His voice suited him - deep and decisive. Age had robbed it of some of its timbre, perhaps, and lent it a bit of harshness, but in a Chairman (Baley thought) that might help rather than hinder.
Fastolfe went through the full ritual of greeting, exchanged stroking - remarks without meaning, and offered food and drink.
Through all of this, no mention was made of the outsider and no notice was taken of him.
It was only when the preliminaries were finished and when all were seated that Baley (a little farther from the center than the others) was introduced.
He said, "Mr. Chairman," without holding out his hand.
Then, with an offhand nod, he said, "And, of course, I have met Dr. Amadiro."
Amadiro's smile did not waver at the touch of insolence in Baley's voice.
The Chairman, who had not acknowledged Baley's greeting, placed his hands on each knee, fingers spread apart, and said, "Let us get started and let us see if we can't make this as brief and as productive as possible.
"Let me stress first that I wish to get past this matter of the misbehavior - or possible misbehavior - of an Earthman and strike instantly to the heart of the matter. Nor, in dealing with the heart of the matter, are we speaking of this overblown matter of the robot. Disrupting the activity of a robot is a matter for the civil courts; it can result in a judgment of the infringement of property rights and the inflicting of a penalty of costs but nothing more than that. What's more, if it should be proved that Dr. Fastolfe had rendered the robot, Jander Panell, inoperable, it is a robot who, after all, he helped design, whose construction he supervised, and the ownership of whom he held at the time of the inoperability. No penalty is likely to apply, since a person may do what he likes with his own.
"What is really at issue is the matter of the exploration and settlement of the Galaxy, whether we of Aurora carry it through alone, whether we do it in collaboration with the other Spacer worlds, or whether we leave it to Earth. Dr. Amadiro and the Globalists favor having to shoulder the burden alone; Dr. Fastolfe wishes to leave it to Earth.
"If we can settle this matter, then the affair of the robot can be left to the civil courts, and the question of the Earthman's behavior will probably become moot, and we can simply get rid of him.
"Therefore, let me begin by asking whether Dr. Amadiro is prepared to accept Dr. Fastolfe's position in order to achieve unity of decision or whether Dr. Fastolfe is prepared to accept Or. Amadiro's position with the same end in view."
He paused and waited.
Amadiro said, "I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, but I must insist that Earthmen be confined to their planet and that the Galaxy be settled by Aurorans only. I would be willing to compromise, however, to the extent of allowing other Spacer worlds to share in the settlement if that would prevent needless strife among us."
"I see," said the Chairman. "Will you, Dr. Fastolfe, in view of this statement, abandon your position?"
Fastolfe said, "Dr. Amadiro's compromise has scarcely anything of substance in it, Mr. Chairman. I am willing to offer a compromise of greater significance. Why should not the worlds of the Galaxy be thrown open to Spacers and Earthpeople alike? The Galaxy is large, and there would be room for both, I would be willing to accept such an arrangement."
"No doubt," said Amadiro quickly, "for it is no compromise. The over eight billion population of Earth is more than half again the population of all the Spacer worlds combined. Earth's people are short-lived and are used to replacing their losses quickly. They lack our regard for individual human life. They will swarm over the new worlds at any cost, multiplying like insects, and will preempt the Galaxy even I while we are making a bare beginning. To offer Earth a supposedly equal chance at the Galaxy, is to give them the Galaxy - and that is not equality. Earthpeople must be confined to Earth."
"And what have you to say to that, Dr. Fastolfe?" asked the Chairman.
Fastolfe sighed. "My views are on record. I'm sure I don't need to repeat them. Dr. Amadiro plans to use humaniform robots to build the settled worlds that human Aurorans will then enter, ready-made, yet he doesn't even have humaniform robots. He cannot construct them and the project would not work, even if he did have them. No compromise is possible unless Dr. Amadiro consents to the principle that Earthpeople may at least share in the task of the settlement of new worlds."
"Then no compromise is possible," said Amadiro.
The Chairman looked displeased. "I'm afraid that one of you two must give in. I do not intend Aurora to be torn apart in an emotional orgy on a question this important."
He looked at Amadiro blankly, his expression carefully signifying neither favor nor disfavor. "You intend to use the inoperability of the robot, Jander, as an argument against Fastolfe's view, do you not?"
"I do," said Amadiro.
"A purely emotional argument. You are going to claim that Fastolfe is trying to destroy your view by falsely making humaniform robots appear less useful than they, in effect, are."
"That is exactly what he is trying to do - "
"Slander!" put in Fastolfe in a low voice.
"Not if I can prove it, which I can," said Amadiro. "The argument may be an emotional one, but it will be effective. You see that, Mr. Chairman, don't you? My view will surely win, but left to itself it will be messy. I would suggest that you persuade Dr. Fastolfe to accept inevitable defeat and spare Aurora the enormous sadness of a spectacle that will weaken, our position among the Spacer worlds and shake our own belief in ourselves."
"How can you prove that Dr. Fastolfe rendered the robot inoperative?"