How so? he said.
The fall of Trantor, said Seldon, cannot be stopped by any conceivable effort. It can be hastened easily, however. The tale of my interrupted trial will spread through the Galaxy. Frustration of my plans to lighten the disaster will convince people that the future holds no promise to them. Already they recall the lives of their grandfathers with envy. They will see that political revolutions and trade stagnations will increase. The feeling will pervade the Galaxy that only what a man can grasp for himself at that moment will be of any account. Ambitious men will not wait and unscrupulous men will not hang back. By their every action they will hasten the decay of the worlds. Have me killed and Trantor will fall not within five centuries but within fifty years and you, yourself, within a single year.
Chen said, These are words to frighten children, and yet your death is not the only answer which will satisfy us.
He lifted his slender hand from the papers on which it rested, so that only two fingers touched lightly upon the topmost sheet.
Tell me, he said, will your only activity be that of preparing this encyclopedia you speak of?
It will.
And need that be done on Trantor?
Trantor, my lord, possesses the Imperial Library, as well as the scholarly resources of the University of Trantor.
And yet if you were located elsewhere; let us say upon a planet where the hurry and distractions of a metropolis will not interfere with scholastic musings; where your men may devote themselves entirely and single-mindedly to their work might not that have advantages?
Minor ones, perhaps.
Such a world has been chosen, then. You may work, doctor, at your leisure, with your hundred thousand about you. The Galaxy will know that you are working and fighting the Fall. They will even be told that you will prevent the Fall. He smiled. Since I do not believe in so many things, it is not difficult for me to disbelieve in the Fall as well, so that I am entirely convinced I will be telling the truth to the people. And meanwhile, doctor, you will not trouble Trantor and there will be no disturbance of the Emperors peace.
The alternative is death for yourself and for as many of your followers as will seem necessary. Your earlier threats I disregard. The opportunity for choosing between death and exile is given you over a time period stretching from this moment to one five minutes hence.
Which is the world chosen, my lord? said Seldon.
It is called, I believe, Terminus, said Chen. Negligently, he turned the papers upon his desk with his finger-tips so that they faced Seldon. It is uninhabited, but quite habitable, and can be moulded to suit the necessities of scholars. It is somewhat secluded
Seldon interrupted, It is at the edge of the Galaxy, sir.
As I have said, somewhat secluded. It will suit your needs for concentration. Come, you have two minutes left.
Seldon said, We will need time to arrange such a trip. There are twenty thousand families involved.
You will be given time.
Seldon thought a moment, and the last minute began to die. He said, I accept exile.
Gaals heart skipped a beat at the words. For the most part, he was filled with a tremendous joy for who would not be, to escape death. Yet in all his vast relief, he found space for a little regret that Seldon had been defeated.
8
Was what you told the Commissioner true? Would your execution have really hastened the Fall?
Seldon said, I never lie about psychohistoric findings. Nor would it have availed me in this case. Chen knew I spoke the truth. He is a very clever politician and politicians by the very nature of their work must have an instinctive feeling for the truths of psychohistory.
Then need you have accepted exile? Gaal wondered, but Seldon did not answer.
When they burst out upon the University grounds, Gaals muscles took action of their own; or rather, inaction. He had to be carried, almost, out of the taxi.
All the University was a blaze of light. Gaal had almost forgotten that a sun could exist. Nor was the University in the open. Its buildings were covered by a monstrous dome of glass-and-yet-not-glass. It was polarized; so that Gaal could look directly upon the blazing star above. Yet its light was undimmed and it glanced off the metal buildings as far as the eye could see.
The University structures themselves lacked the hard steel-grey of the rest of Trantor. They were silvery, rather. The metallic lustre was almost ivory in colour.
Seldon said, Soldiers, it seems.
What? Gaal brought his eyes to the prosaic ground and found a sentinel ahead of them.
They stopped before him, and a soft-spoken captain materialized from a near-by doorway.
He said, Dr Seldon?
Yes.
We have been waiting for you. You and your men will be under martial law henceforth. I have been instructed to inform you that six months will be allowed you for preparations to leave for Terminus.
Six months! began Gaal, but Seldons fingers were upon his elbow with gentle pressure.
These are my instructions, repeated the captain.