A Handful of Darkness (15 page)

Naturally, robots could do the best job. Robots could train him scientifically, according to a rational technique. Not according to emotional whim. Robots didn’t get angry. Robots didn’t nag and whine. They didn’t spank a child or yell at him. They didn’t give conflicting orders. They didn’t quarrel among themselves or use the child for their own ends. And there could be no
Oedipus Complex
, with only robots around.

No complexes at all. It had been discovered long ago that neurosis could be traced to childhood training. To the way parents brought up the child. The inhibitions he was taught, the manners, the lessons, the punishments, the rewards. Neuroses, complexes, warped development, all stemmed from the subjective relationship existing between the child and the parent. If perhaps the parent could be eliminated as a factor…

Parents could never become objective about their children. It was always a biased, emotional projection the parent held towards the child. Inevitably, the parent’s view was distorted. No parent could be a fit instructor for his child.

Robots could study the child, analyze his needs, his wants, test his abilities and interests. Robots would not try to force the child to fit a certain mould. The child would be trained along his own lines; wherever scientific study indicated his interest and need lay.

Ed came to the corner. Traffic whirred past him. He stepped absently forward.

A clang and crash. Bars dropped in front of him, stopping him. A robot safety control.

“Sir, be more careful!” the strident voice came, close by him.

“Sorry.” Ed stepped back. The control bars lifted. He waited for the lights to change. It was for Pete’s own good. Robots could train him right. Later on, when he was out of growth stage,when he was not so pliant, so responsive—

“It’s better for him,” Ed murmured. He said it again, half aloud. Some people glanced at him and he coloured. Of course it was better for him. No doubt about it.

Eighteen. He couldn’t be with his son until he was eighteen. Practically grown up.

The lights changed. Deep in thought, Ed crossed the street with the other pedestrians, keeping carefully inside the safety lane. It was best for Peter. But eighteen years was a long time.

“A hell of a long time,” Ed murmured, frowning. “Too damn long a time.”

Doctor 2g-Y Bish carefully studied the man standing in front of him. His relays and memory banks clicked, narrowing down the image identification, flashing a variety of comparison possibilities past the scanner.

“I recall you, sir,” Doctor Bish said at last. “You’re the man from Proxima. From the colonies. Doyle, Edward Doyle. Let’s see. It was some time ago. It must have been—”

“Nine years ago,” Ed Doyle said grimly. “Exactly nine years ago, practically to the day.”

Doctor Bish folded his hands. “Sit down, Mr. Doyle. What can I do for you? How is Mrs. Doyle? Very engaging wife, as I recall. We had a delightful conversation during her delivery. How—”

“Doctor Bish, do you know where my son is?”

Doctor Bish considered, tapping his fingers on the desk top, the polished mahogany surface. He closed his eyes slightly, gazing off into the distance. “Yes. Yes, I know where your son is Mr. Doyle.”

Ed Doyle relaxed. “Fine.” He nodded, letting his breath out in relief.

“I know exactly where your son is. I placed him in the Los Angeles Biological Research Station about a year ago. He’s undergoing specialized training there. Your son, Mr. Doyle, has shown exceptional ability. He is, shall I say, one of the few, the very few we have found with real possibilities.”

“Can I see him?”

“See him? How do you mean?”

Doyle controlled himself with an effort. “I think the term is clear.”

Doctor Bish rubbed his chin. His photocell brain whirred, operating at maximum velocity. Switches routed power surges, building up loads and leaping gaps rapidly, as he contemplated the man before him. “You wish to view him? That’s one meaning of the term. Or do you wish to talk to him? Sometimes the term is used to cover a more direct contact. It’s a loose word.”

“I want to talk to him.”

“I see.” Bish slowly drew some forms from the dispenser on his desk. “There are a few routine papers that have to be filled out first, of course. Just how long did you want to speak to him?”

Ed Doyle gazed steadily into Doctor Bish’s bland face. “I want to talk to him several hours.
Alone
.”

“Alone?”

“No robots around.”

Doctor Bish said nothing. He stroked the papers he held, creasing the edges with his nail. “Mr. Doyle,” he said carefully, “I wonder if you’re in a proper emotional state to visit your son. You have recently come in from the colonies?”

“I left Proxima three weeks ago.”

“Then you have just arrived here in Los Angeles?”

“That’s right.”

“And you’ve come to see your son? Or have you other business?”

“I came for my son.”

“Mr. Doyle, Peter is at a very critical stage. He has just recently been transferred to the Biology Station for his higher training. Up to now his training has been general. What we call the non-differentiated stage. Recently he has entered a new period. Within the last six months Peter has begun advanced work along his specific line, that of organic chemistry. He will—”

“What does Peter think about it?”

Bish frowned. “I don’t understand, sir.”

“How does he feel? Is it what he wants?”

“Mr. Doyle, your son has the possibility of becoming one of the world’s finest bio-chemists. In all the time we have worked with human beings, in their training and development, we have never come across a more alert and integrated faculty for the assimilation of data, construction of theory, formulation of material, than that which your son possesses. All tests indicate he will rapidly rise to the top of his chosen field. He is still only a child, Mr. Doyle, but it is the children who must be trained.”

Doyle stood up. “Tell me where I can find him. I’ll talk to him for two hours and then the rest is up to him.”

“The rest?”

Doyle clamped his jaw shut. He shoved his hands in his pockets. His face was flushed and set, grim with determination. In the nine years he had grown much heavier, more stocky and florid. His thinning hair had turned iron-grey. His clothes were dumpy and unpressed. He looked stubborn.

Doctor Bish sighed. “All right, Mr. Doyle. Here are the papers. The law allows you to observe your boy whenever you make proper application. Since he is out of his non-differentiated stage, you may also speak to him for a period of ninety minutes.”

“Alone?”

“You can take him away from the Station grounds for that length of time.” Doctor Bish pushed the papers over to Doyle. “Fill these out, and I’ll have Peter brought here.”

He looked up steadily at the man standing before him.

“I hope you’ll remember that any emotional experience at this crucial stage may do much to inhibit his development. He has chosen his field, Mr. Doyle. He must be permitted to grow along his selected lines, unhindered by situational blocks. Peter has been in contact with our technical staff throughout his entire training period. He is not accustomed to contact with other human beings. So please be careful.”

Doyle said nothing. He grabbed up the papers and plucked out his fountain pen.

He hardly recognized his son when the two robot attendants brought him out of the massive concrete Station building and deposited him a few yards from Ed’s parked surface car.

Ed pushed the door open. “Pete!” His heart was thumping heavily, painfully. He watched his son come towards the car, frowning in the bright sunlight. It was later, afternoon, about four. A faint breeze blew across the parking lot, rustling a few . papers and bits of debris.

Peter stood slim and straight. His eyes were large, deep brown, like Ed’s. His hair was light, almost blonde. More like Janet’s. He had Ed’s jaw, though, the firm line, clean and well chiselled. Ed grinned at him. Nine years it had been. Nine years since the robot attendant had lifted the rack up from the conveyor pot to show him the little wrinkled baby, red as a boiled lobster.

Peter had grown. He was not a baby any longer. He was a young boy, straight and proud, with firm features and wide, clear eyes.

“Pete,” Ed said. “How the hell are you?”

The boy stopped by the door of the car. He gazed at Ed calmly. His eyes flickered, taking in the car, the robot driver, the heavy set man in the rumpled tweed suit grinning nervously at him.

“Get in. Get inside.” Ed moved over. “Come on. We have places to go.”

The boy was looking at him again. Suddenly Ed was conscious of his baggy suit, his unshined shoes, his grey stubbled chin. He flushed, yanking out his red pocket-handkerchief and mopping his forehead uneasily. “I just got off the ship, Pete. From Proxima. I haven’t had time to change. I’m a little dusty. Long trip.”

Peter nodded. “4.3 light years, isn’t it?”

“Takes three weeks. Get in. Don’t you want to get in?”

Peter slid in beside him. Ed slammed the door.

“Let’s go.” The car started up. “Drive—” Ed peered out the window. “Drive up there. By the hill. Out of town.” He turned to Pete. “I hate big cities. I can’t get used to them.”

“There are no large cities in the colonies, are there?” Pete murmured. “You’re unused to urban living.”

Ed settled back. His heart had begun to slow down to its normal beat. “No, as a matter of fact it’s the other way around, Pete.”

“How do you mean?”

“I went to Prox
because
I couldn’t stand cities.”

Peter said nothing. The surface car was climbing, going up a steel highway into the hills. The Station, huge and impressive, spread out like a heap of cement bricks directly below them. A few cars moved along the road, but not many. Most transportation was by air, now. Surface cars had begun to disappear.

The road levelled off. They moved along the ridge of the hills. Trees and bushes rose on both sides of them. “It’s nice up here,” Ed said.

“Yes.”

“How—how have you been? I haven’t seen you for a long time. Just once. Just after you were born.”

“I know. Your visit is listed in the records.”

“You been getting along all right?”

“Yes. Quite well.”

“They treating you all right?”

“Of course.”

After awhile Ed leaned forward. “Stop here,” he said to the robot driver.

The car slowed down, pulling over to the side of the road. “Sir, there is nothing—”

“This is fine. Let us out. We’ll walk from here.”

The car stopped. The door slid reluctantly open. Ed stepped quickly out of the car, on to the pavement. Peter got out slowly after him, puzzled. “Where are we?”

“No place.” Ed slammed the door. “Go on back to town,” he said to the driver. “We won’t need you.”

The car drove off. Ed walked to the side of the road. Peter came after him. The hill dropped away, falling down to the beginnings of the city below. A vast panorama stretched out, the great metropolis in the late afternoon sun. Ed took a deep breath, throwing his arms out. He took off his coat and tossed it over his shoulder.

“Come on.” He started down the hillside. “Here we go.”

“Where?”

“For a walk. Let’s get off this damn road.”

They climbed down the side of the hill, walking carefully, holding on to the grass and roots jutting out from the soil. Finally they came to a level place by a big sycamore tree. Ed threw himself down on the ground, grunting and wiping sweat from his neck.

“Here. Let’s sit here.”

Peter sat down carefully, a little way off. Ed’s blue shirt was stained with sweat. He unfastened his tie and loosened his collar. Presently he searched through his coat pockets. He brought out his pipe and tobacco.

Peter watched him fill the pipe and light it with a big sulphur match. “What’s that?” he murmured.

“This? My pipe.” Ed grinned, sucking at the pipe. “Haven’t you ever seen a pipe?”

“No.”

“This is a good pipe. I got this when I first went out to Proxima. That was a long time ago, Pete. It was twenty-five years ago. I was just nineteen, then. Only about twice as old as you.”

He put his tobacco away and leaned back, his heavy face serious, preoccupied.

“Just nineteen. I went out there as a plumber. Repair and sales, when I could make a sale. Terran Plumbing. One of those big ads you used to see. Unlimited opportunities. Virgin lands. Make a million. Gold in the streets.” Ed laughed.

“How did you make out?”

“Not bad. Not bad at all. I own my own line, now, you know. I service the whole Proxima system. We do repairing, maintenance, building, construction. I’ve got six hundred people working for me. It took a long time. It didn’t come easy.”

“No.”

“Hungry?”

Peter turned. “What?”

“Are you hungry?” Ed pulled a brown paper parcel from his coat and unwrapped it. “I still have a couple of sandwiches from the trip. When I come in from Prox I bring some food along with me. I don’t like to buy in the diner. They skin you.” He held out the parcel. “Want one?”

“No thank you.”

Ed took a sandwich and began to eat. He ate nervously, glancing at his son. Peter sat silently, a short distance off, staring ahead without expression. His smooth handsome face was blank.

“Everything all right?” Ed said.

“Yes.”

“You’re not cold, are you?”

“No.”

“You don’t want to catch cold.”

A squirrel crossed in front of them, hurrying towards the sycamore tree. Ed threw it a piece of his sandwich. The squirrel ran off a way, then came back slowly. It scolded at them, standing up on its hind feet, its great grey tail flowing out behind it.

Ed laughed. “Look at him. Ever see a squirrel before?”

“I don’t think so.”

The squirrel ran off with the piece of sandwich. It disappeared among the brush and bushes.

“Squirrels don’t exist out around Prox,” Ed said.

“No.”

“It’s good to come back to Terra once in awhile. See some of the old things. They’re going, though.”

“Going?”

“Away. Destroyed. Terra is always changing.” Ed waved around at the hillside. “This will be gone, some day. They’ll cut down the trees. Then they’ll level it. Some day they’ll carve the whole range up and carry it off. Use it for fill, some place along the coast.”