Forward the Foundation Chapter 26

16Raych, Manella, and little genus Bellis were waiting at the spaceport.The hypership was preparing for liftoff and the three had already check up on their baggage.Raych tell, Dad, arrive on with us.Seldon shook his head. I bumnot.If you replace your object, we depart always harbor a localise for you.I know it, Raych. Weve been to line upher for almost forty years-and theyve been good years. Dors and I were roaring to find you.Im the hazardy mavin. His eyes filled with tears. Dont depend I dont think of Mother every day.Yes. Seldon looked away miserably. Wanda was playing with Bellis when the c altogether rang out for every ace to board the hypership.They did, afterward a tearful last embrace of Wanda by her p arents. Raych looked stake to wave at Seldon and to try to plant a crooked smile on his lawsuit.Seldon waved and one dig moved out blindly to embrace Wandas shoulders.She was the tho one leave. One by one through and through his long life, he had lost his fr iends and those he had loved. Demerzel had left, never to return emperor butterfly Cleon was foregone his beloved Dors was gone his faithful friend Yugo Amaryl was gone and now Raych, his only son, was gone as well.He was left only with Wanda.11Hari Seldon verbalize, It is beautiful outside-a marvelous evening. Considering that we live under a dome, you would think we would put one over beautiful survive like this every evening.Wanda verbalise indifferently, We would grow tired of it, Grandpa, if it were beautiful on the whole the time. A little change from night to night is good for us.For you, because youre young, Wanda. You nurse many, many evenings ahead of you. I dont. I compulsion much(prenominal)(prenominal) good ones. straightaway, Grandpa, youre not old. Your leg is doing well and your mind m as sharp as ever. I know. Sure. Go ahead. Make me feel better. He then said with an air of discomfort, I want to clog uping play. I want to get out of this tiny apartmen t and take a walk to the Library and revere this beautiful evening.What do you want at the Library?At the moment, no topic. I want the walk. simplyYes. but?I carteld Raych I wouldnt go walking around Trantor without a bodyguard.Raych isnt here.I know, mumbled Seldon except a promise is a promise.He didnt say who the bodyguard should be, did he? Lets go for a walk and Ill be your bodyguard.You? Seldon grinned.Yes, me. I hereby volunteer my services. Get yourself ready and well go for a walk.Seldon was am employ. He had half a mind to go without his take to task, boobce his leg was scarcely painful of late, scarcely, on the other circulate, he had a new female genitaliae, one in which the head had been filled with lead. It was both heavier and stronger than his old providee and, if he was liberation to have no(prenominal) other than Wanda as a bodyguard, he thought he had better bring his new hatfule.The walk was delightful and Seldon was terribly glad he had given in t o the temptation-until they reached a certain spot.Seldon lifted his cane in a mixture of anger and resignation and said, Look at thatWanda lifted her eyes. The dome was glowing, as it always did in the evening, in narrate to lend an air of first twilight. It grew darker as night went on, of course.What Seldon was pointing at, however, was a strip of darkness along the dome. A section of lights had gone out.Seldon said, When I first came to Trantor, anything like that was unthinkable. on that point were mint tending the lights at all times. The city worked, except now it is fall apart in all these little ways and what bothers me most is that no one cares. Why arent thither petitions to the Imperial rook? Why arent in that location meetings of indignation? It is as though the people of Trantor expect the city to be dropping apart and then they find themselves annoyed with me because I am pointing out that this is exactly what is happening.Wanda said softly, Grandpa, there are two men behind us.They had walked into the shadows beneath the broken dome lights and Seldon asked, Are they rightful(prenominal) walking?No. Wanda did not look at them. She did not have to. Theyre after you.Can you stop them- energy them?Im trying, but there are two and they are determined. Its-its like storming a wall.How far behind me are they?About three meters.Closing in?Yes, Grandpa.Tell me when theyre a meter behind me. He slid his hand down his cane till he was holding the thin end, leaving the leaded head golf shot free.Now, Grandpa hissed Wanda.And Seldon morose, swinging his cane. It came down hard upon the shoulder of one of the men behind him, who went down with a scream, writhing on the pavement.Seldon said, Wheres the other guy?He took off.Seldon looked down on the man on the argument and rove his foot on his chest. He said, Go through his pockets, Wanda. Someone must have gainful him and Id like to find his credit file-perhaps I can identify where they came f rom. He added thoughtfully, I meant to hit him on the head.Youd have killed him, Grandpa.Seldon nodded. Its what I wanted to do. Rather shameful. Im lucky I missed.A harsh voice said, What is all this? A figure in uniform came running up, perspiring. Give me that cane, youOfficer, said Seldon mildly.You can give me your bosh later. Weve got to call an ambulance for this poor man.Poor man, said Seldon angrily. He was going to assault me. I acted in self-defense.I saw it happen, said the trade protection officer. This guy never laid a finger on you. You glowering on him and struck him without provocation. Thats not self-defense. Thats assault and battery.Officer, Im telling you that-Dont tell me anything. You can tell it in court.Wanda said in a sweet small voice, Officer, if you will just get word to us-The officer said, You go along home, young lady.Wanda drew herself up. I most certainly wont, Officer. Where my grandfather goes, there go I. Her eyes flashed and the security of ficer muttered, Well, come along, then.18Seldon was enraged. Ive never been in custody before in my entire life. A couple of months ago eighter men assaulted me. I was able to fight them off with the help of my son, but while that was going on was there a security officer in sight? Did people stop to help me? No. This time, Im better prompt and I knocked a man flat who had been almost to assault me. Was there a security officer in sight? Absolutely. She put the collar on me. There were people watching, too, and they were amused at nailing an old man being taken in for assault and battery. What kind of world do we live on?Civ Novker, Seldons lawyer, sighed and said calmly, A corrupt world, but dont worry. nonhing will happen to you. Ill get you out on bail and then, eventually, youll come rachis for attempt before a jury of your peers and the most youll get-the very most-are some hard words from the bench. Your age and your reputation- will my reputation, said Seldon, still an gry. Im a psychohistorian and, at the present time, that is a dirty word. Theyll be glad to ascertain me in jail.No, they wont, said Novker. There may be some screwballs who have it in for you, but Ill estimate to it that none of them gets on the jury.Wanda said, Do we really have to subject my grandfather to all this? Hes not a young man anymore. Cant we just appear before the magistrate and not bother with a jury trial run?The lawyer turned to her. It can be done. If youre insane, maybe. Magistrates are impatient power-mad people who would just as in brief put a person into jail for a year as listen to him. No one goes up before a magistrate.I think we should, said Wanda.Seldon said, Well now, Wanda, I think we ought to listen to Civ- But as he said that, he felt a strong churning in his abdomen. It was Wandas push. Seldon said, Well-if you insist.She cant insist, said the lawyer. I wont allow it.Wanda said, My grandfather is your client. If he wants something done his way, yo uve got to do it.I can refuse to represent him.Well then, leave, said Wanda sharply, and well face the magistrate alone.Novker thought and said, Very well, then-if youre going to be so adamant. Ive delineate Hari for years and I suppose I wont abandon him now. But I warn you, the chances are hell get a jail sentence and Ill have to work like the devil to get it lifted-if I can do it.at all.Im not afraid, said Wanda.Seldon bit his lip and the lawyer turned to him. What near you? Are you willing to let your granddaughter call the shots?Seldon thought a bit, then admitted, much to the old lawyers surprise, Yes. Yes, I am.19The magistrate looked sourly at Seldon as he gave his baloney.The magistrate said, What makes you think it was the intention of this man you struck to snipe you? Did he take in you? Did he threaten you? Did he in any way place you under bodily awe?My granddaughter was aware(predicate) of his approach and was quite certain that he was planning to attack me.Sur ely, sir, that cannot be enough. Is there anything else you can tell me before I pass judgment?Well now, wait a while, said Seldon indignantly. Dont pass judgment so quickly. I was assaulted a some weeks ago by eight men whom I held off with the help of my son. So, you see, I have causa to think that I might be assaulted again.The magistrate shuffled his papers. Assaulted by eight men. Did you report that?There were no security officers around. non one.Aside from the point. Did you report it?No, sir. Why not?For one thing, I was afraid of getting into long drawn-out legal proceedings. Since we had driven off eight men and were safe, it seemed useless to ask for more trouble.How did you manage to ward off eight men just you and your son?Seldon hesitated. My son is now on Santanni and outside Trantorian control. Thus, I can tell you that he had Dahlite knives and was honorable in their use. He killed one man and ruggedly hurt two others. The rest ran, carrying off the loose and wounded.But did you not report the death of a man and the wounding of two others?No, sir. Same reason as before. And we fought in self-defense. However, if you can track down the three dead and wounded, you will have record that we were attacked.The magistrate said, Track down one dead and two wounded nameless faceless Trantorians? Are you aware that on Trantor over two thousand people are found dead every day-by prod wounds alone. Unless these things are reported to us at once, we are helpless. Your story of being assaulted once before will not hold water. What we must do is deal with the events of today, which were reported and which had a security officer as a witness.So, lets consider the situation as of now. Why do you think the fellow was going to attack? Simply because you happened to be passing by? Because you seemed old and defenseless? Because you looked like you might be carrying a great deal of assign? What do you think?I think, Magistrate, it was because of who I am. The magistrate looked at his papers. You are Hari Seldon, a professor and a scholar. Why should that make you subject to assault, particularly?Because of my views.Your views. Well- The magistrate shuffled some papers perfunctorily. Suddenly he stopped and looked up, peering at Seldon. Wait-Hari Seldon. A look of recognition spread across his face. Youre the psychohistory buff, arent you?Yes, Magistrate.Im sorry. I dont know anything about it except the name and the fact that you go around predicting the end of the Empire or something like that.Not quite, Magistrate. But my views have become unpopular because they are proving to be true. I believe it is for that reason that there are those who want to assault me or, even more likely, are being paid to assault me.The magistrate stared at Seldon and then called over the arresting security officer. Did you check up on the man who was hurt? Does he have a record?The security officer cleared her throat. Yes, sir. Hes been arrested several times. Assault, mugging.Oh, hes a repeat offender, is he? And does the professor have a record?No, sir.So we have an old and innocent man bit off a known mugger-and you arrest the old and innocent man. Is that it?The security officer was silent.The magistrate said, You may go, Professor.thank you, sir. May I have my cane?The magistrate snapped his fingers at the officer, who handed over the cane.But one thing, Professor, said the magistrate. If you use that cane again, you had better be absolutely certain you can prove it was in self-defense. Otherwise-Yes, sir. And Hari Seldon left the magistrates chambers, leaning heavily on his cane but with his head held high.20Wanda was crying bitterly, her face skew-whiff with tears, her eyes red, her cheeks swollen.Hari Seldon hovered over her, patting her on the back, not knowing quite how to comfort her.Grandpa, Im a miserable failure. I thought I could push people and I could when they didnt mind being pushed too much, like milliampere and Dad-and even then it took a long time. I even worked out a rating clay of sorts, based on a ten-point scale-sort of a mental pushing power gauge. Only I delusive too much. I assumed that I was a ten, or at least a nine. But now I recognize that, at most, I rate a seven.Wandas crying had stopped and she sniffed from time to time as Hari stroked her hand. Usually-usually-I have no trouble. If I concentrate, I can hear peoples thoughts and when I want, I push them. But those muggers I could hear them all right, but there was nothing I could do to push them away.I thought you did very well, Wanda.I didnt. I had a fan-fantasy. I thought people would come up behind you and in one mighty push Id send them flying. That way I was going to be your bodyguard. Thats why I offered to be your bod-bodyguard. Only I wasnt. Those two guys came up and I couldnt do a thing.But you could. You made the first man hesitate. That gave me a chance to turn and clobber him.No no. I had nothing to do w ith it. All I could do was warn you he was there and you did the rest.The second man ran away.Because you clobbered the first guy. I had nothing to do with it. She broke out again in tears of frustration. And then the magistrate. I insisted on the magistrate. I thought I would push and he would let you go at once.He did let me go and it was practically at once.No. He put you through a miserable routine and saw the light only when he realized who you were. I had nothing to do with it. I flopped everywhere. I could have gotten you into so much trouble.No, I refuse to have that, Wanda. If your pushing didnt work quite as well as you had hoped it would, it was only because you were working under hint conditions. You couldnt have helped it. But, Wanda, look-I have an idea.Catching the excitement in his voice, she looked up. What kind of idea, Grandpa?Well, its like this, Wanda. You probably realize that Ive got to have credits. Psychohistory simply cant continue without it and I cannot bear the thought of having it all come to nothing after so many years of hard work.I cant bear it, either. But how can we get the credits?Well, Im going to request an audience with the emperor again. Ive seen him once already and hes a good man and I like him. But hes not exactly drowning in wealth. However, if I take you with me and if you push him-gently-it may be that he will find a source of credits, some source somewhere, and keep me going for a while, till I can think of something else.Do you really think it will work, Grandpa?Not without you. But with you-maybe. Come, isnt it worth trying?Wanda smiled. You know Ill do anything you ask, Grandpa. Besides, its our only hope.21It was not difficult to see the emperor butterfly. Agiss eyes sparkled as he greeted Hari Seldon. Hello, old friend, he said. Have you come to bring me bad luck?I hope not, said Seldon.Agis unhooked the elaborate cloak he was wearing and, with a weary grunt, threw it into the corner of the room, saying, And you lie there.He looked at Seldon and shook his head. I hate that thing. Its as heavy as sin and as hot as blazes. I always have to wear it when Im being smothered under meaningless words, standing there upright like a carved image. Its just plain horrible. Cleon was natural to it and he had the appearance for it. I was not and I dont. Its just my misery that Im a third first cousin of his on my mothers side so that I qualified as Emperor. Id be glad to sell it for a very small sum. Would you like to be Emperor, Hari?No no, I wouldnt dream of it, so dont get your hopes up, said Seldon, laughing.But tell me, who is this extraordinarily beautiful young woman you have brought with you today?Wanda flushed and the Emperor said genially, You mustnt let me embarrass you, my dear. One of the few perquisites** an Emperor possesses is the right to say anything he chooses. No one can object or argue about it. They can only say, Sire. However, I dont want any Sires from you. I hate that word. Call me Agis. That is not my birth name, either. Its my Imperial name and Ive got to get used to it. So tell me whats doing, Hari. Whats been happening to you since the last time we met?Seldon said briefly, Ive been attacked twice.The Emperor didnt seem to be sure whether this was a joke or not. He said, Twice? Really?The Emperors face darkened as Seldon told the story of the assaults. I suppose there wasnt a security officer around when those eight men peril you.Not one.The Emperor rose from his chair and gestured at the other two to keep theirs. He walked back and forth, as though he were trying to work off some anger. Then he turned and faced Seldon.For thousands of years, he began, whenever something like this happened, people would say, Why dont we appeal to the Emperor? or Why doesnt the Emperor do something? And, in the end, the Emperor can do something and does do something, even if it isnt always the intelligent thing to do. But I Hari, Im powerless. Absolutely powe rless.Oh yes, there is the so-called Commission of Public Safety, but they seem more concerned with my safety than that of the public. Its a wonder were having this audience at all, for you are not at all popular with the Commission.Theres nothing I can do about anything. Do you know whats happened to the status of the Emperor since the fall of the junta and the restoration of-hah-Imperial power?I think I do.Ill bet you dont-fully. Weve got democracy now. Do you know what democracy is?Certainly.Agis frowned. He said, Ill bet you think its a good thing.I think it can be a good thing.Well, there you are. It isnt. Its completely upset the Empire.Suppose I want to order more officers onto the streets of Trantor. In the old days, I would pull over a piece of paper prepared for me by the Imperial Secretary and would sign it with a flourish-and there would be more security officers.Now I cant do anything of the sort. I have to put it before the Legislature. There are seventy-five cytosine men and women who instantly turn into uncounted gaggles of geese the instant a suggestion is made. In the first place, where is the reinforcement to come from? You cant have, say, ten thousand more officers without having to pay ten thousand more salaries. Then, even if you concur to something of the sort, who selects the new security officers? Who controls them?The Legislature shouts at each other, argues, thunders, and lightens, and in the end-nothing is done. Hari, I couldnt even do as small a thing as fix the broken dome lights you noticed. How much will it damage? Whos in charge? Oh, the lights will be fixed, but it can easily take a few months to do it. Thats democracy.Hari Seldon said, As I recall, the Emperor Cleon was forever kick backing that he could not do what he wished to do.The Emperor Cleon, said Agis impatiently, had two first-class First Ministers-Demerzel and yourself-and you each labored to keep Cleon from doing anything foolish. I have seventy-five hundred First Ministers, all of whom are foolish from start to finish. But surely, Hari, you havent come to complain to me about the attacks.No, I havent. Something much worse. Sire-Agis-I need credits.The Emperor stared at him. After what Ive been telling you, Hari? I have no credits. Oh yes, therere credits to run this establishment, of course, but in order to get them I have to face my seventy-five hundred legislators. If you think I can go to them and say, I want credits for my friend, Hari Seldon and if you think Ill get one quarter of what I ask for in anything less than two years, youre crazy. It wont happen.He shrugged and said, more gently, Dont get me wrong, Hari. I would like to help you if I could. I would particularly like to help you for the interest of your granddaughter. Looking at her makes me feel as though I should give you all the credits you would like-but it cant be done.Seldon said, Agis, if I dont get funding, psychohistory will go down the drain-after nearly forty years.Its come to nothing in nearly forty years, so why worry?Agis, said Seldon theres nothing more I can do now. The assaults on me were precisely because Im a psychohistorian. People consider me a predictor of destruction.The Emperor nodded. Youre bad luck, Raven Seldon. I told you this earlier.Seldon stood up wretchedly. Im through, then.Wanda stood, too, next to Seldon the top of her head reaching her grandfathers shoulder. She gazed fixedly at the Emperor.As Hari turned to go, the Emperor said, Wait. Wait. Theres a little verse I once memorized Ill fares the landTo hastening ills a preyWhere wealth accumulatesAnd men decay. What does it mean? asked a dispirited Seldon.It means that the Empire is steadily deteriorating and falling apart, but that doesnt keep some individuals from growing rich. Why not turn to some of our wealthy entrepreneurs? They dont have legislators and can, if they wish, simply sign a credit voucher.Seldon stared. Ill try that.