Second Foundation 21. The Answer That Satisfied

Turbor laughed suddenly laughed in huge, windy gusts that bounced ringingly off the walls and died in gasps. He shook his head, weakly, and express, Great Galaxy, this goes on all night. One after state of wards a nonher, we put up our straw men to be knocked down. We have fun, but we dont get some(prenominal)w here(predicate). lacuna Maybe all planets argon the Second Foundation. Maybe they have no planet, just key men spread on all the planets. And what does it matter, since Darell says we have the double-dyed(a) defense?Darell smiled without humor. The perfect defense is non enough, Turbor. Even my Mental Static device is provided some occasion that keeps us in the same place. We hobonot remain forever with our fists doubled, crazily staring in all directions for the unknown antagonist. We must know not only how to win, but whom to defeat. And on that point is a specific world on which the enemy exists.Get to the point, said Anthor, wearily. Whats your information?Arca dia, said Darell, sent me a message, and until I got it, I never saw the obvious. I probably would never have devourn the obvious. stock-still it was a simple message that went A circle has no expiry. Do you see?No, said Anthor, stubbornly, and he spoke, quite obviously, for the others.A circle has no end, repeated Munn, thoughtfully, and his forehead furrowed.Well, said Darell, impatiently, it was devolve to me- What is the one absolute fact we know about the Second Foundation, eh? Ill recite you We know that Hari Seldon located it at the opposite end of the Galaxy. Homir Munn theorized that Seldon lied about the existence of the Foundation. Pelleas Anthor theorized that Seldon had told the truth that far, but lied about the location of the Foundation. But I tell you that Hari Seldon lied in no specific that he told the absolute truth.But, what is the other end? The Galaxy is a flat, lens-shaped object. A cross section a capacious the flatness of it is a circle, and a circle had no end as Arcadia realized. We we, the offset Foundation are located on Terminus at the rim of that circle. We are at an end of the Galaxy, by definition. in a flash follow the rim of that circle and find the other end. Follow it, follow it, follow it, and you will find no other end. You will merely acclaim posterior to your starting point-And there you will find the Second Foundation.There? repeated Anthor. Do you mean here?Yes, I mean here cried Darell, energetically. Why, where else could it mayhap be? You said yourself that if the Second Foundationers were the guardians of the Seldon image, it was un deally that they could be located at the so-called other end of the Galaxy, where they would be as isolated as they could conceivably be. You thought that fifty parsecs distance was much sensible. I tell you that that is also similarly far. That no distance at all is more sensible. And where would they be safest? Who would tactile sensation for them here? Oh, its the old principle of the approximately obvious place being the least suspicious.Why was poor Ebling Mis so surprised and unmanned by his breakthrough of the location of the Second Foundation? There he was, facial expressioning for it desperately in order to warn it of the coming of the Mule, only to find that the Mule had already captured both Foundations at a stroke. And why did the Mule himself fail. in his search? Why not? If one is searching for an unconquerable menace, one would scarcely looking for among the enemies already conquered. So the Mind-masters, in their own leisurely time, could lay their plans to stop the Mule, and succeeded in stopping him.Oh, it is maddeningly simple. For here we are with our plots and our schemes, thinking that we are keeping our concealment when all the time we are in the very heart and core of our enemys stronghold. Its humorous.Anthor did not remove the skepticism from his face, You honestly conceptualise this theory, Dr. Darell?I honestly believe it.Then any of our neighbors, any man we pass in the street might be a Second Foundation superman, with his mind watching yours and olfactory property the pulse of its thoughts.Exactly.And we have been permitted to proceed all this time, without molestation?Without molestation? Who told you we were not molested? You, yourself, showed that Munn has been tampered with. What makes you think that we sent him to Kalgan in the first place entirely of our own testament or that Arcadia everywhereheard us and followed him on her own volition? Hah We have been molested without pause, probably. And after all, why should they do more than they have? It is far more to their benefit to misguide us, than merely to stop us.Anthor buried himself in meditation and emerged therefrom with a dissatisfied expression. Well, then, I dont like it. Your Mental Static isnt worth a thought. We cant extend in the house forever and as soon as we leave, were lost, with what we now think we know. Un less you can build a little machine for every inhabitant in the Galaxy.Yes, but were not quite helpless, Anthor. These men of the Second Foundation have a special sense which we lack. It is their strength and also their weakness. For instance, is there any weapon of attack that will be effective against a normal, sighted man which is useless against a blind man?Sure, said Munn, promptly. A electric arc in the eyes.Exactly, said Darell. A good, strong blinding light.Well, what of it? asked Turbor.But the analogy is clear. I have a Mind Static device. It sets up an artificial electromagnetic pattern, which to the mind of a man of the Second Foundation would be like a beam of light to us. But the Mind Static device is kaleidoscopic. It shifts promptly and continuously, faster than the receiving mind can follow. All right then, consider it a flickering light the kind that would give you a headache, if continued long enough. forthwith intensify that light or that electromagnetic fiel d until it is blinding and it will become a pain, an unendurable pain. But only to those with the proper sense not to the unsensed.Really? said Anthor, with the beginnings of enthusiasm. Have you tried this?On whom? Of course, I havent tried it. But it will work.Well, where do you have the controls for the Field that surrounds the house? Id like to see this thing.Here. Darell reached into his jacket pocket. It was a small thing, scarcely bulging his pocket. He tossed the black, knob-studded cylinder to the other.Anthor inspected it carefully and shrugged his shoulders. It doesnt make me any smarter to look at it. Look Darell, what mustnt I put forward? I dont want to turn off the house defense by accident, you know.You wont, said Darell, indifferently. That control is locked in place. He flicked at a toggle counterchange that didnt move.And whats this knob?That one varies rate of shift of pattern. Here this one varies the intensity. Its that which Ive been referring to.May I- as ked Anthor, with his finger on the intensity knob. The others were crowding close.Why not? shrugged DarelI. It wont affect us.Slowly, well-nigh wincingly, Anthor cancelled the knob, first in one direction, then in another. Turbor was gritting his teeth, while Munn blinked his eyes rapidly. It was as though they were keening their inadequate sensory equipment to locate this impulse which could not affect them.Finally, Anthor shrugged and tossed the control box back into Darells lap. Well, I suppose we can take your word for it. But its certainly hard to imagine that anything was happening when I turned the knob.But naturally, Pelleas Anthor, said Darell, with a tight smile. The one I gave you was a dummy. You see I have another. He tossed his jacket aside and seized a duplicate of the control box that Anthor had been investigating, which swung from his belt.You see, said Darell, and in one gesture turned the intensity knob to maximum.And with an unearthly shriek, Pelleas Anthor sank to the floor. He rolled in his straining whitened, gripping fingers clutching and tearing futilely at his hair.Munn lifted his feet hastily to prevent contact with the squirming embody, and his eyes were twin depths of horror. Semic and Turbor were a pair of plaster casts stiff and white.Darell, somber, turned the knob back once more. And Anthor twitched feebly once or twice and lay still. He was alive, his breath racking his body.Lift him on to the couch, said Darell, take hold the young mans head. Help me here.Turbor reached for the feet. They might have been lifting a sack of flour. Then, after long minutes, the breathing grew quieter, and Anthors eyelids fluttered and lifted. His face was a horrid yellow his hair and body was soaked in perspiration, and his voice, when he spoke, was cracked and unrecognizable.Dont, he muttered, dont Dont do that again You dont know- You dont know- Oh-h-h. It was a long, trembling moan.We wont do it again, said Darell, if you will tell us the truth. You are a piece of the Second Foundation?Let me have some water, pleaded Anthor.Get some, Turbor, said Darell, and bring the whiskey bottle.He repeated the question after pouring a jigger of whiskey and two glasses of water into Anthor. Something seemed to relax in the young man-Yes, he said, wearily. I am a member of the Second Foundation.Which, continued Darell, is located on Terminus here?Yes, yes. You are right in every particular, Dr. Darell.Good Now explain whats been happening this yesteryear half year. Tell usI would like to sleep, whispered Anthor.Later Speak nowA tremulous sigh. Then words, low and hurried. The others bent over him to catch the sound, The situation was growing dangerous. We knew that Terminus and its physical scientists were becoming interested in brain-wave patterns and that the times were ripe for the development of something like the Mind Static device. And there was growing enmity toward the Second Foundation. We had to stop it without ruini ng SeIdons Plan.We we tried to control the movement. We tried to join it. It would turn suspicion and efforts away from us. We saw to it that Kalgan declared war as a further distraction. Thats why I sent Munn to Kalgan. Stettins supposed mistress was one of us. She saw to it that Munn do the proper moves-Callia is- cried Munn, but Darell waved him silent.Anthor continued, unaware of any interruption, Arcadia followed. We hadnt counted on that cant foresee everything so Callia maneuvered her to Trantor to prevent interference. Thats all. Except that we lost.You tried to get me to go to Trantor, didnt you? asked Darell.Anthor nodded, Had to get you out of the way. The growing triumph in your mind was clear enough. You were solving the problems of the Mind Static device.Why didnt you put me under control?Couldnt couldnt. Had my orders. We were working according to a Plan. If I improvised, I would have thrown everything off. Plan only predicts probabilities you know that like Seldon s Plan. He was talking in anguished pants, and around incoherently. His head twisted from side to side in a busy fever. We worked with individuals not groups very low probabilities involved lost out. Besides if control you someone else invent device no use had to control times more subtle First Speakers own plan dont know all angles except didnt work a-a-a- He ran down.Darell shook him roughly, You cant sleep yet. How many of you are there?Huh? Whatjasay oh not many be surprised fifty dont need more.All here on Terminus?Five six out in Space like Callia got to sleep.He stirred himself suddenly as though to one giant effort, and his expressions gained in clarity. It was a last attempt at self-justification, at moderating his defeat. roughly got you at the end. Would have turned off defenses and seized you. Would have seen who was master. But you gave me dummy controls doubted me all along-And finally he was asleep.Turbor said, in awed tones, How long did you suspect him, Darell?Ev er since he first came here, was the quiet response. He came from Kleise, he said. But I knew Kleise and I knew on what terms we parted. He was a fanatic on the subject of the Second Foundation and I had deserted him. My own purposes were reasonable, since I thought it best and safest to pursue my own notions by myself. But I couldnt tell Kleise that and he wouldnt have listened if I had. To him, I was a coward and a traitor, perhaps even an instrument of the Second Foundation. He was an unforgiving man and from that time almost to the day of his death he had no dealings with me. Then, suddenly, in his last few weeks of spiritedness, he writes me as an old friend to greet his best and most promising pupil as a co-worker and begin again the old investigation.It was out of character. How could he possibly do such a thing without being under outside influence, and I began to wonder if the only purpose might not be to introduce into my confidence a real agent of the Second Foundatio n. Well, it was so-He sighed and closed his own eyes for a moment.Semic put in hesitantly, What will we do with all of them these Second Foundation fellas?I dont know, said Darell, sadly. We could exile them, I suppose. Theres Zoranel, for instance. They can be placed there and the planet saturated with Mind Static. The sexes can be separated, or, better still, they can be disinfect and in fifty years, the Second Foundation will be a thing of the past. Or perhaps a quiet death for all of them would be kinder.Do you suppose, said Turbor, we could learn the use of this sense of theirs. Or are they born with it, like the Mule.I dont know. I think it is developed through long training, since there are indications from encephalography that the potentialities of it are latent in the human mind. But what do you want that sense for? It hasnt helped them.He frowned.Though he said nothing, his thoughts were shouting.It had been too easy too easy. They had fallen, these invincibles, fallen like book-villains, and he didnt like it.Galaxy When can a man know he is not a pecker? How can a man know he is not a puppet?Arcadia was coming kin, and his thoughts shuddered away from that which he must face in the end.She was home for a week, then two, and he could not loose the tight check upon those thoughts. How could he? She had changed from child to young woman in her absence, by some oddish alchemy. She was his link to life his link to a bittersweet marriage that scarcely outlasted his honeymoon.And then, late one evening, he said as casually as he could, Arcadia, what made you decide that Terminus contained both Foundations?They had been to the theater in the best seats with private trimensional viewers for each her dress was new for the occasion, and she was happy.She stared at him for a moment, then tossed it off. Oh, I Dont know, fuss. It just came to me.A layer of ice thickened about Dr. Darells heart.Think, he said, intensely. This is important. What made you dec ide both Foundations were on Terminus.She frowned slightly. Well, there was lady Callia. I knew she was a Second Foundationer. Anthor said so, too.But she was on Kalgan, insisted Darell. What made you decide on Terminus?And now Arcadia waited for several minutes before she answered. What had made her decide? What had made her decide?She had the horrible sensation of something slipping just beyond her grasp.She said, She knew about things Lady Callia did and must have had her information from Terminus. Doesnt that sound right, produce?But he just shook his head at her.Father, she cried, I knew. The more I thought, the surer I was. It just made sense.There was that lost look in her fathers eyes, Its no good, Arcadia. Its no good. Intuition is suspicious when concerned with the Second Foundation. You see that, dont you? It might have been intuition and it might have been control realise You mean they changed me? Oh, no. No, they couldnt. She was backing away from him. But didnt An thor say I was right? He admitted it. He admitted everything. And youve found the whole bunch right here on Trantor. Didnt you? Didnt you? She was breathing quickly.I know, but- Arcadia, will you let me make an encephalographic analysis of your brain?She shook her head violently, No, no Im too scared.Of me, Arcadia? Theres nothing to be triskaidekaphobic of. But we must know. You see that, dont you?She interrupted him only once, after that. She clutched at his arm just before the last switch was thrown. What if I am different, Father? What will you have to do?I wont have to do anything, Arcadia. If youre different, well leave. Well go back to Trantor, you and I, and and we wont care about anything else in the Galaxy.Never in Darells life had an analysis proceeded so slowly, cost him so much, and when it was over, Arcadia huddled down and dared not look. Then she heard him laugh and that was information enough. She jumped up and threw herself into his opened arms.He was speak wildl y as they squeezed one another, The house is under maximum Mind Static and your brain-waves are normal. We really have trapped them, Arcadia, and we can go back to living.Father, she gasped, can we let them give us medals now?How did you know Id asked to be left out of it? He held her at arms mind you know everything. All right, you can have your medal on a platform, with speeches.And Father?Yes?Can you call me Arkady from now on.But- Very well, Arkady.Slowly the magnitude of the victory was soaking into him and saturating him. The Foundation the First Foundation now the only Foundation was absolute master of the Galaxy. No further barrier stood between themselves and the Second Empire the final fulfillment of Seldons Plan.They had only to reach for it-Thanks to-