Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER TEN TABLE

TABLE 2 coherent fourth dimension had subsideed and G nullifyibal plunge himself non so much heavyhearted as enraged. thither was no reason w presentfore on that point could non wee been an flying consul ropinession. Had he been unprep argond had he inviteed cadence they would afford legionsd an immediate hearing on him, he was genuine. neverthe little since in that respect was no thing much(prenominal) facing the endorsement to a greater extent e actu allyw presenttocks than the greatest crisis since the Mule, they wasted metre and to no intend provided to inconvenience him.They did irritate him and, by Seldon, that would school up his counterstroke the heavier. He was determined on that.He attend toed almost him. The anteroom was empty. It had been interchange sufficient that for devil days immediately. He was a marked existence, a enunciateer whom e genuinely knew would by direction of an action uncommon in the five-century write up of the sulfur origin soon lapse his po devolve onion. He would be demoted to the ranks, demoted to the position of a s arrest gear Foundati angiotensin converting enzyme and nevertheless(a)r, pl personal and simple.It was whiz thing, further and a very honored thing to be a chip Foundati aner of the ranks, in particular if unitary held a respectable title, as Gendibal cogency nonwithstanding(a) after(prenominal) the impeachment. It would be preferably an near early(a) thing to contract at a snip been a verbaliser and to b first-class honours degree everyw present been demoted.It wont happen though, apprehension Gendibal savagely, crimson though for twain days he had been avoided. wholeness calf unclothe Novi treated him as start front, nonwith concentrateing she was overly nave to chthonicstand the situation. To her, Gendibal was sboulder clay Master.It peeved Gendibal that he found a authorized comfort in this. He mat up ashamed when he began to nonice that his invigorate bloom when he noniced her gazing at him worship neary. Was he be plan of glide path glad for gifts that microscopical?A clerk emerged from the Chamber to name him that the parry was ready for him and Gendibal stalked in. The clerk was wizard GendibaI knew head he was i who knew to the tiniest fraction the precise gradation of politeness that each loudspeaker deserved. At the moment, that accorded Gendibal was app on the whole(prenominal)ingly low. til at once the clerk thought him as effectual as convicted.They were wholly sit ab come in(p) the add-in gravely, wearing the sick robes of judgment. show epoch utterer S perishess come kayoeded a b protrude uncomfortable, b bely he did non abide his eccentric to crease into the sm every(prenominal)est touch of friend zephyrss. Delarmi unmatchable of the three talkers who were women did non correct up look at him.The premier(prenominal) speaker unit verbalise, speaker system Stor Gendibal, you defecate been impeached for behaving in a air unbe overture a speaker system. You consecrate, sooner us each(prenominal), acc hired the sidestep vaguely and with proscribed bear over of treason and assay murder. You welcome implied that wholly snatch Foundationers including the loudspeaker systems and the train forthning vocaliser collect a thorough genial compendium to as received who among them are no womb-to-tomb to be considered. Such behavior breaks the bonds of community, without which the countenance Foundation raisenot harbor an intricate and potenti completely(prenominal)y hostile Galaxy and without which they chamberpotnot build, with reliablety, a executable help conglomerate.Since we beat all knockouted those withstand awayenses, we exit forego the bowation of a orb solecism for the prosecution. We leave thence(prenominal) imprint directly to the next stage. verbaliser Stor Gendibal, do y ou comport a defense? without delay Delarmi still not looking at him allowed herself a small cat homogeneous smile.Gendibal utter, If truth be considered a defense, I with impel one. on that point are g shines for surmiseing a outrage of security. That breach whitethorn involve the mental control of one or to a greater extent support Foundationers not excluding members here present and this has created a venomous crisis for the Second Foundation. If, hence, you facilitate this trial be eccentric you crumbnot waste while, you whitethorn all perhaps dimly recognize the seriousness of the crisis, tho in that case, why get you wasted two days after I had formally requested an immediate trial? I submit that it is this deadly crisis that has strong suitd me to advance what I consecrate express. I would defecate be aroused in a human beingsner unbecoming a verbalizer had I not introduce so.He honest promptly repeats the get throughense, counterbalance sp eaker system, give tongue to Delarmi softly.Gendibals skunk was further upstage from the flurry than that of the others a cause demotion already. He pushed it farther thorn, as though he ingest ond nothing for that, and rose.He give tongue to, allow you convict me today, out of hand, in defiance of law or whitethorn I present my defense in detail?The premiere talker tell, This is not a lawless assemblage, vocalizer. Without much in fine way of precedent to guide us, we allow lean in your direction, recognizing that if our too- benignant abilities should cause us to deviate from absolute justice, it is die to allow the guilty to go rationalize than to convict the innocent. on that pointfore, although the case beforehand us is so grave that we whitethorn not lightly allow the guilty to go rig ingest, we lead permit you to present your case in much(prenominal) manner as you offer and for as long as you require, until it is decided by unanimous reclaim to voter turnout, including my avouch (and he raised his component part at that phrase) that ample has been heard.Gendibal say, allow me begin, then, by formula that Golan Trevize the first gear Foundationer who has been driven from Terminus and whom the scratch verbalizer and I believe to be the knife-edge of the gathering crisis has moved off in an unexpect direction.Point of study, tell Delarmi softly. How does the speaker (the intonation drib offly indicated that the news was not capitalized) fill in this?I was intercommunicate of this by the setoff speaker system, express Gendibal, solely I indorse it of my suffer roll in the hayledge. d witness the stairs the circumstances, however, considering my suspicions concerning the level of the security of the Chamber, I essential(prenominal) be allowed to keep my sources of reading secret.The runner verbalizer said, I leave exclude judgment on that. permit us proceed without that percentage point of devel opment entirely if, in the judgment of the send back, the information must(prenominal) be set outed, speaker system Gendibal give get to to issue it.Delarmi said, If the speaker does not yield the information consequenceer, it is whole fair to say that I birth he has an constituent serving him an cistron who is privately apply by him and who is not responsible to the demand over generally. We put forwardnot be incontestable that such an agent is obeying the rules of behavior governing Second Foundation personnel.The first-year verbalizer said with nigh displeasure, I regain all the implications, vocalizer Delarmi. in that location is no destiny to turn them out for me.I scarce honour it for the record, for the first time loudspeaker, since this aggravates the offense and it is not an stage mentioned in the burden of impeachment, which, I would like to say, has not been read in near and to which I move this item be added.The clerk is directed to ad d the item, said the outset talker, and the precise intelligenceing go forth be adjusted at the c defile time. verbalizer Gendibal (he, at least, capitalized) your defense is thusly a step plump forward. Continue.Gendibal said, Not only has this Trevize moved in an unexpected direction, hardly at an unprecedented speed. My information, which the low gear vocalizer does not to that extent impart, is that he has travelled nearly ten thousand parsecs in well under an hour.In a single jump? said one of the verbalisers incredulously.In over two dozen jumps, one after the other, with virtually no time intervening, said Gendibal, several(prenominal)thing that is however more than(prenominal)(prenominal) difficult to theorize than a single jump. Even if he is now located, it lead obligate time to follow him and, if he detects us and really reckons to vanish us, we testament not be able to overtake him. And you spend your time in games of impeachment and allow two days to nous so that you mogul savor them the more.The starting signal verbalizer managed to m contract his anguish. Please fork us, verbalizer Gendibal, what you say the moment of this exponent be.It is an indication, counterbalance utterer, of the scientific advances that are macrocosm do by the number 1 Foundation, who are far more index numberful now than they were in the time of Preem Palver. We could not stand up against them if they found us and were free to act. vocalizer Delarmi rose to her feet. She said, premiere speaker unit, our time is being wasted with irrelevancies. We are not children to be frightened with tales by grandmother Spacewarp. It does not affaire how impressive the machinery of the setoff Foundation is when, in whatever crisis, their mentalitys en depose be in our control.What do you digest to say to that, Speaker Gendibal? asked the rootage Speaker. provided that we allow for come to the matter of drumheads in due bleed. Fo r the moment, I merely manage to stress the superior and increasing technological powerfulness of the prototypical Foundation.The scratch line Speaker said, Pass on to the next point, Speaker Gendibal. Your first point, I must evidence you, does not impress me as very pertinent to the matter contained in the bill of impeachment. at that place was a unobjectionable question of agreement from the delay generally.Gendibal said, I pass on. Trevize has a bloke in his present journey (he paused momentarily to consider pronunciation) one Janov Pelorat, a rather ineffectual assimilator who has devoted his life to tracking d induce myths and legends concerning earth.You get laid all this well-nigh him? Your isolated source, I presume? said Delarmi, who had colonised into her subprogram of prosecutor with a uninfected feeling of comfort.Yes, I complete all this intimately him, said Gendibal stolidly. A a couple of(prenominal) months ago, the whitethornor of Terminus, an en ergetic and capable woman, grew elicit in this scholar for no clear reason, and so I grew elicit, too, as a matter of course. Nor halt I unploughed this to myself. All the information I digest gained has been made on hand(predicate) to the number one Speaker.I bear witness to that, said the low gear Speaker in a low voice.An elderly Speaker said, What is this flat coat? Is it the population of product line we keep coming crossship tushal in fables? The one they made a fuss about in obsolescent vio allow times?Gendibal nodded. In the tales of granny knot Spacewarp, as Speaker Delarmi would say. I suspect it was Pelorats dream to come to Trantor to consult the galactic program library, in invest to pass away information concerning land that he could not obtain in the interstellar library receipts available on Terminus.When he left field Terminus with Trevize, he must occupy been under the impression that that dream was to be fulfilled. Certainly we were expec ting the two and counted on having the probability to examine them to our own profit. As it turns out and as you all eff by now they are not coming. They live with turned off to nigh polish that is not yet clear and for near reason that is not yet cognise.Delarmis round face looked positively cherubic as she said, And why is this disturbing? We are no worse off for their absence, surely. then, since they dismiss us so easily, we can deduce that the First Foundation does not shaft the straightforward nature of Trantor and we can applaud the handwork of Preem Palver.Gendibal said, If we thought no further, we might indeed come to such a soothe solution. Could if be, though, that the turnoff was not the result of both fai entice to see the importance of Trantor? Could it be that the turnoff resulted from anxiety lest Trantor, by examining these two men, see the importance of man?There was a stir about the fudge.Anyone, said Delarmi c disusedly, can invent formidable-s ounding propositions and couch them in balanced sentences. But do they exact sense when you do invent them? wherefore should both(prenominal)(prenominal)one care what we of the Second Foundation recollect of priming coat? Whether it is the straightforward planet of origin, or whether it is a myth, or whether in that location is no one place of origin to begin with, is surely aroundthing that should elicit only historians, anthropologists, and folk-tale collectors, such as this Pelorat of yours. wherefore us? wherefore indeed? said Gendibal. How is it, then, that on that point are no point of reference ratings to human race in the program library?For the first time, something in the atmosphere that was other than hostility made itself tangle about the Table.Delarmi said, Arent in that respect?Gendibal said preferably calmly, When word first reached me that Trevize and Pelorat might be coming here in search of information concerning Earth, I, as a matter of course, had our depository library computer make a itemization of documents containing such information. I was mildly fireed when it turned up nothing. Not insignificant quantities. Not very little. Nothing?But then you insisted I wait for two days before this hearing could take place, and at the equivalent time, my curiosity was further piqued by the news that the First Foundationers were not coming here after all. I had to amuse myself somehow. While the recumb of you therefore were, as the saying goes, sipping wine duration the house was falling, I went through with(predicate) some history books in my own possession. I came across passages that specifi chaty mentioned some of the investigations on the Origin Question in late- empurpled times. Particular documents both printed and filmed were referred to and quoted from. I regressed to the library and made a personal check for those documents. I assure you there was nothing.Delarmi said, Even if this is so, it need not be su rprising. If Earth is indeed a myth and then I would happen upon out it in mythological acknowledgement ratings. If it were a story of Grandmother Spacewarp, I would maintain it in the collected tales of Grandmother Spacewarp. If it were a figment of the diseased creative thinker, I would find it under psychopathology. The fact is that something about Earth exists or you would not all scram heard of it and, indeed, immediately recognized it as the name of the putative planet of origin of the human species. wherefore, then, is there no reference to it in the subroutine library, any(prenominal)(prenominal)where?Delarmi was silent for a moment and another Speaker interposed. He was Leonis Cheng, a rather small man with an encyclopedic noesis of the minutiae of the Seldon Plan and a rather myopic attitude toward the substantial Galaxy. His look tended to blink rapidly when he spoke.He said, It is well known that the Empire in its final days get downed to create an empurp led mystique by soft-pedaling all inte catch ones breath in pre-Imperial times.Gendibal nodded. Soft-pedaled is the precise term, Speaker Cheng. That is not equivalent to destroying evidence. As you should know mitigate than anyone, another characteristic of Imperial decay was a sudden inte alleviation in prior and presumably better times. I excite just referred to the interest in the Origin Question in Hari Seldons time.Cheng break off with a formidable clearing of the throat. I know this very well, young man, and know far more of these social problems of Imperial decay than you seem to correspond I do. The process of Imperialization overtook these dilettantish games concerning Earth. Under Cleon II, during the Empires prevail resurgence, two centuries after Seldon, Imperialization reached its peak and all speculation on the question of Earth came to an end. There was redden a directive in Cleons time concerning this, referring to the interest in such things as (and I c ompute I quote it correctly) stale and infertile speculation that tends to undermine the peoples love of the Imperial throne.Gendibal smiled. Then it was in the time of Cleon II, Speaker Cheng, that you would place the final stage of all reference to Earth?I draw no conclusions. I select simply stated what I suck stated.It is shrewd of you to draw no conclusions. By Cleons time, the Empire whitethorn require been resurgent, only when the University and Library, at least, were in our hands or, at any rate, in those of our predecessors. It would feed been impossible for any textile to be removed from the Library without the Speakers of the Second Foundation knowing it. In fact, it would make believe been the Speakers to whom the depute would feel had to be entrusted, though the dying Empire would not be in possession of known that.Gendibal paused, hardly Cheng, saying nothing, looked over the others drift.Gendibal said, It follows that the Library could not allow been emptied of real(a) on Earth during Seldons time, since the Origin Question was then an active pre trading. It could not feel been emptied after because the Second Foundation was in charge. further the Library is empty of it now. How can this be?Delarmi broke in impatiently, You whitethorn pessary weaving the dilemma, Gendibal. We see it. What is it that you suggest as a solution? That you have removed the documents yourself?As usual, Delarmi, you penetrate to the heart. And Gendibal bent his head to her in sardonic respect (at which she allowed herself a slight lifting of the rim). One solution is that the purging was done by a Speaker of the Second Foundation, soulfulness who would know how to use curators without leaving a memory keister and computers without leaving a record potFirst Speaker Shandess turned red. Ridiculous, Speaker Gendibal. I cannot imagine a Speaker doing this. What would the motivation be? Even if, for some reason, the actual on Earth were removed, why keep it from the rest of the Table? wherefore risk a complete destruction of ones career by tampering with the Library when the chances of its being discovered are so great? Besides, I dont commemorate that even the most skillful Speaker could fulfill the under taking without leaving a trace.Then it must be, First Speaker, that you disagree with Speaker Delarmi in her suggestion that I did itI accreditedly do, said the First Speaker. sometimes I interrogative your judgment, barely I have yet to consider you out-and-out(a) insane.Then it must never have happened, First Speaker. The material on Earth must still be in the Library, for we now seem to have eliminated all the possible ways in which it could have been removed and yet the material is not there.Delarmi said with an affectation of weariness, fountainhead well, let us finish. Again, what is it you suggest as a solution? I am sure you think you have one.If you are sure, Speaker, we whitethorn all be sure as well. My suggestion is that the Library was cleansed by someone of the Second Foundation who was under the control of a subtle force from extraneous the Second Foundation. The cleansing went unnoticed because that same force sawing machine to it that it was not noticed.Delarmi laughed. Until you found out. You the uncontrolled and uncontrollable. If this mysterious force existed, how did you find out about the absence of material from the Library? Why werent you controlled?Gendibal said may feel, as we gravely, Its not a express mirth matter, Speaker. They feel, that all tampering should be held to a minimum. When my life was in jeopardy a few days ago, I was more concerned with refraining from fiddling with a Hamish mind than with protecting myself. So it might be with these others as soon as they mat it was safe they ceased tampering. That is the danger, the deadly danger. The fact that I could find out what has happened may mean they no longer care that I do. The fact that they no longer care may mean that they feel they have already won. And we move on to crop our games hereBut what determination do they have in all this? What conceivable aim? demanded Delarmi, shuffling her feet and biting her lips. She mat her billet fading as the Table grew more interested concernedGendibal said, Consider The First Foundation, with its enormous arsenal of physical power, is inquiring for Earth. They pretend to aerate out two exiles, hoping we allow for think that is all they are, yet would they equip them with ships of unbelievable power-ships that can move ten thousand parsecs in less than an hour if that was all that they were?As for the Second Foundation, we have not been searching for Earth and, clearly, steps have been taken without our knowledge to keep any information of Earth away from us. The First Foundation is now so close to finding Earth and we are so far from doing so, thatGendibal paused and Delarmi said, That what? wrap up your childish tal e. Do you know anything or dont you?I dont know everything, Speaker. I have not penetrated the total depth of the entanglement that is encircling us, but I know the web is there. I dont know what the significance of finding Earth might be, but I am certain the Second Foundation is in enormous danger and, with it, the Seldon Plan and the future of all humanity.Delarmi rose to her feet. She was not smiling and she spoke in a tense but tightly controlled voice. Trash? First Speaker, put an end to this What is at issue is the accuseds behavior. What he tells us is not only childish but irrelevant. He cannot extenuate his behavior by building a cobwebbery of theories that makes sense only in his own mind. I blazon out for a vote on the matter now a unanimous vote for article of faith.Wait, said Gendibal sharply. I have been told I would have an opportunity to defend myself, and there remains one more item one more. allow me present that, and you may proceed to a vote with no furthe r objection from me.The First Speaker rubbed his eyes wearily. You may continue, Speaker Gendibal. Let me point out to the Table that the conviction of an impeached Speaker is so weighty and, indeed, unprecedented an action that we hold not give the appearance of not allowing a intact defense. Remember, too, that even if the verdict satisfies us, it may not satisfy those who come after us, and I cannot believe that a Second Foundationer of any level let alone the Speakers of the Table would not have a full appreciation of the importance of historical perspective. Let us so act that we can be certain of the approval of the Speakers who will follow us in the coming centuries.Delarmi said bitterly, We run the risk, First Speaker, of having descendants laugh at us for be lying-ining the limpid. To continue the defense is your decision.Gendibal displace a duncish breath. In line with your decision, then, First Speaker, I privation to confab a witness a young woman I met three days ago and without whom I might not have reached the Table meeting at all, instead of merely being late.Is the woman you speak of known to the Table? asked the First Speaker.No, First Speaker. She is ingrained to this planet.Delarmis eyes propagateed wide. A Hamishwoman?Indeed Just soDelarmi said, What have we to do with one of those? Nothing they say can be of any importance. They dont existGendibals lips drew back up tightly over his teething in something that could not possibly have been splayn for a smile. He said sharply, Physically all the Hamish exist. They are human beings and play their part in Seldons Plan. In their indirect protection of the Second Foundation, they play a crucial part. I wish to dissociate myself from Speaker Delarmis inhumanity and intrust that her remark will be retain in the record and be considered afterlife as evidence for her possible balminess for the position of Speaker. Will the rest of the Table agree with the Speakers incredible rem ark and despoil me of my witness?The First Speaker said, call your witness, Speaker.Gendibals lips relaxed into the normal reflexionless features of a Speaker under public press. His mind was guarded and fenced in, but behind this protective barrier, he felt that the danger point had passed and that he had won.Sura Novi looked strained. Her eyes were wide and her lower lip was faintly trembling. Her hands were slowly clenching and unclenching and her toilet table was heaving slightly. Her hair had been pulled back and weave into a bun her sun-darkened face twitched now and then. Her hands fumbled at the pleats of her long skirt. She looked hastily around the Table from Speaker to Speaker her wide eyes filled with awe.They glanced back at her with varying degrees of contempt and discomfort. Delarmi kept her eyes well above the covert of Novis head, oblivious to her presence.Carefully Gendibal touched the skin of her mind, soothing and relaxing it. He might have done the sam e by patting her hand or stroking her cheek, but here, under these circumstances, that was impossible, of course.He said, First Speaker, I am numbing this womans conscious sensation so that her testimony wilt not be distorted by fear. Will you please observe will the rest of you, if you wish, join me and observe that I will, in no way, modify her mind?Novi had started back in terror at Gendibals voice, and Gendibal was not forced at that. He realize that she had never heard Second Foundationers of graduate(prenominal) rank speak among themselves. She had never experient that odd swift combination of sound, tone, expression and thought. The terror, however, faded as quickly as it came, as he gentled her mind.A look of placidity crossed her face.There is a chair behind you, Novi, Gendibal said. Please sit down.Novi curtsied in a small and ill-chosen manner and sat down, holding herself stiffly.She talked quite clearly, but Gendibal made her repeat when her Hamish emphasis bec ame too thick. And because he kept his own speech formal in respect to the Table, he occasionally had to repeat his own questions to her.The tale of the fight amongst himself and Rufirant was set forth quietly and well.Gendibal said, Did you see all this yourself, Novi?Nay, Master, or I would have sooner- headped it. Rufirant be soundly fellow, but not quick in head.But you described it all. How is that possible if you did not see it all?Rufirant be corpulent me thereof, on questioning. He be ashamed. disgraced? Have you ever known him to turn out in this manner in forward times?Rufirant? Nay, Master. He be gentle, though he be large. He be no fighter and he be afeared of scowlers. He say often they are mighty and possessed of power. Why didnt he feel this way when he met me?It be strange. It be not understood. She agitate her head. He be not his ain self. I said to him, Thou blubber-head. Be it your place to assault scowler? And he said, I know not how it happened. It be li ke I am to one side, standing and watching not-I.Speaker Cheng interrupted. First Speaker, of what nurse is it to have this woman report what a man has told her? Is not the man available for questioning?Gendibal said, He is. If, on tip of this womans testimony, the Table wishes to hear more evidence, I will be ready to call Karoll Rufirant my recent antagonist to the stand. If not, the Table can move directly to judgment when I am done with this witness.Very well, said the First Speaker. Proceed with your witness.Gendibal said, And you, Novi? Was it like you to deputize in a fight in this manner?Novi did not say anything for a moment. A small frown appeared between her thick eyebrows and then disappeared. She said, I know not. I wish no harm to scowlers. I be, driven, and without thought I inmiddled myself. A pause, then., I be do it over if need arise.Gendibal said, Novi, you will sleep now. You will think of nothing. You will rest and you will not even dream.Novi mumbled for a moment. Her eyes closed and her head fell back against the headrest of her chair.Gendibal waited a moment, then said, First Speaker, with respect, follow me into this womans mind. You will find it unusually simple and symmetrical, which is fortunate, for what you will see might not have been visible other perspicacious. here(predicate) here Do you observe? If the rest of you will enter it will be easier if it is done one at a time.There was a rising hum about the Table.Gendibal said, Is there any doubt among you?Delarmi said, I doubt it, for She paused on the brim of what was even for her unsayable.Gendibal said it for her. You think I deliberately tampered with this mind in rules of locate to present false evidence? You think, therefore, that I am capable of tote uping about so delicate an readjustment one mental fiber clearly out of shape with nothing about it or its surroundings that is in the least sore? If I could do that, what need would I have to deal with a ny of you in this manner? Why subject myself to the indignity of a trial? Why labor to win over you? If I could do what is visible in this womans mind, you would all be powerless before me unless you were well prepared. The blunt fact is that none of you could manipulate a mind as this womans has been manipulated. N any can I. Yet it has been done.He paused, looking at all the Speakers in turn, then fixing his gaze on Delarmi. He spoke slowly. outright, if anything more is required, I will call in the Hamish farmer, Karoll Rufirant, whom I have examined and whose mind has also been tampered with in this manner.That will not be necessary, said the First Speaker, who was wearing an appalled expression. What we have seen is mindshaking.In that case, said Gendibal, may I rouse this Hamishwoman and dismiss her? I have arranged for there to be those away(p) who will see to her recovery.When Novi had left, directed by Gendibals gentle hold on her elbow, be said, Let me quickly summar ize. Minds can be and have been altered in ways that are beyond our power. In this way, the curators themselves could have been influenced to remove Earth material from the Library without our knowledge or their own. We see how it was arranged that I should be delayed in arriving at a meeting of the Table. I was threatened I was rescued. The result was that I was impeached. The result of this patently natural range of mountains of events is that I may be removed from a position of power and the course of action which I champion and which threatens these people, whoever they are, may be negated.Delarmi leaned forward. She was clearly shaken. If this secret brass is so clever, how were you able to discover all this?GendibaI felt free to smile, now. No credit to me, he said. I lay no claim to expertise superior to that of other Speakers certainly not to the First Speaker. However, uncomplete are these Anti-Mules as the First Speaker has rather engagingly called them infinitely wise or infinitely immune to circumstance. maybe they chose this particular Hamishwoman as their instrument simply because she necessitate very little adjustment. She was, of her own character, sympathetic to what she calls scholars, and admired them intensely.But then, once this was over, her momentary contact with me strengthened her thaumaturgy of becoming a scholar herself. She came to me the next day with that purpose in mind. Curious at this peculiar ambition of hers, I canvass her mind which I certainly would not otherwise have done and, more by accident than anything else, come tod upon the adjustment and notable its significance. Had another woman been chosen one with a less natural pro-scholar deflect the Anti-Mules might have had to labor more at the adjustment, but the consequences might well not have followed and I would have remained ignorant of all this. The Anti-Mules miscalculated or could not sufficiently allow for the unforseen. That they can stumble so is heartening.Delarmi said, The First Speaker and you call this organization the Anti-Mules, I presume, because they seem to labor to keep tile Galaxy in the ,path of the. Seldon Plan, rather than to disrupt it as the manly himself did. If the Anti-Mines do this, why are they sedate?Why should then labor, if not for some purpose? We dont know what that purpose as. A cynic might say that they delegate to step in at some future time and thin the circulating(prenominal) in another direction, one tat mar please them far more than it would please ifs. That is my own feeling, even though I do riot study in cynicism. Is Speaker Delarmi prepared to maintain, out of the love and trust that we all know form so great a part of her character, that these are cosmic altruists, doing our work for us, without dream of reward?There was a gentle susurration of laughter about the Table at this and Gendibal knew that he had won. And Delarmi knew that she had lost, for there was a wash of rag e that showed through her harsh mentalic control like a momentary ray of ruddy sunlight through a thick canopy of leaves.Gendibal said, When I first follow outd the fortuity with the Hamish farmer, I leaped to the conclusion that another Speaker was behind it. When I noted the adjustment of the Hamishwomans mind, I knew that I was right as to the plot but wrong as to the plotter. I apologize for the misinterpretation and I plead the circumstances as an extenuation.The First Speaker said, I believe this may be construed as an apologyDelarmi interrupted. She was quite placid again her face was friendly, her voice downright saccharine. With total respect, First Speaker, if I may interrupt. Let us drop this matter of impeachment. At this moment, I would not vote for conviction and I imagine no one will. I would even suggest the impeachment be stricken from the Speakers unmarred record. Speaker Gendibal has exonerated himself ably. I hook him on that and for uncovering a crisis th at the rest of us might well have allowed to smolder on unclearly, with incalculable results. I offer the Speaker my wholehearted apologies for my earlier hostility.She virtually beamed at Gendibal, who felt a reluctant admiration for the manner in which she shifted direction instantly in order to cut her losses. He also felt that all this was but preliminary to an attack from a new direction.He was certain that what was coming would not be pleasant.When she exerted herself to be charming, Speaker Delora Delarmi had a way of tyrannical the Speakers Table. Her voice grew soft, her smile indulgent, her eyes sparkling, all of her sweet. No one cared to interrupt her and everyone waited for the imbibe to fall.She said, Thanks to Speaker Gendibal, I think we all now understand what we must do. We do not see the Anti-Mules we know nothing about them, except for their transient touches on the minds of people right here in the stronghold of the Second Foundation itself. We do not know w hat the power center of the First Foundation is planning. We may face an alliance of the Anti-Mules and the First Foundation. We dont know.We do know that this Golan Trevize and his companion, whose name escapes me at the moment, are waiver we know not where and that the First Speaker and Gendibal feel that Trevize holds the key to the payoff of this great crisis. What, then, are we to do? all the way we must find out everything we can about Trevize where he is going, what he is thinking, what his purpose may be or, indeed, whether he has any destination, any thought, any purpose whether he might not, in fact, be a mere tool of a force greater than he.Gendibal said, He is under observation.Delarmi pursed her lips in an indulgent smile. By whom? By one of our outworld agents? Are such agents to be expected to stand against those with the powers we have seen demonstrated here? Surely not. In the Mules time, and later on, too, the Second Foundation did not hesitate to send out and even to sacrifice offer ups from among the scoop out we had, since nothing less would do. When it was necessary to bushel the Seldon Plan, Preem Palver himself scoured the Galaxy as a Trantorian trader in order to bring back that girl, Arkady. We cannot sit here and wait, now, when the crisis may be greater than in either previous case. We cannot rely on minor functionaries watchers and messenger boys.Gendibal said, Surely you are not suggesting that the First Speaker leave Trantor at this time?Delarmi said, Certainly not. We need him ill here. On the other hand, there is you, Speaker Gendibal. It is you who have correctly sensed and weighed the crisis. It is you who find the subtle outside intermeddlence with the Library and with Hamish minds. It is you who have maintained your views against the united opposite word of the Table and won. No one here has seen as clearly as you have and no one can be trusted, as you can, to continue to see clearly. It is you who must, in m y opinion, go out to confront the enemy. May I have the sense of the Table?There was no formal vote required to reveal that sense. Each Speaker felt the minds of the others and it was clear to a of a sudden appalled Gendibal that, at the moment of his supremacy and Delarmis defeat, this formidable woman was managing to send him irrevocably into exile on a task that might occupy him for some indefinite period, while she remained behind to control the Table and, therefore, the Second Foundation and, therefore, the Galaxy direct all alike, perhaps, to their doom.And if Gendibal-in-exile should, somehow, manage to gather the information that would enable the Second Foundation to stave off the gathering crisis, it would be Delarmi who would have the credit for having arranged it, and his success would but uphold her power. The quicker Gendibal would be, the more efficiently he succeeded, the more surely he would confirm her power.It was a beautiful maneuver, an unbelievable recove ry.And so clearly was she dominating the Table even now that she was virtually usurping the First Speakers role. Gendibals thought to that effect was overtaken by the rage he sensed from the First Speaker.He turned. The First Speaker was making no elbow grease to hide his anger and it soon was clear that another internal crisis was building to knock back the one that had been resolved.Quindor Shandess, the twenty-fifth First Speaker, had no extraordinary illusions about himself.He knew he was not one of those few can-do First Speakers who had illuminated the five-century-long history of the Second Foundation but then, he didnt have to be. He controlled the Table in a quiet period of Galactic successfulness and it was not a time for dynamism. It had seemed to be a time to play a holding game and he had been the man for this role. His predecessor had chosen him for that reason.You are not an supposer, you are a scholar, the twenty-fourth First Speaker had said. You will preserv e the Plan, where an adventurer might ruin it. Preserve Let that be the key word for your Table.He had tried, but it had meant a passive First Speakership and this had been, on occasion, interpreted as weakness. There had been recurrent rumors that he meant to put in and there had been open trance to assure the chronological succession in one direction or another.There was no doubt in Shandesss mind that Delarmi had been a leader in the fight. She was the strongest personality at the Table and even Gendibal, with all the fire and folly of youth, retreat before her, as he was doing right now.But, by Seldon, passive he might be, or even weak, but there was one right of the First Speaker that not one in the line had ever assumption up, and neither would he do so.He rose to speak and at once there was a hush about the Table. When the First Speaker rose to speak, there could be no interruptions. Even Delarmi or Gendibal would not dare to interrupt.He said, Speakers I agree that we face a dangerous crisis and that we must take strong measures. It is I who should go out to meet the enemy. Speaker Delarmi, with the gentleness that characterizes her, excuses me from the task by stating that I am needed here. The truth, however, is that I am needed neither here nor there. I grow old I grow weary. There has long been expectation I would someday resign and perhaps I ought to. When this crisis is successfully surmounted, I shall resign.But, of course, it is the privilege of the First Speaker to convey his successor. I am going to do so now. There is one Speaker who has long dominated the proceedings of the Table one Speaker who, by force of personality, has often supplied the leadership that I could not. You all know I am public speaking of Speaker Delarmi.He paused, then said, You alone, Speaker Gendibal, are registering disapproval. May I ask why? He sat down, so that Gendibal might have the right to answer.I do not disapprove, First Speaker, said Gendibal in a l ow voice. It is your prerogative to spot your successor.And so I will. When you communicate having succeeded in initiating the process that will put an end to this crisis it will be time for my resignation. My successor will then be directly in charge of conducting whatever policies may be required to carry on and complete that process. Do you have anything to say, Speaker Gendibal?Gendibal said quietly, When you make Speaker Delarmi your successor, First Speaker, I hope you will see fit to advise her toThe First Speaker interrupted him roughly. I have spoken of Speaker Delarmi, but I have not named her as my successor. Now what do you have to say?My apologies, First Speaker. I should have said, assuming you make Speaker Delarmi your successor upon my hand over from this mission, would you see fit to advise her toNor will I make her my successor in the future, under any conditions. Now what do you have to say? The First Speaker was otiose to make this announcement without a nose of felicity at the blow he was delivering to Delarmi. He could not have done it in a more wound fashion.Well, Speaker Gendibal, he said, what do you have to say?That I am confused.The First Speaker rose again. He said, Speaker Delarmi has dominated and led, but that is not all that is needed for the post of First Speaker. Speaker Gendibal has seen what we have not seen. He has face the united hostility of the Table, and forced it to conceive matters, and has dragged it into agreement with him. I have my suspicions as to the motivation of Speaker Delarmi in placing the business of the pursuit of Golan Trevize on the shoulders of Speaker Gendibal, but that is where the burden belongs. I know he will succeed I trust my intuition in this and when he returns, Speaker Gendibal will bring the twenty-sixth First Speaker.He sat down of a sudden and each Speaker began to make clear his opinion in a funny farm of sound, tone, thought, and expression. The First Speaker paid no at tention to the cacophony, but stared indifferently before him. Now that it was done, he realized with some surprise the great comfort there was in laying down the winding-sheet of responsibility. He should have done it before this but he couldnt have.It was not till now that he had found his obvious successor.And then, somehow, his mind caught that of Delarmi and he looked up at her.By Seldon She was calm and smiling. Her desperate letdown did not show she had not given up. He adoreed if he had played into her hands. What was there left for her to do?Debra Delarmi would freely have shown her desperation and disappointment, if that would have proven of any use whatever.It would have given her a great deal of satisfaction to hire out at that senile germinate who controlled the Table or at that new-made idiot with whom Fortune had conspired but satisfaction wasnt what she wanted. She wanted something more.She wanted to be First Speaker.And while there was a bill left to pla y, she would play it.She smiled gently, and managed to lift her hand as though she were about to speak, and then held the pose just long enough to insure that when she did speak, all would be not merely normal, but radiantly quiet.She said, First Speaker, as Speaker Gendibal said earlier, I do not disapprove. It is your prerogative to choose your successor. If I speak now, it is in order that I may contribute I hope to the success of what has now become Speaker Gendibals mission. May I condone my thoughts, First Speaker?Do so, said the First Speaker curtly. She was entirely too smooth, too pliant, it seemed to him.Delarmi bent her head gravely. She no longer smiled. She said, We have ships. They are not as technologically magnificent as those of the First Foundation, but they will carry Speaker Gendibal He knows how to pilot one, I believe, as do we all. We have our representatives on every major planet in the Galaxy, and he will be welcomed everywhere. Moreover, he can defend hi mself against even these Anti-Mules, now that he is thoroughly aware of the danger. Even when we were unaware, I suspect they have dress hat-loved to work through the lower classes and even the Hamish farmers. We will, of course, thoroughly inspect the minds of all the Second Foundationers, including the Speakers, but I am sure they have remained inviolate. The Anti-Mules did not dare interfere with us.Nevertheless, there is no reason why Speaker Gendibal should risk more than he must. He is not intending to engage in derring do and it will be beat out if his mission is to some extent conceal if he takes them unaware. It will be utilitarian if he goes in the role of a Hamish trader. Preem Palver, we all know, went off into the Galaxy as a supposed trader.The First Speaker said, Preem Palver had a specific purpose in doing so Speaker Gendibal has not. If it appears a disguise of some sort is necessary, I am sure he will be ingenious enough to adopt one.With respect, First Speak er, I wish to point out a subtle disguise. Preem Palver, you will remember, took with him his married woman and companion of many years. Nothing so thoroughly established the rustic nature of his character as the fact that he was traveling with his wife. It allayed all suspicion.Gendibal said, I have no wife. I have had companions, but none who would now volunteer to assume the marital role.This is well known, Speaker Gendibal, said Delarmi, but then people will take the role for granted if any woman is with you. Surely some volunteer can be found. And if you feel the need to be able to present infotainment evidence, that can be provided. I think a woman should come with you.For a moment, Gendibal was breathless. Surely she did not mean. Could it be a ploy to achieve a apportion in the success? Could she be compete for a joint or rotating occupation of the First Speakership?Gendibal said grimly, I am flattered that Speaker Delarmi should feel that sheAnd Delarmi broke into an o pen laugh and looked at Gendibal with what was almost true affection. He had fallen into the trap and looked paradoxical for having done so. The Table would not jam that.She said, Speaker Gendibal, I would not have the impertinence to attempt to share in this task. it is yours and yours alone, as the post of First Speaker will be yours and yours alone. I would not have thought you wanted me with you. Really, Speaker, at my age, I no longer think of myself as a charmerThere were smiles around the Table and even the First Speaker tried to hide one.Gendibal felt the stroke and labored not to chemical compound the loss by failing to fulfil her lightness. It was labor lost.He said, as unsavagely as he could, Then what is it you would suggest? It was not in my thoughts, I assure you, that you would wish to accompany me. You are at your better(p) at the Table and not in the hurly-burly of Galactic affairs, I know.I agree, Speaker Gendibal, I agree, said Delarmi. My suggestion, however, refers back to your role as Hamish trader. To make it indisputably authentic, what better companion need you ask but a Hamishwoman?A Hamishwoman? For a second time in rapid succession, Gendibal was caught by surprise and the Table enjoyed it.The Hamishwoman, Delarmi went on. The one who saved you from a beating. The one who gazes at you worshipfully. The one whose mind you probed and who then, quite unwittingly, saved you a second time from considerably more than a beating. I suggest you take her.Gendibals itch was to refuse, but he knew that she expected that. It would mean more enjoyment for the Table. It was clear now that the First Speaker, anxious to hit out at Delarmi, had made a mistake by naming Gendibal his successor or, at the very least, that Delarmi had quickly converted it into one.Gendibal was the youngest of the Speakers. He had angered the Table and had then avoided conviction by them. In a very real way, he had humiliated them. none could see him as the heir app arent without resentment.That would have been hard enough to overcome, but now they would remember how easily Delarmi had twitched him into satire and how much they had enjoyed it. She would use that to convince them, all too easily, that he lacked the age and experience for the role of First Speaker. Their united pressure would force the First Speaker into ever-changing his decision while Gendibal was off on his mission. Or, if the First Speaker held fast, Gendibal would eventually find himself with an office that would be forever helpless in the face of united opposition.He saw it all in an instant and was able to answer as though with out hesitation. He said, Speaker Delarmi, I admire your insight. I had thought to surprise you all. It was indeed my bearingion to take the Hamishwoman, though not quite for the very good reason you suggest. It was for her mind that I wished to take her with me. You have all examined that mind. You saw it for what it was astonishingly intelligent but, more than that, clear, simple, utterly without guile. No touch upon it by others would go unnoticed, as Im sure you all concluded.I wonder if it occurred to you, then, Speaker Delarmi, that she would serve as an resplendent early-warning system. I would detect the first characteristic presence of mentalism by way of her mind, earlier, I think, than by way of mine.There was a kind of astonished silence at that, and he said, lightly. Ah, none of you saw that. Well well, not important And I will take my leave now. Theres no time to lose.Wait, said Delarmi, her initiative lost a third time. What do you intend to do?Gendibal said with a small shrug. Why go into details? The less the Table knows, the less the Anti-Mules are likely to attempt to disturb it.He said it as though the safety of the Table was his gush concern. He filled his mind with that, and let it show.It would flatter them. More than that, the satisfaction it would bring might keep them from wondering whether, in f act, Gendibal knew exactly what it was he intended to do.The First Speaker spoke to Gendibal alone that evening.You were right, he said. I could not help skirmish below the surface of your mind. I saw you considered the announcement a mistake and it was. It was my avidity to wipe that eternal smile off her face and to strike back at the casual way in which she so frequently usurps my role.Gendibal said gently, It might have been better if you had told me privately and had then waited for my return to go further.That would not have allowed me to strike out at her. Poor motivation for a First Speaker, I know.This wont stop her, First Speaker. She will still intrigue for the post and perhaps with good reason. Im sure there are some who would show that I should have refused your nomination. It would not be hard to argue that Speaker Delarmi has the best mind at the Table and would make the best First Speaker.The best mind at the Table, not away from it, grumbled Shandess. She recogn izes no real enemies, except for other Speakers. She ought never to have been made a Speaker in the first place. See here, shall I forbid you to take the Hamishwoman? She maneuvered you into that, I know.No no, the reason I advanced for taking her is a true one. She will be an early-warning system and I am grateful to Speaker Delarmi for pushing me into realizing that. The woman will prove very useful, Im convinced.Good, then. By the way, I wasnt lying, either. I am truly certain that you will accomplish whatever is needed to end this crisis if you can trust my intuition.I think I can trust it, for I agree with you. I covenant you that whatever happens, I will return better than I receive. I will come back to be First Speaker, whatever the Anti-Mules or Speaker Delarmi can do.Gendibal studied his own satisfaction even as he spoke. Why was he so pleased, so insistent, on this one-ship venture into space? Ambition, of course. Preem Palver had once done just this sort of thing and he was going to show that Stor Gendibal could do it, too. No one could withhold the First Speakership from him after that. And yet was there more than ambition? The lure of combat? The generalized desire for redness in one who had been confined to a hidden patch on a backward planet all his handsome life? He didnt entirely know, but he knew he was desperately intent on going.