Without moving his head, Captain Quill lifted one huge eyebrow and glanced in Mike’s direction. “Yes?”
“Why didn’t C.C. of E. build the brain on whatever planet we’re going to in the first place?”
“We’re supposed to be told that in the briefing over at the C.C. of E. labs in”—he glanced at his watch—“half an hour. But I think we can all get a little advance information. Most of you men have been around here long enough to have some idea of what’s going on, but I understand that Mister Vaneski knows somewhat more about robotics than most of us. Do you have any light to shed on this, Mister Vaneski?”
Mike grinned to himself without letting it show on his face. The skipper was letting the boot ensign redeem himself after the faux pas he’d made.
Vaneski started to stand up, but Quill made a slight motion with his hand and the boy relaxed.
“It’s only a guess, sir,” he said, “but I think it’s because the robot knows too much.”
Quill and the others looked blank, but Mike narrowed his eyes imperceptibly. Vaneski was practically echoing Mike’s own deductions.
“I mean—well, look, sir,” Vaneski went on, a little flustered, “they started to build that thing ten years ago. Eight years ago they started teaching it. Evidently they didn’t see any reason for building it off Earth then. What I mean is, something must’ve happened since then to make them decide to take it off Earth. If they’ve spent all this much money to get it away, that must mean that it’s dangerous somehow.”
“If that’s the case,” said Captain Quill, “why don’t they just shut the thing off?”
“Well—” Vaneski spread his hands. “I think it’s for the same reason. It knows too much, and they don’t want to destroy that knowledge.”