Forward the Foundation

"The honor of the title is still yours. Besides, sir, you were also instrumental in ridding us of the brutal rule of the junta. The junta, on a number of occasions, violated the sacred rule of the neutrality of the Library."

(Ah, thought Seldon that accounts for the readiness with which he saw me.)

"Merely rumor," he said aloud.

"And now, tell me," said Zenow, who could not resist a quick look at the time band on his wrist, "what can I do for you?"

"Chief Librarian," began Seldon "I have not come to ask anything easy of you. What I want is more space at the Library. I want permission to bring in a number of my associates. I want permission to undertake a long and elaborate program of the greatest importance."

Las Zenow's face drew into an expression of distress. "You ask a great deal. Can you explain the importance of all this?"

"Yes. The Empire is in the process of disintegration."

There was a long pause. Then Zenow said, "I have heard of your research into psychohistory. I have been told that your new science bears the promise of predicting the future. Is it psychohistorical predictions of which you are speaking?"

"No. I have not yet reached the point in psychohistory where I can speak of the future with certainty. But you don't need psychohistory to know that the Empire is disintegrating. You can see the evidence yourself."

Zenow sighed. "My work here consumes me utterly, Professor Seldon. I am a child when it comes to political and social matters."

"You may, if you wish, consult the information contained in the Library. Why look around this very office-it is chock-full of every conceivable sort of information from throughout the entire Galactic Empire."

"I'm the last to keep up with it all, I'm afraid," Zenow said, smiling sadly. "You know the old proverb: The shoemaker's child has no shoes. It seems to me, though, that the Empire is restored. We have an Emperor again."

"In name only, Chief Librarian. In most of the outlying provinces, the Emperor's name is mentioned ritualistically now and then, but he plays no role in what they do. The Outer Worlds control their own programs and, more important, they control the local armed forces, which are outside the grip of the Emperor's authority. If the Emperor were to try to exert his authority anywhere outside the Inner Worlds, he would fail. I doubt that it will take more than twenty years, at the outside, before some of the Outer Worlds declare their independence."

Zenow sighed again. "If you are right, we live in worse times than the Empire has ever seen. But what has this to do with your desire for more office space and additional staff here in the Library?"

"If the Empire falls apart, the Galactic Library may not escape the general carnage."

"Oh, but it must," said Zenow earnestly. "There have been bad times before and it has always been understood that the Galactic Library on Trantor, as the repository of all human knowledge, must remain inviolate. And so it will be in the future."

"It may not be. You said yourself that the junta violated its neutrality.”

"Not seriously."

"It might be more serious next time and we can't allow this repository of all human knowledge to be damaged."

"How will your increased presence here prevent that?"

"It won't. But the project I am interested in will. I want to create a great Encyclopedia, containing within it all the knowledge humanity will need to rebuild itself in case the worst happens-an Encyclopedia Galactica, if you will. We don't need everything the Library has. Much of it is trivial. The provincial libraries scattered over the Galaxy may themselves be destroyed and, if not, all but the most local data is obtained by computerized connection with the Galactic Library in any case. What I intend, then, is something that is entirely independent and that contains, in as concise a form as possible, the essential information humanity needs."

"And if it, too, is destroyed?"

"I hope it will not be. It is my intention to find a world far away on the outskirts of the Galaxy, one where I can transfer my Encyclopedists and where they can work in peace. Until such a place is found, however, I want the nucleus of the group to work here and to use the Library facilities to decide what will be needed for the project."

Zenow grimaced. "I see your point, Professor Seldon, but I'm not sure that it can be done."

"Why not, Chief Librarian?"

"Because being Chief Librarian does not make me an absolute monarch. I have a rather large Board-a kind of legislature-and please don't think that I can just push your Encyclopedia Project through."

"I'm astonished."

"Don't be. I am not a popular Chief Librarian. The Board has been fighting, for some years now, for limited access to the Library. I have resisted. It galls them that I have afforded you your small office space."

"Limited access?"