er qualified to assess the sobriety of a
prisoner than the arresting officer. At one time robots were even
allowed to make their own decisions about killing. Before the Robotic
Restriction Laws automatic gun-pointers were in general use. Their final
development was a self-contained battery of large anti-aircraft guns.
Automatic scan radar detected all aircraft in the vicinity. Those that
could not return the correct identifying signal had their courses
tracked and computed, automatic fuse-cutters and loaders readied the
computer-aimed guns--which were fired by the robot mechanism."

There was little I could argue about with Ned. Except maybe his
college-professor vocabulary. So I switched the attack.

"But a robot can't take the place of a cop, it's a complex human job."

"Of course it is, but taking a human policeman's place is not the
function of a police robot. Primarily I combine the functions of
numerous pieces of police equipment, integrating their operations and
making them instantly available. In addition I can aid in the
_mechanical_ processes of law enforcement. If you arrest a man you
handcuff him. But if you order me to do it, I have made no moral
decision. I am just a machine for attaching handcuffs at that point ..."

My raised hand cut off the flow of robotic argument. Ned was hipped to
his ears with facts and figures and I had a good idea who would come off
second best in any continued discussion. No laws had been broken when
Ned made the pinch, that was for sure. But there are other laws than
those that appear on the books.

"China Joe is not going to like this, not at all," the Chief said,
speaking my own thoughts.

The law of Tooth and Claw. That's one that wasn't in the law books. And
that was what ran Nineport. The place was just big enough to have a good
population of gambling joints, bawdy houses and drunk-rollers. They were
all run by China Joe. As was the police department. We were all in his
pocket and you might say he was the one who paid our wages. This is not
the kind of thing, though, that you explain to a robot.

"Yeah, China Joe."

I thought it was an echo at first, then realized that someone had eased
in the door behind me. Something called Alex. Six feet of bone, muscle
and trouble. China Joe's right hand man. He imitated a smile at the
Chief who sank a bit lower in his chair.

"China Joe wants you should tell him why you got smart cops going around
and putting the arm on peop