Forward the Foundation

He programmed the ground-car quietly, then said, "What a shame we didn't have Dors with us. Mom would have attacked them with her bare lands and left all eight dead in five minutes."

Seldon felt tears stinging his eyelids. "I know, Raych, I know. Do you think I don't miss her every day?"

"I'm sorry," said Raych in a low voice.

Seldon asked, "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"Wanda told me. She said there were evil people lying in wait for you, she told me where they were and I took right off."

"Didn't you doubt that she knew what she was talking about?"

"Not at all. We know enough about her now to know that she has some sort of contact with your mind and with the things around you."

"Did she tell you how many people were attacking me?"

"No. She just said, 'Quite a few.'"

"So you came out all by yourself, did you, Raych?"

"I had no time to put together a posse, Dad. Besides, one of me was enough."

"Yes, it was. Thank you, Raych."

14

They were back at Streeling now and Seldon's leg was stretched out on a hassock.

Raych looked at him somberly. "Dad," he began, "you're not to go walking around Trantor on your own from now on."

Seldon frowned. "Why, because of one incident?"

"It was enough of an incident. You can't take care of yourself any longer. You're seventy years old and your right leg will not support you in an emergency. And you have enemies-"

"Enemies!"

"Yes, indeed. And you know it. Those sewer rats were not after simply anyone. They were not looking for just any unwary person to rip off. They identified you by calling out, 'Psychohistory!' And they called you a creep. Why do you suppose that was?"

"I don't know why."

"That's because you live in a world all your own, Dad, and you don't know what's going on on Trantor. Don't you suppose the Trantorians know that their world is going downhill at a rapid rate? Don't you suppose they know that your psychohistory has been predicting this for years? Doesn't it occur to you that they may blame the messenger for the message? If things go bad-and they are going bad-there are many who think that you are responsible for it."

"I can't believe that."

"Why do you suppose there's a faction at the Galactic Library that wants you out of there? They don't want to be in the way when you are mobbed. So-you've got to take care of yourself. You can't go out alone. I'll have to be with you or you will have to have bodyguards. That's the way it's going to be, Dad."

Seldon looked dreadfully unhappy.

Raych softened and said, "But not for long, Dad. I've got a new job.'

Seldon looked up. "A new job. What kind?"

"Teaching. At a University."

"Which University?"

"Santanni."

Seldon's lips trembled. "Santanni! That's nine thousand parsecs away from Trantor. It's a provincial world on the other side of the Galaxy."

"Exactly. That's why I want to go there. I've been on Trantor all my life, Dad, and I'm tired of it. There's no world in all the Empire that's deteriorating the way Trantor is. It's become a haunt of crime with no one to protect us. The economy is limping, the technology is failing. Santanni, on the other hand, is a decent world, still humming along, and I want to be there to build a new life, along with Manella and Wanda and Bellis. We're all going there in two months."

"All of you!"

"And you, Dad. And you. We wouldn't leave you behind on Trantor. You're coming with us to Santanni."

Seldon shook his head. "Impossible, Raych. You know that."

"Why impossible?"

"You know why. The Project. My psychohistory. Are you asking me to abandon my life's work?"

"Why not? It's abandoned you."

"You're mad."

"No, I'm not. Where are you going with it? You have no credits. You can't get any. There's no one left on Trantor who's willing to support you."

"For nearly forty year-"

"Yes, I admit that. But after all that time, you've failed Dad. There's no crime in failing. You've tried so hard and you've gone so far, but you've run into a deteriorating economy, a falling Empire. It's the very thing you've been predicting for so long that's stopping you at last. So-"

"No. I will not stop. Somehow or other, I will keep going."

"I tell you what, Dad. If you're really going to be so stubborn, then take psychohistory with you. Start it again on Santanni. There may be enough credits-and enthusiasm-to support it there."

"And the men and women who have been working for me so faithfully?"

"Oh bull, Dad. They've been leaving you because you can't pay them. You hang around here for the rest of your life and you'll be alone. Oh, come on, Dad. Do you think I like to talk to you this way? It's because no one has wanted to-because no one has had the heart to-that you're in your present predicament. Let's be honest with each other now. When you walk the streets of Trantor and you're attacked for no reason other than that you're Hari Seldon, don't you think it's time for a little bit of truth?"

"Never mind the truth. I have no intention of leaving Trantor."