For eight thousand years, it was the capital of a large and mighty1 political entity2 that spanned an ever-growing union of planetary systems. For twelve thousand years after that, it was the capital of a political entity that spanned the entire Galaxy3. It was the center, the heart, the epitome4 of the Galactic Empire.
It was impossible to think of the Empire without thinking of Trantor.
Trantor did not reach its physical peak until the Empire was far gone in decay. In fact, no one noticed that the Empire had lost its drive, its forward look, because Trantor gleamed in shining metal.
Its growth had peaked at the point where it was a planet-girdling city. Its population was stabilized5 (by law) at forty-five billion and the only surface greenery was at the Imperial Palace and the Galactic University/Library complex.
Trantor's land surface was metal-coated. Its deserts and its fertile areas were alike engulfed6 and made into warrens of humanity, administrative7 jungles, computerized elaborations, vast storehouses of food and replacement8 parts. its mountain ranges were beaten down; its chasms9 filled in. The city's endless corridors burrowed10 under the continental11 shelves and the oceans were turned into huge underground aquacultural cisterns-the only (and insufficient12 native source of food and minerals.
The connections with the Outer Worlds, from which Trantor obtained the resources it required, depended upon its thousand spaceports, its ten thousand warships13, its hundred thousand merchant ships, its million space freighters.
No city so vast was ever recycled so tightly. No planet in the Galaxy had ever made so much use of solar power or went to such extremes to rid itself of waste heat. Glittering radiators14 stretched up into the thin upper atmosphere upon the nightside and were withdrawn15 into the metal city on the dayside. As the planet turned, the radiators rose as night progressively fell around the world and sank as day progressively broke. So Trantor always had an artificial asymmetry16 that was almost its symbol.
At this peak, Trantor ran the Empire?
It ran it poorly, but nothing could have run the Empire well. The Empire was too large to be run from a single world-even under the most dynamic of Emperors. How could Trantor have helped but run it poorly when, in the ages of decay, the Imperial crown was traded back and forth17 by sly politicians and foolish incompetents18 and the bureaucracy had become a subculture of corruptibles?
But even at its worst, there was some self-propelled worth to the machinery19. The Galactic Empire could not have been run without Trantor.
The Empire crumbled20 steadily21, but as long as Trantor remained Trantor, a core of the Empire remained and it retained an air of pride, of millennia22, of tradition and power and-exaltation.
Only when the unthinkable happened-when Trantor finally fell and was sacked; when its citizens were killed by the millions and left to starve by the billions; when its mighty metal coating was scarred and punctured23 and fused by the attack of the "barbarian24" fleet-only then was the Empire considered to have fallen. The surviving remnants on the once-great world undid25 further what had been left and, in a generation, Trantor was transformed from the greatest planet the human race had ever seen to an inconceivable tangle26 of ruins.
That had been nearly two and a half centuries ago. In the rest of the Galaxy, Trantor-as-it-had-been still was not forgotten. It would live forever as the favored site of historical novels, the favored symbol and memory of the past, the favored word for sayings such as "All starships land on Trantor," "Like looking for a person in Trantor," and "No more alike than this and Trantor."
In all the rest of the Galaxy -
But that was not true on Trantor itself! Here the old Trantor was forgotten. The surface metal seas gone, almost everywhere. Trantor was now a sparsely28 settled world of self-sufficient farmers, a place where trading ships rarely came and were not particularly welcome when they did come. The very word "Trantor," though still in official use, had dropped out of popular speech. By present-day Trantorians, it was called "Name," which in their dialect was what would be called "Home" in Galactic Standard.
Quindor Shandess thought of all this and much more as he sat quietly in a welcome state of half-drowse, in which he could allow his mind to run along a self-propelled and unorganized stream of thought.
He had been First Speaker of the Second Foundation for eighteen years, and he might well bold on for ten or twelve years more if his mind remained reasonably vigorous and if he could continue to fight the political wars.
He was the analog29, the mirror image, of the Mayor of Terminus, who ruled over the First Foundation, but how different they were in every respect. The Mayor of Terminus was known to all the Galaxy and the First Foundation was therefore simply "the Foundation" to all the worlds. The First Speaker of the Second Foundation was known only to his associates.
And yet it was the Second Foundation, under himself and his predecessors30, who held the real power. The First Foundation was supreme31 in the realm of physical power, of technology, of war weapons. The Second Foundation was supreme in the realm of mental power, of the mind, of the ability to control. In any conflict between the two, what would it matter how many ships and weapons the First Foundation disposed of, if the Second Foundation could control the minds of those who controlled the ships and weapons?
But how long could he revel32 in this realization33 of secret power?
He was the twenty-fifth First Speaker and his incumbency34 was already a shade longer than average. Ought he, perhaps, not be too keen on holding on and keeping out the younger aspirants35? There was Speaker Gendibal, the keenest and newest at the Table. Tonight they would spend time together and Shandess looked forward to it. Ought he look forward also to Gendibal's possible accession some day?
The answer to the question was that Shandess had no real thought of leaving his post. He enjoyed it too much.
He sat there, in his old age, still perfectly36 capable of performing his duties. His hair was gray, but it had always been light in color and he wore it cut an inch long so that the color scarcely mattered. His eyes were a faded blue and his clothing conformed to the drab styling of the Trantorian farmers.
The First Speaker could, if he wished, pass among the Hamish people as one of them, but his hidden power nevertheless existed. He could choose to focus his eyes and mind at any time and they would then act according to his will and recall nothing about it afterward37.
It rarely happened. Almost never. The Golden Rule of the Second Foundation was, "Do nothing unless you must, and when you must act - hesitate."
The First Speaker sighed softly. Living in the old University, with the brooding grandeur38 of the ruins of the Imperial Palace not too far distant, made one wonder on occasion how Golden the Rule might be.
In the days of the Great Sack, the Golden Rule had been strained to the breaking point. There was no way of saving Trantor without sacrificing the Seldon Plan for establishing a Second Empire. It would have been humane39 to spare the forty-five billion, but they could not have been spared without retention40 of the core of the First Empire and that would have only delayed the reckoning. If would have led to a greater destruction some centuries later and perhaps no Second Empire ever
The early First Speakers had worked over the clearly foreseen Sack for decades but had found no solution-no way of assuring both the salvation41 of Trantor and the eventual42 establishment of the Second Empire. The lesser43 evil had to be chosen and Trantor had died!
The Second Foundatianers of the time had managed-by the narrowest of margins-to save the University/Library complex and there had been guilt45 forever after because o€ that, too. Though no one had ever demonstrated that saving the complex had led to the of the Mule46, there was always the intuition that there was a connection.
How nearly that had wrecked47 everything!
Yet following the decades of the Sack acrd the Mule came the Golden Age o€ the Second Foundation.
Prior to that, for over two and a half centuries after Seldon's death, the Second Foundation had burrowed like moles48 into the Library, intent only on staying out of the way of the Imperials. They served as librarians in a decaying society that cared less and less for the ever-more-misnamed Galactic Library, which fell into the desuetude49 that best suited the purpose of the Second Foundationers.
It was an ignoble50 life. They merely conserved52 the Plan, while out at the end of the Galaxy, the First Foundation fought for its life against always greater enemies with neither help from the Second Foundation nor any real knowledge of it.
It was the Great Sack that liberated53 the Second Foundation - another reason (young Gendibal - who had courage-had recently said that it was the chief reason) why the Sack was allowed to proceed.
After the Great Sack, the Empire was gone and, in all the later times, the Trantorian survivors54 never trespassed55 on Second Foundation territory uninvited. The Second Foundationers saw to it that the University/Library complex which had survived the Sack also survived the Great Renewal56. The ruins of the Palace were preserved, too. The metal was gone over almost all the rest of the world. The great and endless corridors were covered up, filled in, twisted, destroyed, ignored; all under rock and soil-all except here, where metal still surrounded the ancient open places.
It might be viewed as a grand memorial of greatness, the sepulcher57 of Empire, but to the Trantorians - the Hamish people-these were haunted places, filled with ghosts, not to be stirred. Only the Second Foundationers ever set foot in the ancient corridors or touched the titanium gleam.
And even so, all had nearly come to nothing because of the Mule.
The Mule had actually been on Trantor. What if he had found out the nature of the world he had been standing58 on? His physical weapons were far greater than those at the disposal of the Second Foundation, his mental weapons almost as great. The Second Foundation would have been hampered59 always by the necessity of doing nothing but what they must, and by the knowledge that almost any hope of tinning the immediate60 fight might portend61 a greater eventual loss.
Had it not been for Banta Darell and her swift moment of action- And that, too, had been without the help of the Second Foundation?
And then-the Golden ?age, when somehow the First Speakers of the time found ways of becoming active, stopping the Mule in his career of conquest, controlling his mind at last; and then stopping the First Foundation itself when it grew wary62 and overcurious concerning the nature and identity of the Second Foundation. There was Preem Palver, nineteenth First Speaker and greatest of them all, who had managed to put an end to all danger-not without terrible sacrifice - and who had rescued the Seldon Plan.
Now, for a hundred and twenty years, the Second Foundation was again as it once had been, hiding in a haunted portion of Trantor. They were hiding no longer from the Imperials, but from the First Foundation still-a First Foundation almost as large as the Galactic Empire had been and even greater in technological63 expertise64.
The First Speaker's eyes closed in the pleasant warmth and he passed into that never-never state of relaxing hallucinatory experiences that were not quite dreams and not quite conscious thought.
Enough of gloom. All would be well. Trantor was still capital of the Galaxy, for the Second Foundation was here and it was mightier65 and more in control than ever the Emperor had been.
The First Foundation would be contained and guided and would move correctly. However formidable their ships and weapons, they could do nothing as long as key leaders could be, at need, mentally controlled.
And the Second Empire would come, but it would not be like the first. It would be a Federated Empire, with its parts possessing considerable self-rule, so that there would be none of the apparent strength and actual weakness of a unitary, centralized government. The new Empire would be looser, more pliant66, more flexible, more capable of withstanding strain, and it would be guided always-always-by the hidden men and women of the Second Foundation. Trantor would then be still the capital, more powerful with its forty thousand psychohistorians than ever it had been with its forty-five billion
The First Speaker snapped awake. The sun was lower in the sky. Had he been mumbling67? Had he said anything aloud'
If the Second Foundation had to know much and say little, the ruling Speakers had to know mere51 and say less, and the First Speaker lead to know mist and say least.
He smiled wryly68. It was always so tempting69 to become a Trantorian patriot-to see the whole purpose of the Second Empire as that of bringing about Trantorian hegemony. Seldon had warned of it; he had foreseen even that, five centuries before it could come to pass.
The First Speaker had not slept too long, however. It was not yet time for Gendibal's audience.
Shandess was looking forward to that private meeting. Gendibal was young enough to look at the Plan with new eyes, and keen enough to see what others might not. And it was not beyond possibility that Shandess would learn from what the youngster had to say.
No one would ever be certain how much Preem Palver - the great Palver himself-had profited from that day when the young Kol Benjoam, not yet thirty, came to talk to him about possible ways of handling the First Foundation. Benjoam, who was later recognized as the greatest theorist since Seldon, never spoke70 of that audience in later years, but eventually he became the twenty-first First Speaker. There were some who credited Benjoam, rather than Palver, for the great accomplishments71 of Palver's administration.
Shandess amused himself with the thought of what Gendibal might say. It was traditional that keen youngsters, confronting the First Speaker alone for the first time, would place their entire thesis in the first sentence. And surely they would not ask for that precious first audience for something trivial-something that might ruin their entire subsequent career by convincing the First Speaker they were lightweights.
Four hours later, Gendibal faced him. The young man showed no sign of nervousness. He waited calmly for Shandess to speak first.
Shandess said, "You have asked for a private audience, Speaker, on a matter of importance. Could you please summarize the matter for me?"
And Gendibal, speaking quietly, almost as though he were describing what he had just eaten at dinner, said, "First Speaker, the Seldon Plan is meaningless!"
Stor Gendibal did not require the evidence of others to give him a sense of worth. He could not recall a time when he did not !:now himself to be unusual. He had been recruited for the Second Foundation when he was only a ten-year-old boy by an agent who had recognized the potentialities of his mind.
He had then done remarkably72 well at his studies and had taken to psychohistory as a spaceship responds to a gravitational field. Psychohistory had pulled at him and he had curved toward it, reading Seldon's text on the fundamentals when others his age were merely trying to handle differential equations.
When he was fifteen, he entered Trantor's Galactic University (as the University of Trantor had been officially renamed), after an interview during which, when asked what his ambitions were, he had answered firmly, "To be First Speaker before I am forty."
He had not bothered to aim for the First Speaker's chair without qualification. To gain it, one way or another, seemed to him to be a certainty. It was to do it in youth that seemed to him to be the goal. Even Preem Palver bad been forty-two on his accession.
The interviewer's expression had flickered74 when Gendibal had said that, but the young man already had the feel of psycholanguage and could interpret that flicker73. He knew, as certainly as though the interviewer had announced it, that a small notation75 would go on his records to the effect that he would be difficult to handle.
Well, of course!
Gendibal intended to be difficult to handle.
He was thirty now. He would be thirty-one in a matter of two months and he was already a member of the Council of Speakers. He had nine years, at most, to become First Speaker and he knew he would make it. This audience with the present First Speaker was crucial to his plans and, laboring76 to present precisely77 the proper impression, he had. spared no effort to polish his command of psycholanguage.
When two Speakers of the Second Foundation communicate with each other, the language is like no other in the Galaxy. It is as much a language of fleeting78 gestures as of words, as much a matter of detected mental-change patterns as anything else.
An outsider would hear little or nothing, but in a short time, much in the way of thought would be exchanged and the communication would be unreportable in its literal form to anyone but still another Speaker.
The language of Speakers had its advantage in speed and in infinite delicacy79, but it had the disadvantage of making it almost impossible to mask true opinion.
Gendibal knew his own opinion of the First Speaker. He felt the First Speaker to be a man past his mental prime. The First Speaker -in Gendibal's assessment-expected no crisis, was not trained to meet one, and lacked the sharpness to deal with one if it appeared. With all Shandess's goodwill80 and amiability81, he was the stuff of which disaster was made.
All of this Gendibal had to hide not merely from words, gestures, and facial expressions, but even from his thoughts. He knew no way of doing so efficiently82 enough to keep the First Speaker from catching83 a whiff of it.
Nor could Gendibal avoid knowing something of the First Speaker's feeling toward him. Through bonhomie and goodwill - quite apparent and reasonably sincere-Gendibal could feel the distant edge of condescension84 and amusement, and tightened85 his own mental grip to avoid revealing any resentment86 in return-or as little as possible.
The First Speaker smiled and leaned back in his chair. He did not actually lift his feet to the desk top, but he got across just the right mixture of self-assured ease and informal friendship-just enough of each to leave Gendibal uncertain as to the effect of his statement.
Since Gendibal had not been invited to sit down, the actions and attitudes available to him that might be designed to minimize the uncertainty87 were limited. It was impossible that the First Speaker did not understand this.
Shandess said, "The Seldon Plan is meaningless? What a remarkable88 statement! Have you looked at the Prime Radiant lately, Speaker Gendibal?"
"I study it frequently, First Speaker. It is my duty to do so and my pleasure as well."
"Do you, by any chance, study only those portions of it that fall under your purview89, now and then? Do you observe it in microfashion-an equation system here, an adjustment rivulet90 there? Highly important, of course, but I have always thought it an excellent occasional exercise to observe the whole course. Studying the Prime Radiant, acre by acre, has its uses-but observing it as a continent is inspirational. To tell you the truth, Speaker, I have not done it for a long time myself. Would you join me?"
Gendibal dared not pause too long. It had to be done, and it must be done easily and pleasantly or it might as well not be done. "It would be an honor and a pleasure, First Speaker."
The First Speaker depressed91 a lever on the side of his desk. T here was one such in the office of every Speaker and the one in Gendibal's office was in no way inferior to that of the First Speaker. The Second Foundation was an equalitarian society in all its surface manifestations-the unimportant ones. In fact, the only official prerogative92 of the First Speaker was that which was explicit93 in his title he always spoke first.
The room grew dark with the depression of the lever but, almost at once, the darkness lifted into a pearly dimness. Both long walls turned faintly creamy, then brighter and whiter, and finally there appeared neatly94 printed equations-so small that they could not be easily read.
"If you have no objections," said the First Speaker, making it quite clear that there would be none allowed, "we will reduce the magnification in order to see as much at one time as we can."
The neat printing shrank down into fine hairlines, faint black meanderings over the pearly background.
The First Speaker touched the keys of the small console built into the arm of his chair. "We'll bring it back to the start-to the lifetime of Hari Seldon - and we'll adjust it to a small forward movement. We'll shutter95 it so that we can only see a decade of development at a time. It gives one a wonderful feeling of the flow of history, with no distractions96 by the details. I wonder if you have ever done this."
"Never exactly this way, First Speaker."
"You should. It's a marvelous feeling. Observe the sparseness97 of the black tracery at the start. There was not much chance for alternatives in the first few decades. The branch points, however, increase exponentially with time. Were it not for the fact that, as soon as a particular branch is taken, there is an extinction98 of a vast array of others in its future, all would soon become unmanageable. Of course, in dealing99 with the future, we must be careful what extinctions we rely upon."
"I know, First Speaker." There was a touch of dryness in Gendibal's response that he could not quire remove.
The First Speaker did not respond to it. "Notice the winding100 lines of symbols in red. There is a pattern to them. To all appearances, they should exist randomly101, as even- Speaker earns his place by adding refinements102 to Seldon's original Plan. It would seem there is no way, after all, of predicting where a refinement103 can be added easily or where a particular Speaker will find his interests or his ability tending, and yet I have long suspected that the admixture of Seldon Black and Speaker Red follows a strict law that is strongly dependent on time and on very little else."
Gendibal watched as the years passed and as the black and red hairlines made an almost hypnotic interlacing pattern. The pattern meant nothing in itself, of course. What counted were the symbols of which it was composed.
Here and there a bright-blue rivulet made its appearance, bellying104 out; branching, and becoming prominent, then falling in upon itself and fading into the black or red.
The First Speaker said, "Deviation105 Blue," and the feeling of distaste, originating in each, filled the space between them. "We catch it over and over, and we'll be coming to the Century of Deviations106 eventually."
They did. One could tell precisely when the shattering phoneme- non of the Mule momentarily filled the Galaxy, as the Prime Radiant suddenly grew thick with branching rivulets107 of blue-more starting than could be closed down-until the room itself seemed to turn blue as the lines thickened and marked the wall with brighter and brighter pollution. (It was the only word.)
It reached its peak and then faded, thinned, and came together for a long century before it trickled108 to its end at last. When it was gone, and when the Plan had returned to black and red, it was clear that Preem Palver's hand had been there.
Onward109, onward
"That's the present," said the First Speaker comfortably.
Onward, onward
Then a narrowing into a veritable knot of close-knit black with little red in it.
"That's the establishment of the Second Empire," said the First Speaker.
He shut off the Prime Radiant and the room was bathed in ordinary light.
Gendibal said, "That was an emotional experience."
"Yes," smiled the First Speaker, "and you are careful not to identify the emotion, as far as you can manage to fail to identify it. It doesn't matter. Let me make the points I wish to make.
"You will notice, first, the all-but-complete absence of Deviation Blue after the time of Preem Palver - over the last twelve decades, in other words. You will notice that there are no reasonable probabilities of Deviations above the fifth-class over the next five centuries. You will notice, too, that we have begun extending the refinements of psychohistory beyond the establishment of the Second Empire. As you undoubtedly110 know, Hari Seldon - although a transcendent genius-is not, and could not, be all-knowing. We have improved on him. We know more about psychohistory than he could possibly have known.
"Seldon ended his calculations with the Second Empire and we have continued beyond it. Indeed, if I may say so without offense111, the new Hyper-Plan that goes past the establishment of the Second Empire is very largely my doing and has earned me my present post.
"I tell you all this so that you can spare me unnecessary talk. With all this, how do you manage to conclude that the Seldon Plan is meaningless? It is without flaw. The mere fact that it survived the Century of Deviations-with all due respect to Palver's genius-is the best evidence we have that it is without flaw. Where is its weakness, young man, that you should brand the Plan as meaningless?"
Gendibal stood stiffly upright. "You are right, First Speaker. The Seldon Plan has no flaw."
"You withdraw your remark, then?"
"No, First Speaker. Its lack of flaw is its flaw. Its flawlessness is fatal!"
The First Speaker regarded Gendibal with equanimity112. He had learned to control his expressions and it amused him to watch Gendibal's ineptness113 in this respect. At every exchange, the young man did his best to hide his feelings, but each time, he exposed them completely.
Shandess studied him dispassionately. He was a thin young man, not much above the middle height, with thin lips and bony, restless hands. He had dark, humorless eyes that tended to smolder114.
He would be, the First Speaker knew, a hard person to talk out of his convictions.
"You speak in paradoxes116, Speaker," he said.
"It sounds like a paradox115, First Speaker, because there is so much about Seldon's Plan that we take for granted and accept in so unquestioning a manner."
"And what is it you question, then?"
"The Plan's very basis. We all know that the Plan will not work if its nature-or even its existence-is known to too many of those whose behavior it is designed to predict."
"I believe Hari Seldon understood that. I even believe he made it one of his two fundamental axioms of psychohistory."
"He did not anticipate the Mule, First Speaker, and therefore he could not anticipate the extent to which the Second Foundation would become an obsession117 with the people of the First Foundation, once they had been shown its importance by the Mule."
"Hari Seldon-" and for one moment, the First Speaker shuddered118 and fell silent.
Hari Seldon's physical appearance was known to all the members of the Second Foundation. Reproductions of him in two and in three dimensions, photographic and holographic, in bas-relief and in the round, sitting and standing, were ubiquitous. They all represented him in the last few years of his life. All were of an old and benign119 man, face wrinkled with the wisdom of the aged44, symbolizing120 the quintessence of well-ripened genius.
But the First Speaker now recalled seeing a photograph reputed to be Seldon as a young man. The photograph was neglected, since the thought of a young Seldon was almost a contradiction in terms. Yet Shandess had seen it, and the thought had suddenly come to him that Stor Gendibal looked remarkably like the young Seldon.
Ridiculous? It was the sort of superstition121 that afflicted122 everyone, now and then, however rational they might be. He was deceived by a fugitive123 similarity. If he had the photograph before him, he would see at once that the similarity was an illusion. Yet why should that silly thought have occurred to him now?
He recovered. It had been a momentary124 quaver-a transient derailment of thought-too brief to be noticed by anyone but a Speaker. Gendibal might interpret it as he pleased.
"Hari Seldon," he said very firmly the second time, "knew well that there were an infinite number of possibilities he could not foresee, and it was for that reason that he set up the Second Foundation. We did not foresee the Mule either, but tie recognized him once he was upon us and we stopped him. We did not foresee the subsequent obsession of the First Foundation with ourselves, but we saw it when it came and we stopped it. What is it about this that you can possibly find fault with?"
"For one thing," said Gendibal, "the obsession of the First Foundation with us is not yet over."
There was a distinct ebb125 in the deference126 with which Gendibal had been speaking. He had noted127 the quaver in the First Speaker's voice (Shandess decided128) and had interpreted it as uncertainty. That had to be countered.
The First Speaker said briskly, "Let me anticipate. There would be people on the First Foundation, who-comparing the hectic129 difficulties of the first nearly four centuries of existence with the placidity130 of the last twelve decades-will come to the conclusion that this cannot be unless the Second Foundation is taking good care of the Plan-and, of course, they will be right in so concluding. They will decide that the Second Foundation may not have been destroyed after all-and, of course, they will be right in so deciding. In fact, we've received reports that there is a young man on the First Foundation's capital world of Terminus, an official of their government, who is quite convinced of all this. -1 forget his name-"
"Golan Trevize," said Gendibal softly. "It was I who first noted the matter in the reports, and it was I who directed the matter to your office."
"Oh?" said the First Speaker with exaggerated politeness. "And how did your attention come to be focused on him?"
"One of our agents on Terminus sent in a tedious report on the newly elected members of their Council-a perfectly routine matter usually sent to and ignored by all Speakers. This one caught my eye because of the nature of the description of one new Councilman, Golan Trevize. From the description, he seemed unusually self-assured and combative131."
"You recognized a kindred spirit, did you?"
"Not at all," said Gendibal, stiffly. "He seemed a reckless person who enjoyed doing ridiculous things, a description which does not apply to me. In any case, I directed an in-depth study. It did not take long for me to decide that he would have made good material for us if he had been recruited at an early age."
"Perhaps," said the First Speaker, "but you know that we do not recruit on Terminus."
"I know that well. In any case, even without our training, he has an unusual intuition. It is, of course, thoroughly132 undisciplined. I was, therefore. not particularly surprised that he ??ad grasped the fact that the Second Foundation still exists. I felt it important enough, however, to direct a memo27 on the matter to your office."
"And I take it from your manner that there is a new development?"
"Having grasped the fact that we still exist, thanks to his highly developed intuitive abilities, he then used it in a characteristically undisciplined fashion and has, as a result, been exiled from Terminus."
The First Speaker lifted his eyebrows133. "You stop suddenly. You want me to interpret the significance. Without using my computer, let me mentally apply a rough approximation of Seldon's equations and guess that a shrewd Mayor, capable of suspecting that the Second Foundation exists, prefers not to have an undisciplined individual shout it to the Galaxy and thus alert said Second Foundation to the danger. I take it Branno the Bronze decided that Terminus is safer with Trevize off the planet."
"She might have imprisoned134 Trevize or had him quietly assassinated135."
"The equations are not reliable when applied136 to individuals, as you well know. They deal only with humanity in mass. Individual behavior is therefore unpredictable and it is possible to assume that the Mayor is a humane individual who feels imprisonment137, let alone assassination138, is unmerciful."
Gendibal said nothing for a while. It was an eloquent139 nothing, and he maintained it just long enough for the First Speaker to grow uncertain of himself but not so long as to induce a defensive140 anger.
He timed it to the second and then he said, "That is not my interpretation141. I believe that Trevize, at this moment, represents the cutting edge of the greatest threat to the Second Foundation in its history-a greater danger even than the Mule!"
Gendibal was satisfied. The force of the statement had worked well. The First Speaker had not expected it and was caught off-balance. From this moment, the whip hard was Gendibal's. If he had any doubt of that at all, it vanished with Shandess's next remark.
"Does this have anything to do with your contention142 that Seldon's Plan is meaningless?"
Gendibal gambled on complete certainty, driving in with a didacticism that would not allow the First Speaker to recover. He said, "First Speaker, it is an article of faith that it was Preem Palver who restored the Plan to its course after the wild aberrance143 of the Century of Deviations. Study the Prime Radiant and you will see that the Deviations did not disappear till two decades after Palver's death and that not one Deviation has appeared since. The credit might rest with the First Speakers since Palver, but that is improb-
"Improbable? Granted none of us have been Palvers, but-why
"Will you allow me to demonstrate, First Speaker? Using the mathematics of psychohistory, I can clearly show that the chances of total disappearance144 of Deviation are too microscopically145 small to have taken place through anything the Second Foundation can do. You need not allow me if you lack the time or the desire for the demonstration146, which will take half an hour of close attention. I can, as an alternative, call for a full meeting of the Speaker's Table and demonstrate it there. But that would mean a loss of time for me and unnecessary controversy147."
"Yes, and a possible loss of face for me. -Demonstrate the matter to me now. But a word of warning." The First Speaker was making a heroic effort to recover. "If what you show me is worthless, I will not forget that."
"If it proves worthless," said Gendibal with an effortless pride that overrode148 the other, "you will have my resignation on the spot."
It took, actually, considerably149 more than half an hour, for the First Speaker questioned the mathematics with near-savage intensity150.
Gendibal made up some of the time by his smooth use of his MicroRadiant. The device-which could locate any portion of the vast Plan holographically and with required n either wall nor desk sized console-had come into use only a decade ago and the First Speaker had never learned the knack151 of handling it. Gendibal was aware of that. The First Speaker knew that he was.
Gendibal hooked it over his rigth thumb and manipulated it with his four fingers, using his hand deliberately152 as though it were a musical instrument. (Indeed, he had written a small paper on the analogies. )
The equations Gendibal produced (and found with sure ease) moved back and forth snakily to accompany his commentary. He could obtain definitions, if necessary; set up axioms; and produce graphics153, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional (to say nothing of projections154 of multidimensional relationships).
Gendibal's commentary was clear and incisive155 and the First Speaker abandoned the game. He was won over and said, "I do not recall having seen annnnalysis of this nature. Whose work is it?"
"First Speaker, it is my own. I have published the basic mathematics involved."
"Very clever, Speaker Gendibal. Something like this will put you in line for the First Speakership, should I die-or retire."
"I have given that matter no thought, First Speaker-but since there's no chance of your believing that, I withdraw the comment. I have given it thought and I hope I will be First Speaker, since whoever succeeds to the post must follow a procedure that only I see clearly."
"Yes," said the First Speaker, "inappropriate modesty156 can be very dangerous. What procedure? Perhaps the present First Speaker may follow it, too. If I am too old to have made the creative leap you have, I am not so old that I cannot follow your direction."
It was a graceful157 surrender and Gendibal's heart warned, rather unexpectedly, toward the older man, even as he realized that this was precisely the First Speaker's intention.
"Thank you, First Speaker, for I will need your help badly. I cannot expect to sway the Table without your enlightened leadership." (Grace for grace.) "I assume, then, that you have already seen from what I have demonstrated that it is impossible for the Century of Deviations to have been corrected under our policies or for all Deviations to have ceased since then."
"This is clear to me," said the First Speaker. "If your mathematics is correct, then in order for the Plannto have recovered as it did and to work as perfectly as it seems to be working, it would be necessary for us to be able to predict the reactions of small groups of people - even of individuals-with some degree of assurance."
"Quite so. Since the mathematics of psychohistory does not allow this, the Deviations should not have vanished and, even more so, should not have remained absent. You see, then, what I meant when I said earlier that the flaw in the Seldon Plannwas its flawlessness."
The First Speaker said, "Either the Seldon Planndoes possess Deviations, then, or there is something wrong in your mathematics. Since I must admit that the Seldon Plan has not shown Deviations in a century and more, it follows that there is something wrong with your mathematics-except that I detected no fallacies or missteps."
"You do wrong," said Gendibal, "to exclude a third alternative. It is quite possible for the Seldon Plan to possess no Deviations and yet for there to be nothing wrong in my mathematics when it predicts that to be impossible."
"I fail to see the third alternative."
"Suppose the Seldon Plan is being controlled by means of a psychohistorical method so advanced that the reactions of small groups of people-even perhaps of individual persons-can be predicted, a method that we of the Second Foundation do not possess. Then, and only then, my mathematics would predict that the Seldon Plan should indeed experience no Deviations?"
For a while (by Second Foundation standards) the First Speaker made no response. He said, "There is no such advanced psychohistorical method that is known to me or, I am certain from your manner, to you. If you and I know of none, the chance that any other Speaker, or any group of Speakers, has developed such a micropsychohistory-if I may call it that-and has kept it secret from the rest of the Table is infinitesimally small. Don't you agree?"
"I agree."
"Then either your analysis is wrong or else micropsychohistory is in the hands of some group outside the Second Foundation."
"Exactly, First Speaker, the latter alternative must be correct."
"Can you demonstrate the truth of such a statement?"
"I cannot, in any formal way; but consider- Has there not already been a person who could affect the Seldon Plan by dealing with individual people?"
"I presume you are referring to the Mule."
"Yes, certainly."
"The Mule could only disrupt. The problem here is that the Seldon Plan is working too well, considerably closer to perfection than your mathematics would allow. You would need an Anti-Mule-someone who is as capable of overriding158 the Plan as the Mule was, but who acts for the opposite motive-overriding not to disrupt but to perfect."
"Exactly, First Speaker. I wish I had thought of that expression. What was the Mule? A mutant. But where did he come from? How did he come to be? No one really knows. Might there not be more?"
"Apparently159 not. The one thing that is best known about the Mule is that he was sterile160. Hence his name. Or do you think that is a myth?"
"I am not referring to descendants of the Mule. Might it not be that the Mule was an aberrant161 member of what is-or has now become-a sizable group of people with Mulish powers who-for some reason of their own-are not disrupting the Seldon Plan but supporting it?"
"Why in the Galaxy should they support it?"
"Why do we support it? We plan a Second Empire in which we -or, rather, our intellectual descendants-will be the decision makers162. If, some other group is supporting the Plan even more efficiently than we are, they cannot be planning to leave the decision-making to us. They will make the decisions-but to what end? Ought we not try to find out what kind of a Second Empire they are sweeping163 us into?"
"And how do you propose to find out?"
"Well, why has the Mayor of Terminus exiled Golan Trevize? By doing so, she allows a possibly dangerous person to move freely about the Galaxy. That she does it out of motives164 of humanity, I cannot believe. Historically the rulers of the First Foundation have always acted realistically, which means, usually, without regard for `morality.' One of their heroes-Salvor Hardin-counseled against morality, in fact. No, I think the Mayor acted under compulsion from agents of the Anti-Mules, to use your phrase. I think Trevize has been recruited by them and I think he is the spearhead of danger to us. Deadly danger."
And the First Speaker said, "By Seldon, you may be right. But how will we ever convince the Table of this?"
"First Speaker, you underestimate your eminence165."
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1
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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galaxy
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| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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stabilized
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| v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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replacement
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| n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品 | |
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chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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burrowed
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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warships
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| 军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只 | |
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radiators
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| n.（暖气设备的）散热器( radiator的名词复数 )；汽车引擎的冷却器，散热器 | |
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15
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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16
asymmetry
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| n.不对称；adj.不对称的，不对等的 | |
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17
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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incompetents
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| n.无能力的，不称职的，不胜任的( incompetent的名词复数 ) | |
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19
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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21
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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millennia
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| n.一千年，千禧年 | |
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23
punctured
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| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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25
Undid
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| v. 解开, 复原 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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27
memo
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| n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章 | |
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sparsely
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| adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地 | |
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29
analog
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| n.类似物，模拟 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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32
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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33
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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incumbency
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| n.职责，义务 | |
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aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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40
retention
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| n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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moles
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| 防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍 | |
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49
desuetude
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| n.废止，不用 | |
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50
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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51
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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52
conserved
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| v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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55
trespassed
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| （trespass的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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56
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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57
sepulcher
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| n.坟墓 | |
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58
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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61
portend
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| v.预兆，预示；给…以警告 | |
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62
wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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technological
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| adj.技术的；工艺的 | |
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expertise
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| n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长 | |
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mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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66
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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67
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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68
wryly
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| adv. 挖苦地，嘲弄地 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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70
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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71
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
notation
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| n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法 | |
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laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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81
amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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85
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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purview
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| n.范围；眼界 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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95
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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sparseness
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| n.稀疏，稀少 | |
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extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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99
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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100
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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101
randomly
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| adv.随便地，未加计划地 | |
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102
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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103
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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104
bellying
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| 鼓出部；鼓鼓囊囊 | |
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deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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106
deviations
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| 背离，偏离( deviation的名词复数 )； 离经叛道的行为 | |
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107
rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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108
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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109
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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110
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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111
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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112
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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113
ineptness
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| n.荒谬，拙劣 | |
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114
smolder
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| v.无火焰地闷烧；n.焖烧，文火 | |
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115
paradox
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| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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116
paradoxes
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| n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况] | |
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117
obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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118
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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symbolizing
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| v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 ) | |
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121
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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125
ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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combative
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| adj.好战的；好斗的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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133
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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137
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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138
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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143
aberrance
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| 反常，异常，畸变 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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microscopically
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| 显微镜下 | |
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146
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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148
overrode
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| 越控( override的过去式 )； （以权力）否决； 优先于； 比…更重要 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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150
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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151
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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152
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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153
graphics
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| n.制图法，制图学；图形显示 | |
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154
projections
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| 预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物 | |
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incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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158
overriding
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| a.最主要的 | |
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159
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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160
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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161
aberrant
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| adj.畸变的，异常的，脱离常轨的 | |
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162
makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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163
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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164
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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