Forward the Foundation Chapter 5

12For daytimes in that locationafter Hari Seldon drop his de berth whilepowertal duties to use his computer in its news-gathering mode. at that place were non m some(prenominal) computers capable of tip overling the nonchalant news from twenty-five million foundations. There were a number of them at over-embellished headquarters, where they were absolutely necessary. nearly of the larger appearer World capitals had them as well, though most were satisfied with hyperconnection to the Central Newspost on Trantor.A computer at an important Mathematics Depart handst could, if it were sufficiently advanced, be modified as an separate news source and Seldon had been careful to do that with his computer. It was, after entirely, necessary for his work on psychohistory, though the computers capabilities were guardedly ascribed to another(prenominal), exceedingly plausible reasons.Ideally the computer would report anything that was unwrap of the ordinary on any world of the Em pire. A coded and unobtrusive warning light would make itself evident and Seldon could track it down easily. Such a light rarely showed, for the definition of out of the ordinary was tight and intense and dealt with large-scale and rare upheavals.What single did in its absence was to ring in various worlds at random-not all twenty-five million, of course, still some dozens. It was a depressing and heretofore debilitating task, for in that location were no worlds that didnt return their daily relatively baby bird catastrophes. A vol shadoweric eruption here, a flood there, an economic collapse of one sort or another yonder, and, of course, riots. There had not been a day in the last thousand years that there had not been riots over something or other on each of a hundred or to a undis chargeder extent different worlds.Naturally such things had to be discounted. unmatched could scarcely worry about riots any more than one could about vol faecesic eruptions when both were cons tants on inhabited worlds. Rather, if a day should come in which not one riot was reported anywhere, that ability be a sign of something so singular as to warrant the gravest c oncern.Concern was what Seldon could not make himself feel. The Outer Worlds, with all their disorders and misfortunes, were similar a great ocean on a quiescenceful day, with a gentle swell and minor heavings- but no more. He found no evidence of any overall situation that clearly showed a decline in the last octad years or regular(a) in the last eighty. Yet Demerzel (in Demerzels absence, Seldon could no long-run think of him as Daneel) tell the decline was continuing and he had his finger on the Empires pulse from day to day in ways that Seldon could not duplicate-until such time as he would have the head power of psychohistory at his disposal.It could be that the decline was so small that it was unnoticeable till some authoritative point was reached-like a domicile that slowly wears out and dete riorates, showing no signs of that deterioration until one night when the roof collapses.When would the roof collapse? That was the problem and Seldon had no answer.And on occasion, Seldon would check on Trantor itself. There, the news was ceaselessly considerably more substantial. For one thing, Trantor was the most highly populated of all the worlds, with its forty billion state. For another, its eight hundred welkins formed a mini-Empire all its own. For a third, there were the tedious rounds of governmental functions and the doings of the Imperial family to follow.What struck Seldons eyes, however, was in the cajan pea Sector. The elections for the Dahl Sector Council had placed five Joranumites into office. This was the first time, according to the commentary, that Joranumites had achieved sector office.It was not surprising. Dahl was a Joranumite strongh experient if any sector was, but Seldon found it a distressing indication of the progress being made by the demagogue. He ordered a microchip of the full s vellicate and took it home with him that evening.Raych looked up from his computer as Seldon entered and apparently felt the need to explain himself. Im attend toing mommy on some reference material she needs, he give tongue to.What about your own work?Done, Dad. All done.Good. formula at this. He showed Raych the chip in his hand before slipping it into the microprojector.Raych glanced at the news particular proposition hanging in the air before his eyes and said, Yes, I hit the hay.You do?Sure. I usually nutriment track of Dahl. You recognize, home sector and all.And what do you think about it?Im not strike. Are you? The rest of Trantor treats Dahl like dirt. Why shouldnt they go for Joranums views?Do you go for them likewise?Well- Raych twisted his face thoughtfully. I got to withdraw some things he reckons appeal to me. He says he indispensablenesss equality for all people. Whats wrong with that?Nothing at all-if he means it. If hes sincere. If he isnt just using it as a ploy to prevail votes. lawful enough, Dad, but most Dahlites probably figure Whats there to lose? We dont have equality forthwith, though the laws say we do.Its a sticky thing to legislate.Thats not something to cool you off when youre sweating to death.Seldon was mentation rapidly. He had been thinking since he had come across this item. He said, Raych, you havent been in Dahl since your mother and I took you out of the sector, have you?Sure I was, when I went with you to Dahl five years ago on your visit there.Yes yes-Seldon waved a hand in dismissal-but that doesnt count. We stayed at an intersector hotel, which was not Dahlite in the least, and, as I recall, Dors never once let you out on the pathways alone. After all, you were only fifteen. How would you like to visit Dahl now, alone, in charge of yourself-now that youre fully twenty?Raych chuckled. Mom would never allow that.I dont say that I enjoy the setting of facing her wit h it, but I dont intend to ask her permission. The question is Would you be giveing to do this for me?Out of curiosity? Sure. Id like to see whats happened to the old place.Can you spare the time from your studies?Sure. Ill never miss a week or so. Besides, you can tape the lectures and Ill catch up when I get back. I can get permission. After all, my old servicemans on the faculty-unless youve been fired, Dad.Not yet. But Im not thinking of this as a fun vacation.Id be surprised if you did. I dont think you survive what a fun vacation is, Dad. Im surprised you know the phrase.Dont be impertinent. When you go there, I want you to meet with Laskin Joranum.Raych looked startled. How do I do that? I dont know where hes gonna be.Hes going to be in Dahl. Hes been asked to communicate to the Dahl Sector Council with its new Joranumite members. Well find out the exact day and you can go a few days ear take a breatherr.And how do I get to see him, Dad? I dont figure he keeps open house. I dont, either, but Ill leave that up to you. You would have known how to do it when you were twelve. I hope your keen edge hasnt blunted too mischievously in the intervening years.Raych smiled. I hope not. But suppose I do see him. What indeed?Well, find out what you can. Whats hes really planning. What hes really thinking.Do you really think hes gonna tell me?I wouldnt be surprised if he does. You have the trick of inspiring confidence, you miserable newbornster. Lets communication about it.And so they did. some(prenominal) times.Seldons thoughts were painful. He was not sure where all this was leading to, but he dared not consult Yugo Amaryl or Demerzel or (most of all) Dors. They might stop him. They might prove to him that his idea was a poor one and he didnt want that proof. What he planned expected the only inlet to salvation and he didnt want it blocked.But did the gateway exist at all? Raych was the only one, it seemed to Seldon, who could possibly manage to worm hims elf into Joranums confidence, but was Raych the proper nib for the purpose? He was a Dahlite and sympathetic to Joranum. How far could Seldon trust him?Horrible? Raych was his son-and Seldon had never had occasion to distrust Raych before.13If Seldon doubted the efficacy of his notion, if he feared that it might explode matters prematurely or move them desperately in the wrong direction, if he was filled with an agonizing doubt as to whether Raych could be entirely trusted to come across his part suitably, he nevertheless had no doubt-no doubt whatever-as to what Dorss reaction would be when pre displaceed with the fait accompli.And he was not disappointed-if that was kind of the word to express his emotion.Yet, in a manner, he was disappointed, for Dors did not raise her voice in hatred as he had somehow thought she would, as he had prepared himself to withstand.But how was he to know? She was not as other women were and he had never seen her truly angry. Perhaps it was not in her to be truly angry-or what he would consider to be truly angry.She was merely cold-eyed and spoke with low-voiced mordant disapproval. You sent him to Dahl? Alone? Very softly. Questioningly.For a moment Seldon quailed at the quiet voice. Then he said firmly, I had to. It was necessary.Let me understand. You sent him to that den of thieves, that haunt of assassins, that conglomeration of all that is criminal?Dors You anger me when you speak like that. I would hold off only a bigot to use those stereotypes.You deny that Dahl is as I have described?Of course. There are criminals and slums in Dahl. I know that very well. We both know that. But not all of Dahl is like that. And there are criminals and slums in every sector, even in the Imperial Sector and in Streeling.There are degrees, are there not? wizard is not ten. If all the worlds are crime-ridden, if all the sectors are crime-ridden, Dahl is among the worst, is it not? You have the computer. Check the statistics.I dont ha ve to. Dahl is the poorest sector on Trantor and there is a positive correlation between poverty, misery, and crime. I grant you that.You grant me that And you sent him alone? You might have gone with him, or asked me to go with him, or sent half a dozen of his schoolmates with him. They would have welcomed a respite from their work, Im sure.What I need him for requires that he be alone.And what do you need him for?But Seldon was stubbornly silent about that.Dors said, Has it come to this? You dont trust me?Its a gamble. I alone dare take the risk. I cant involve you or anyone else.But its not you fetching the risk. Its poor Raych.Hes not taking any risk, said Seldon impatiently. Hes twenty years old, young and vigorous and as sturdy as a tree-and I dont mean the saplings we have here under glass on Trantor. Im talking about a good solid tree in the Heliconian forests. And hes a twister, which the Dahlites arent.You and your twisting, said Dors, her frigidness not thawing one whit . You think thats the answer to everything. The Dahlites carry knives. Every one of them. Blasters, too, Im sure.I dont know about blasters. The laws are pretty strict when it comes to blasters. As for knives, Im positive Raych carries one. He even carries a tongue on campus here, where its strictly against the law. Do you think he wont have one in Dahl?Dors remained silent.Seldon was also silent for a few minutes, then decided it might be time to placate her. He said, Look, Ill tell you this much. Im hoping hell see Joranum, who will be visiting Dahl.Oh? And what do you expect Raych to do? Fill him with bitter regrets over his wicked politics and send him back to Mycogen?Come. Really. If youre going to take this sardonic attitude, theres no use discussing it. He looked away from her, out the window at the blue-gray sky under the dome. What I expect him to do-and his voice faltered for a moment is save the Empire.To be sure. That would be much easier.Seldons voice firmed. Its what I expect. You have no solution. Demerzel himself has no solution. He as much as said that the solution rests with me. Thats what Im breed for and thats what I need Raych for in Dahl. After all, you know that ability of his to inspire affection. It worked with us and Im convinced it will work with Joranum. If I am right, all may be well.Dorss eyes widened a trifle. Are you now going to tell me that you are being guided by psychohistory?No. Im not going to lie to you. I have not reached the point where I can be guided in any way by psychohistory, but Yugo is constantly talking about intuition-and I have mine.Intuition Whats that? check itEasily. Intuition is the art, peculiar to the human mind, of working out the correct answer from data that is, in itself, partial or even, perhaps, misleading.And youve done it.And Seldon said with firm conviction, Yes, I have.But to himself, he thought what he dared not share with Dors. What if Raychs charm were gone? Or, worse, what if the conscio usness of being a Dahlite became too strong for him?14Billibotton was Billibotton-dirty, sprawling, dark, wiggly Billibotton-exuding decay and yet full of a vitality that Raych was convinced was to be found nowhere else on Trantor. Perhaps it was to be found nowhere else in the Empire, though Raych knew nothing, firsthand, of any world but Trantor.He had last seen Billibotton when he was not much more than twelve, but even the people seemed to be the resembling still a mixture of the hangdog and the irreverent filled with a synthetic pride and a grumbling resentment the men marked by their dark rich mustaches and the women by their sacklike dresses that now looked hugely slatternly to Raychs older and more worldly wise eyes.How could women with dresses like that attract men? But it was a foolish question. Even when he was twelve, he had had a pretty clear idea of how easily and apace they could be removed.So he stood there, lost in thought and memory, passing along a street of s tore windows and trying to convince himself that he remembered this particular place or that and wondering if, among them all, there were people he did remember who were now eight years older. Those, perhaps, who had been his boyhood friends-and he thought uneasily of the fact that, magic spell he remembered some of the nicknames they had pinned on each other, he could not remember any real names.In fact, the gaps in his memory were enormous. It was not that eight years was such a long time, but it was devil fifths of the lifetime of a twenty-year-old and his life since leaving Billibotton had been so different that all before it had faded like a misty dream.But the smells were there. He stopped outside a bakery, low and dingy, and smelled the coconut hoarfrost that reeked through the air-that he had never quite smelled elsewhere. Even when he had stopped to buy tarts with coconut icing, even when they were advertised as Dahl-style, they had been faint imitations-no more.He felt strongly tempted. Well, why not? He had the credit and Dors was not there to wrinkle her nose and wonder aloud how clean-or, more likely, not clean-the place might be. Who worried about clean in the old days?The shop was dim and it took a while for Raychs eyes to acclimate. There were a few low tables in the place, with a couple of preferably shadowy chairs at each, undoubtedly where people might have a light repast, the equivalent of moka and tarts. A young man sat at one of the tables, an empty cup before him, wearing a once-white island of Jersey that probably would have looked even dirtier in a better light.The baker or, in any case, a server stepped out from a room in the rear and said in a rather surly elan, Whatll ya have?A coke-icer, said Raych in just as surly a fashion (he would not be a Billibottoner if he displayed courtesy), using the slang term he remembered well from the old days.The term was still current, for the server handed him the correct item, using his bar e fingers. The boy, Raych, would have taken that for granted, but now the man, Raych, felt taken slightly aback.You want a bag?No, said Raych, Ill eat it here. He paid the server and took the coke-icer from the others hand and bit into its richness, his eyes half closing as he did so. It had been a rare treat in his boyhood-sometimes when he had scrounged the necessary credit to buy one with, sometimes when he had received a bite from a temporarily wealthy friend, most often when he had get up one when nobody was watching. Now he could buy as numerous as he wished.Hey, said a voice.Raych opened his eyes. It was the man at the table, scowling at him.Raych said gently, Are you speaking to me, bub?Yeah. Whatchuh Join?Eatin a coke-icer. Whats it to ya? Automatically he had assumed the Billibotton way of talking. It was no strain at all.Whatchuh doin in Billibotton?Born here. brocaded here. In a bed. Not in a street, like you. The insult came easily, as though he had never left home.Th at so? You dress pretty good for a Billibottoner. Pretty fancy-dancy. Got a inwardness stink about ya. And he held up a little finger to imply effeminacy.I wont talk about your stink. I went up in the world.Up in the world? La-dee-da. Two other men stepped into the bakery. Raych frowned slightly, for he wasnt sure whether they had been summoned or not. The man at the table said to the newcomers, This guys gone up in the world. Says hes a Billibottoner.One of the two newcomers shambled a mock salute and grinned with no appearance of amiability. His teeth were discolored. Aint that square-toed? Its always good to see a Billibottoner go up in the world. Gives em a chance to help their poor unforchnit sector people. Like, credits. You can always spare a credit or two for the poor, hey?How many you got, mister? said the other, the grin disappearing.Hey, said the man behind the counter. All you guys get out of my store. I dont want no trouble in here.Therell be no trouble, said Raych. Im leaving.He made to go, but the put man put a leg in his way. Dont go, pal. Wed miss yer company.(The man behind the counter, clearly fearing the worst, disappeared into the rear.)Raych smiled. He said, One time when I was in Billibotton, guys, I was with my old man and old lady and there were ten guys who stopped us. Ten. I counted them. We had to take care of them.Yeah? said the one who had been speaking. Yer old man took care of ten?My old man? Nah. He wouldnt waste his time. My old lady did. And I can do it better than she can. And there are only three of you. So, if you dont mind, out of the way.Sure. Just leave all your credits. Some of your clothes, too.The man at the table rose to his feet. There was a knife in his hand.There you are, said Raych. Now youre going to waste my time. He had finished his coke-icer and he half-turned. Then, as quickly as thought, he anchored himself to the table, while his right leg shot out and the point of his toe landed unerringly in the gro in of the man with the knife.Down he went with a loud cry. Up went the table, driving the help man toward the wall and keeping him there, while Raychs right arm flashed out, with the edge of the palm striking ponderous against the larynx of the third, who coughed and went down.It had taken two seconds and Raych now stood there with a knife in each hand and said, Now which one of you wants to move?They glared at him but remained frozen in place and Raych said, In that case, I will now leave.But the server, who had retreated to the back room, must have summoned help, for three more men had now entered the store, while the server screeched, Troublemakers Nothing but troublemakersThe newcomers were dressed alike in what was obviously a uniform-but one that Raych had never seen. Trousers were tucked into boots, loose green T-shirts were belted, and odd semispherical hats that looked vaguely comic were perched on top of their heads. On the front of the left shoulder of each T-shirt were the letters Jo.**They had the Dahlite look about them but not quite the Dahlite mustache. The mustaches were black and thick, but they were carefully trimmed at lip level and were unploughed from luxuriating too widely. Raych allowed himself an internal sneer. They lacked the vigor of his own wild mustache, but he had to admit they looked neat and clean.The leader of these three men said, Im Corporal Quinber. Whats been going on here?The defeated Billibottoners were scrambling to their feet, clearly the worse for wear. One was still doubled over, one was rubbing his throat, and the third acted as though one of his shoulders had been wrenched.The corporal stared at them with a philosophic eye, while his two men blocked the door. He turned to Raych-the one man who seemed untouched. Are you a Billibottoner, boy?Born and bred, but Ive lived elsewhere for eight years. He let the Billibotton set phrase recede, but it was still there, at least to the extent that it existed in the corp orals speech as well. There were other parts of Dahl aside from Billibotton and some parts with considerable aspirations to gentility.Raych said, Are you security officers? I dont seem to recall the uniform youre-Were not security officers. You wont find security officers in Billibotton much. Were the Joranum Guard and we keep the peace here. We know these three and theyve been warned. Well take care of them. Youre our problem, buster. Name. Reference number.Raych told them.And what happened here?Raych told them.And your business here?Raych said, Look here. Do you have the right to question me? If youre not security officers-Listen, said the corporal in a hard voice, dont you question rights. Were all there is in Billibotton and we have the right because we take the right. You say you beat up these three men and I believe you. But you wont beat us up. Were not allowed to carry blasters- And with that, the corporal slowly pulled out a blaster.Now tell me your business here.Raych sigh ed. If he had gone directly to a sector hall, as he should have done-if he had not stopped to drown himself in nostalgia for Billibotton and coke-icers-He said, I have come on important business to see Mr. Joranum, and since you seem to be part of his organi-To see the leader?Yes, Corporal.With two knives on you?For self-defense. I wasnt going to have them on me when I saying Mr. Joranum.So you say. Were taking you into custody, mister. Well get to the bottom of this. It may take time, but we will.But you dont have the right. Youre not the legally const-Well, find someone to complain to. Till then, youre ours.And the knives were confiscated and Raych was taken into custody.