Foundation's Edge Part 5

Where Trevize seemed to radiate a glowering intensity, Compor shone with an almost serene self-confidence. Perhaps it was his blond hair and blue eyes, not at all common among Foundationers. They lent him an almost feminine delicacy that (Branno judged) made him less attractive to women than Trevize was. He was clearly vain of his looks, though, and made the most of them, wearing his hair rather long and making sure that it was carefully waved. He wore a faint blue shadowing under his eyebrows to accentuate the eye color. (Shadowing of various tints had become common among men these last ten years.) He was no womanizer. He lived sedately with his wife, but had not yet registered parental intent and was not known to have a clandestine second companion. That, too, was different from Trevize, who changed housemates as often as he changed the loudly colored sashes for which he was notorious.

There was little about either young Councilman that Kodell's department had not uncovered, and Kodell himself sat quietly in one corner of the room, exuding a comfortable good cheer as always.

Branno said, "Councilman Compor, you have done the Foundation good service, but unfortunately for yourself, it is not of the sort that can be praised in public or repaid in ordinary fas.h.i.+on."

Compor smiled. He had white and even teeth, and Branno idly wondered, for one flas.h.i.+ng moment if all the inhabitants of the Sirius Sector looked like that. Compor's tale of stemming from that particular, rather peripheral, region went back to his maternal grandmother, who had also been blond-haired and blue-eyed and who had maintained that her mother was from the Sirius Sector. According to Kodell, however, there was no hard evidence in favor of that.

Women being what they were, Kodell had said, she might well have claimed distant and exotic ancestry to add to her glamour and her already formidable attractiveness.

"Is that how women are?" Branno had asked drily, and Kodell had smiled and muttered that he was referring to ordinary women, of course.

Compor said, "It is not necessary that the people of the Foundation know of my service-only that you do."

"I know and I will not forget. What I also will not do is to let you a.s.sume that your obligations are now over. You have embarked on a complicated course and you must continue. We want more about Trevize."

"I have told you all I know concerning him."

"That may be what you would have me believe. That may even be what you truly believe yourself. Nevertheless, answer my questions. Do you know a gentleman named Janov Pelorat?"

For just a moment Compor's forehead creased, then smoothed itself almost at once. He said carefully, "I might know him if I were to see him, but the name does not seem to cause any a.s.sociation within me."

"He is a scholar."

Compor's mouth rounded into a rather contemptuous but unsounded "Oh?" as though he were surprised that the Mayor would expect him to know scholars.

Branno said, "Pelorat is an interesting person who, for reasons of his own, has the ambition of visiting Trantor. Councilman Trevize will accompany him. Now, since you have been a good friend of Trevize and .perhaps know his system of thinking, tell me- Do you think Trevize will consent to go to Trantor?"

Compor said, "If you see to it that Trevize gets on the s.h.i.+p, and if the s.h.i.+p is piloted to Trantor, what can he do but go there? Surely you don't suggest he will mutiny and take over the s.h.i.+p."

"You don't understand. He and Pelorat will be alone on the s.h.i.+p and it will be Trevize at the controls."

"You are asking whether he would go voluntarily to Trantor?"

"Yes, that is what I am asking."

"Madam Mayor, how can I possibly know what he will do?"

"Councilman Compor, you have been close to Trevize. You know his belief in the existence of the Second Foundation. Has he never spoken to you of his theories as to where it might exist, where it might be found?"

"Never, Madam Mayor."

"Do you think he will find it?"

Compor chuckled. "I think the Second Foundation, whatever it was and however important it might have been, was wiped out in the time of Arkady Darell. I believe her story."

"Indeed? In that case, why did you betray your friend? If he were searching for something that does not exist, what harm could he have done by propounding his quaint theories?"

Compor said, "It is not the truth alone that can harm. His theories may have been merely quaint, but they might have succeeded in unsettling the people of Terminus and, by introducing doubts and fears as to the Foundation's role in the great drama of Galactic history, have weakened its leaders.h.i.+p of the Federation and its dreams of a Second Galactic Empire. Clearly you thought this yourself, or you would not have seized him on the floor of the Council, and you would not now be forcing him into exile without trial. Why have you done so, if I may ask, Mayor?"

"Shall we say that I was cautious enough to wonder if there were some faint chance that he might be right, and that the expression of his views might be actively and directly dangerous?"

Compor said nothing.

Branno said, "I agree with you, but I am forced by the responsibilities of my position to consider the possibility. Let me ask you again if you have any indication as to where he might think the Second Foundation exists, and where he might go."

"I have none."

"He has never given you any hints in that direction?"

"No, of course not."

"Never? Don't dismiss the thought easily. Think! Never?"

"Never," said Compor firmly.

"No hints? No joking remarks? No doodles? No thoughtful abstractions at moments that achieve significance as you look back on them?"

"None. I tell you, Madam Mayor, his dreams of the Second Foundation are the most nebulous stars.h.i.+ne. You know it, and you but waste your time and your emotions in your concern over it."

"You are not by some chance suddenly changing sides again and protecting the friend you delivered into my hands?"

"No," said Compor. "I turned him over to you for what seemed to me to be good and patriotic reasons. I have no reason to regret the action, or to change my att.i.tude."

"Then you can give me no hint as to where he might go once he has a s.h.i.+p at his disposal?"

"As I have already said-"

"And yet, Councilman," and here the lines of the Mayor's face so folded as to make her seem wistful, "I would like to know where he goes."

"In that case, I think you ought to place a hyper-relay on his s.h.i.+p."

"I have thought of that, Councilman. He is, however, a suspicious man and I suspect he will find it-however cleverly it might be placed. Of course, it might be placed in such a way that he cannot remove it without crippling the s.h.i.+p, and he might therefore be forced to leave it in place-"

"An excellent notion."

"Except that," said Branno, "he would then be inhibited. He might not go where he would go if he felt himself free and untrammeled. The knowledge I would gain would be useless to me."

"In that case, it appears you cannot find out where he will go."

"I might, for I intend to be very primitive. A person who expects the completely sophisticated and who guards against it is quite apt never to think of the primitive. -I'm thinking of having Trevize followed."

"Followed?"

"Exactly. By, another pilot in another s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. See how astonished you are at the thought? He would be equally astonished. He might not think of scouring s.p.a.ce for an accompanying ma.s.s and, in any case, we will see to it that his s.h.i.+p is not equipped with our latest ma.s.s-detection devices."

Compor said, "Madam Mayor, I speak with all possible respect, but I must point out that you lack experience in s.p.a.ce flight. To have one s.h.i.+p followed by another is never done-because it won't work. Trevize will escape with the first hyperspatial jump. Even if he doesn't know he is being followed, that first jump will be his path to freedom. If he doesn't have a hyper-relay on board s.h.i.+p, he can't be traced."

"I admit my lack of experience. Unlike you and Trevize, I have had no naval training. Nevertheless, I am told by my advisers-who have had such training-that if a s.h.i.+p is observed immediately prior to a jump, its direction, speed, and acceleration make it possible to guess what the jump might be-in a general way. Given a good computer and an excellent sense of judgment, a follower might duplicate the jump closely enough to pick up the trail at the other end -especially if the follower has a good ma.s.s-detector."

"That might happen once," said Compor energetically, "even twice if the follower is very lucky, but that's it. You can't rely on such things."

"Perhaps we can. -Councilman Compor, you have hyper-raced in your time. You see, I know a great deal about you. You are an excellent pilot and have done amazing things when it comes to following a compet.i.tor through a jump."

Compor's eyes widened. He almost squirmed in his chair. "I was in college then. I am older now."

"Not too old. Not yet thirty-five. Consequently you are going to follow Trevize, Councilman. Where he goes, you will follow, and you will report back to me. You will leave soon after Trevize does, and he will be leaving in a few hours. If you refuse the task, Councilman, you will be imprisoned for treason. If you take the s.h.i.+p that we will provide for you, and if you fail to follow, you need not bother coming back. You will be shot out of s.p.a.ce if you try."

Compor rose sharply- to his feet. "! have a life to live. I have work to do. I have a wife. I cannot leave it all."

"You will have to. Those of us who choose to serve the Foundation must be prepared at ail times to serve it in a prolonged and uncomfortable fas.h.i.+on, if that should become necessary."

"My wife must go with me, of course."

"Do you take me for an idiot? She stays here, of course."

"As a hostage?"

"If you like the word. I prefer to say that you will be taking yourself into danger and my kind heart wants her to stay here where she will not be in danger. -There is no room for discussion. You are as much under arrest as Trevize is, and I am sure you understand I must act quickly - before the euphoria enveloping Terminus wears off. I fear my star will soon be in the descendant."

Kodell said, "You were not easy on him, Madam Mayor."

The Mayor said with a sniff, "Why should I have been? He betrayed a friend."

"That was useful to us."

"Yes, as it happened. His next betrayal, however, might not be."

"Why should there be another?"

"Come, Liono," said Branno impatiently, "don't play games with me. Anyone who displays a capacity for double-dealing must forever be suspected of being capable of displaying it again."

"He may use the capability to combine with Trevize once again. Together, they may-"

"You don't believe that. With all his folly and naivete, Trevize goes straight for his goal. He does not understand betrayal and he will never, under any circ.u.mstances, trust Compor a second time."

Kodell said, "Pardon me, Mayor, but let me make sure I follow your thinking. How far, then, can you trust Compor? How do you know he will follow Trevize and report honestly? Do you count on his fears for the welfare of his wife as a restraint? His longing to return to her?"

"Both are factors, but I don't entirely rely on that. On Compor's s.h.i.+p there will be a hyper-relay. Trevize would suspect pursuit and would search for one. However Compor - being the pursuer-will, I a.s.sume, not suspect pursuit and will not search for one. -Of course, if he does, and if he finds it, then we must depend on the attractions of his wife."

Kodell laughed. "To think I once had to give you lessons. And the purpose of the pursuit?"

"A double layer of protection. If Trevize is caught, it may be that Compor will carry on and give us the information that Trevize will not be able to."

"One more question. What if, by some chance, Trevize finds the Second Foundation, and we learn of it through him, or through Compor, or if we gain reason to suspect its existence-despite the deaths of both?"

"I'm hoping the Second Foundation does exist, Liono," she said. "In any case, the Seldon Plan is not going to serve us much longer. The great Hari Seldon devised it in the dying days of the Empire, when technological advance had virtually stopped. Seldon was a product of his times, too, and however brilliant this semimythical science of psychohistory must have been, it could not rise out of its roots. It surely would not allow for raid technological advance. The Foundation has been achieving that, especially in this last century. We have ma.s.s-detection devices of a kind undreamed of earlier, computers that can respond to thought, and-most of all-mental s.h.i.+elding. The Second Foundation cannot control us for much longer, if they can do so now. I want, in my final years in power, to be the one to start Terminus on a new path."

"And if there is, in fact, no Second Foundation?"

"Then we start on a new path at once."

The troubled sleep that had finally come to Trevize did not last long. A touch on his shoulder was repeated a second time.

Trevize started up, bleary and utterly failing to understand why he should be in a strange bed. "What - What-?"

Pelorat said to him apologetically, "I'm sorry, Councilman Trevize. You are my guest and I owe you rest, but the Mayor is here." He was standing at the side of the bed in flannel pajamas and s.h.i.+vering slightly. Trevize's senses leaped to a weary wakefulness and he remembered.

The Mayor was in Pelorat's living room, looking as composed as always. Kodell was with her, rubbing lightly at his white mustache.

Trevize adjusted his sash to the proper snugness and wondered how long the two of them-Branno and Kodell - were ever apart.

Trevize said mockingly, " Has the Council recovered yet? Are its members concerned over the absence of one of them?"

The Mayor said, "There are signs of life, yes, but not enough to do you any good. There is no question but that I still have the power to force you to leave. You will be taken to Ultimate s.p.a.ceport-"

"Not Terminus s.p.a.ceport, Madam Mayor? Am I to be deprived of a proper farewell from weeping thousands?"

"I see you have recovered your penchant for teenage silliness, Councilman, and I am pleased. It stills what might otherwise be a certain rising twinge of conscience. At Ultimate s.p.a.ceport, you and Professor Pelorat will leave quietly."

"And never return?"

"And perhaps never return. Of course," and here she smiled briefly, "if you discover something of so great an importance and usefulness that even I will be glad to have you back with your information, you will return. You may even be treated with honor."

Trevize nodded casually, "That may happen."

"Almost anything may happen. -In any case, you will be comfortable. You are being a.s.signed a recently completed pocket-cruiser, the Far Star, named for Hober Mallow's cruiser. One person can handle it, though it will hold as many as three with reasonable comfort."

Trevize was jolted out of his carefully a.s.sumed mood of light irony. "Fully armed?"

"Unarmed but otherwise fully equipped. Wherever you go, you will be citizens of the Foundation and there will always be a consul to whom you can turn, so you will not require arms. You will be able to draw on funds at need. -Not unlimited funds, I might add."

"You are generous."

"I know that, Councilman. But, Councilman, understand me. You are helping Professor Pelorat search for Earth. Whatever you think you are searching for, you are searching for Earth. All whom you meet must understand that. And always remember that the Far Star is not armed."

"I am searching for Earth;" said Trevize. "I understand that perfectly."

"Then you will go now."

"Pardon me, but surely there is more to all of this than we have discussed. I have piloted s.h.i.+ps in my time, but I have had no experience with a late-model pocket-cruiser. What if I cannot pilot it?"

"I am told that the Far Star is thoroughly computerized. -And before you ask, you don't have to know how to handle a late-model s.h.i.+p's computer. It will itself tell you anything you need to know. Is there anything else you need?"

Trevize looked down at himself ruefully. "A change of clothing."

"You will find them on board s.h.i.+p. Including those girdles you wear, or sashes, whichever they are called. The professor is also supplied with what he needs. Everything reasonable is already aboard, although I hasten to add that this does not include female companions."