robot non-fraternization, no mailing privilegesand all those other laws."

  "I know, darling, I try to be patient. Oh, Frank, the main thing iswe're together again!"

  The big servo checked the chronometer that was sunk into his left wristand a couple of wrinkles creased across his neoprene forehead.

  "Elizabeth," he said, "I'm due on Hidalgo in 36 hours. If I'm late themining engineer might suspect. In twenty minutes I'll have to startdis--"

  "Don't say it, darling. We'll have a beautiful twenty minutes."

  After a while the girl mech turned away for a second and Frank Nineteenreached over softly and cut her power. While he was dismantling her, Minand I tiptoed back to the Renting Office. Half an hour later the bigservo came in, picked up his refuel receipt, said good-bye politely andleft through the inner airlock.

  "Now I've seen everything," I said to Min as we watched the MinorPlanets rocket cut loose. "A couple of plastic lovebirds."

  But the little woman was looking at it strictly from the business angle.

  "Bill," she said, with that look on her face, "we're running arespectable place out here in space. You know the rules. Spatial Housingcould revoke our orbit license for something like this."

  "But, Min," I said, "they're only a couple of robots."

  "I don't care. The rules still say that only married guests can occupythe same cabin and 'guests' can be human or otherwise, can't they? Thinkof our reputation! And don't forget that non-fraternization law we heardthem talking about."

  I was beginning to get the point.

  "Couldn't we just toss the girl's parts into space?"

  "We could," Min admitted. "But if this Frank Nineteen finds out andtells some human we'd be guilty under the Ramm Act--robotslaughter."

  Two days later we still couldn't decide what to do. When I said whydidn't we just report the incident to Minor Planets, Min was afraid theymight cancel the stopover agreement for not keeping better watch overtheir servos. And when Min suggested we turn the girl over to theMissing Robots Bureau, I reminded her the mech's identification had beenfiled off and it might take years to trace her.

  "Maybe we could put her together," I said, "and make her tell us whereshe belongs."

  "Bill, you _know_ they don't build compulsory truth monitors into robotsany more, and besides we don't know a thing about atomic electronics."

  I guess neither of us wanted to admit it but we felt mean about turningthe mechs in. Back on Earth you never give robots a second thought butit's different living out in space. You get a kind of perspective Ithink they call it.

  "I've got the answer, Min," I announced one day. We were in the RentingOffice watching TV on the Martian Colonial channel. I reached over andturned it off. "When this Frank Nineteen gets back from the rock belt,we'll tell him we know all about the girl mech. We'll tell him we won'tsay a thing if he takes the girl's parts back to Earth where he gotthem. That way we don't have to report anything to anybody."

  Min agreed it was probably the best idea.

  "We don't have to be nasty about it," she said. "We'll just tell himthis is a respectable spotel and it can't go on any longer."

  When Frank checked in at the Io with his cargo I don't think I ever sawa happier mech. His relay banks were beating a tattoo like someone hadinstalled an accordion in his chest. Before either of us could break thebad news to him he was hotfooting it around the wheel toward 22A.

  "Maybe it's better this way," I whispered to Min. "We'll put it squareup to both of them."

  We gave Frank half an hour to get the girl assembled before we followedhim. He must have done a fast job because we heard the girl mech'svibrahum unit as soon as we got to 22A:

  "Darling, have you really been away? I don't remember saying good-bye.It's as if you'd been here the whole time."

  "I hoped it would be that way, Elizabeth," we heard the big servo say."It's only that your memory tape hasn't recorded anything in the threeweeks I've been in the asteroids. To me it's been like three years."

  "Oh, Frank, darling, let me look at you. Is your DX potential up whereit should be? How long since you've had a thorough overhauling? Do theymake you work in the mines with those poor non-rationaloids out there?"

  "I'm fine, Elizabeth, really. When I'm not flying they give me clericalwork to do. It's not a bad life for a mech--if only it weren't for thesesilly regulations that keep us apart."

  "It won't always be like that, darling. I know it won't."

  "Elizabeth," Frank said, reaching under his uniform, "I brought yousomething from Hidalgo. I hope you like it. I kept it in my spare partsslot so it wouldn't get crushed."

  The female mech didn't say a word. She just kept looking at the queerflower Frank gave her like it was the last one in the universe.

  "They're very rare," said the servo-pilot. "I heard the mining engineersay they're like Terran edelweiss. I found this one growing near themine. Elizabeth, I wish you could see these tiny worlds. They have thinatmospheres and strange things grow there and the radio activity doeswonders for a mech's pile. Why, on some of them I've been to we couldwalk around the equator in ten hours."

  The girl still didn't answer. Her head was bent low over the flower likeshe was crying, only there weren't any tears.

  Well, that was enough for me. I guess it was for Min, too, because wecouldn't do it. Maybe we were thinking about our own courting days. LikeI say, out here you get a kind of perspective.

  Anyway, Frank left for Earth, the girl got dismantled as usual and wewere right back where we started from.

  Two weeks later the holiday rush to the Jovian Moons was on and ourhands were too full to worry about the robot problem. We had a goodseason. The Io was filled up steady from June to the end of August and acouple of times we had to give a ship the No Vacancy signal on theradar.

  Toward the end of the season, Frank Nineteen checked in again but Minand I were too busy catering to a party of VIPs to do anything about it."We'll wait till he gets back from the asteroids," I said. "Suppose oneof these big wheels found out about him and Elizabeth. That SenatorBriggs for instance--he's a violent robot segregationist."

  The way it worked out, we never got a chance to settle it our own way.The Minor Planets Company saved us the trouble.

  Two company inspectors, a Mr. Roberts and a Mr. Wynn, showed up whileFrank was still out on the rock belt and started asking questions. Wynncame right to the point; he wanted to know if any of their servo-pilotshad been acting strangely.

  Before I could answer Min kicked my foot behind the desk.

  "Why, no," I said. "Is one of them broken or something?"

  "Can't be sure," said Roberts. "Sometimes these rationaloids get shortsin their DX circuits. When it happens you've got a minor criminal onyour hands."

  "Usually manifests itself in petty theft," Wynn broke in. "They'll liftstuff like wrenches or pliers and carry them around for weeks. Thingslike that can get loose during flight and really gum up the works."

  "We been getting some suspicious blips on th
e equipment around theloading bays," Roberts went on, "but they stopped a while back. We'rechecking out the research report. One of the servos must have DX'ed outfor sure and the lab boys think they know which one he is."

  "This mech was clever all right," said Wynn. "Concealed the stuff he wastaking some way; that's why it took the boys in the lab so long.