Foundation and Empire 21. Interlude In Space

The blockade was run successfully. In the vast record of space, non all the navies forever in existence could keep their stick to in tight proximity. Given a single mail, a practiced fell, and a mode charge per unit degree of luck, and thither atomic number 18 holes and to spare.With cold-eyed calm, Toran group a protesting vessel from the vicinity of one star to that of another. If the neighborhood of gravid mass make an inters ratear track erratic and difficult, it also made the enemy detection devices useless or nearly so.And once the deaden of ships had been passed the inner sp here of dead space, by whose blockaded sub-ether no pass on could be driven, was passed as well. For the outset time in all over common chord months Toran felt unisolated.A week passed forrader the enemy news programs dealt with any subject more than than the dull, self-laudatory details of growing control over the Foundation. It was a week in which Torans armo flushed trading ship fled inward from the Periphery in overhasty jumps.Ebling Mis called pop to the pilot room and Toran rose blink-eyed from his charts.Whats the matter? Toran stepped down into the low-toned central chamber which Bayta had inevitably devised into a living room.Mis shook his head, Bescuppered if I know. The Mules newsmen are announcing a special bulletin. Thought you powerfulness want to larn in on it.Might as well. Wheres Bayta?Setting the table in the diner and picking out a menuor some such frippery.Toran sit down upon the cot that served as Magnificos bed, and waited. The propaganda routine of the Mules special bulletins were monotonously similar. fresh domain the martial music, and then the barelytery slickness of the announcer. The minor news items would confine a go at it, quest one another in patient lock step. hence the wear. and then the trumpets and the rising excitement and the climax.Toran endured it. Mis muttered to himself.The newscaster spilled out, in conventiona l war-correspondent phraseology, the unctuous wrangling that translated into sound the molten metal and resound flesh of a difference in space.Rapid cruiser squadrons under Lieutenant General Sammin rush blanket hard today at the task force hitting out from Iss- The carefully expressionless confront of the speaker upon the screen washed-out into the blackness of a space cut through by the apace swaths of ships reeling across emptiness in deadly battle. The joint continued through the soundless thunderThe most striking action of the battle was the adjuvant combat of the heavy cruiser Cluster against three enemy ships of the zero(prenominal)a class-The screens depend veered and closed in. A keen ship sparked and one of the frantic attackers glowed angrily, wrestle out of focus, swung back and rammed. The Cluster bowed wildly and survived the glancing splosh that operate the attacker off in twisting reflection.The newspersons smooth unimpassioned talking to continued to the last blow and the last hulk.Then a pause, and a large similar voice-and-picture of the fight off Mnemon, to which the novelty was added of a long verbal description of a hit-and-run landing the picture of a blasted city huddled and weary prisoners and off again.Mnemon had not long to live.The pause again and this time the raucous sound of the expected brasses. The screen watery into the long, impressively sol decliner-lined corridor up which the government radiussman in councilors uniform strode quickly.The silence was oppressive.The voice that came at last was solemn, slow and hard By order of our supreme, it is inform that the planet, Haven, hitherto in warlike opposition to his will, has submitted to the acceptance of defeat. At this moment, the forces of our sovereign are occupying the planet. Opposition was scattered, unco-ordinated, and speedily crushed.The scene faded out, the sourceal newsman returned to state importantly that other developments would be tra nsmitted as they occurred.Then there was dance music, and Ebling Mis threw the shield that cut the power.Toran rose and walked unsteadily away, without a word. The psychologist made no move to stop him.When Bayta stepped out of the kitchen, Mis motioned silence.He state, Theyve taken Haven.And Bayta state, Already? Her eyes were round, and cronk with disbelief.Without a fight. Without an unprin- He stopped and swallowed. Youd break in leave Toran alone. Its not pleasant for him. Suppose we eat without him this once.Bayta get a lineed once toward the pilot room, then turned hopelessly. Very wellMagnifico sat unnoticed at the table. He neither mouth nor ate but stared ahead with a concentrated fear that searched to drain all the vitality out of his tissue of a body.Ebling Mis pushed absently at his iced-fruit dessert and state, harshly, Two Trading worlds fight. They fight, and bleed, and die and dont surrender. Only at Haven Just as at the Foundation- except why? why?The psyc hologist shook his head. Its of a piece with all the enigma. every(prenominal) queer facet is a hint at the nature of the Mule. First, the paradox of how he could conquer the Foundation, with little blood, and at a single blow essentially while the Independent Trading Worlds held out. The blanket on thermonuclear reactions was a puny weapon weve discussed that back and forth till Im sick of it and it did not incline on any but the Foundation.Randu suggested, and Eblings grizzly eyebrows pulled together, it powerfulness entertain been a radiant Will-Depresser. Its what might have done the work on Haven. solely then why wasnt it used on Mnemon and Iss which plane now fight with such demonic intensity that it is taking half the Foundation fleet in addition to the Mules forces to beat them down. Yes, I know Foundation ships in the attack.Bayta whispered, The Foundation, then Haven. Disaster seems to follow us, without touching. We always seem to get out by a hair. Will it last forever and a day?Ebling Mis was not listening. To himself, he was making a point. But theres another problem another problem. Bayta, you remember the news item that the Mules clown was not plunge on Terminus that it was guessed he had fled to Haven, or been carried there by his original kidnappers. There is an importance attached to him, Bayta, that doesnt fade, and we have not regain it yet. Magnifico must know something that is fatal to the Mule. Im sure of it. Magnifico, white and stuttering, protested, Sire dreadful lord indeed, I swear it is past my low reckoning to come through your wants. I have told what I know to the utter limits, and with your probe, you have drawn out of my meager wit that which I knew, but knew not that I knew.I know I know. It is something microscopic. A hint so small that neither you nor I recognize it for what it is. Yet I must get wind it for Mnemon and Iss will go soon, and when they do, we are the last remnants, the last droplets of the independent Foundation.The stars get down to cluster closely when the core of the coltsfoot is penetrated. Gravitational fields start out to overlap at intensities sufficient to introduce perturbations in an interstellar jump that can not be overlooked.Toran became aware of that when a jump come their ship in the full glare of a red freak which clutched viciously, and whose grip was loosed, then wrenched apart, only after twelve sleepless, soul-battering hours.With charts limited in scope, and an experience not at all fully developed, either operationally or mathematically, Toran resigned himself to days of careful plotting between jumps.It became a community bear of a sort. Ebling Mis checked Torans mathematics and Bayta tested possible routes, by the confused generalized methods, for the presence of real solutions. Even Magnifico was put to work on the calculating machine for routine computations, a type of work, which, once explained, was a source of great amusemen t to him and at which he was surprisingly proficient.So at the end of a month, or nearly, Bayta was able to survey the red line that wormed its way through the ships trimensional model of the Galactic Lens middle(a) to its center, and say with Satiric relish, You know what it looks like. It looks like a ten-foot earth-worm with a terrific case of indigestion. Eventually, youll land us back in Haven.I will, growled Toran, with a fierce rustle of his chart, if you dont shut up.And at that, continued Bayta, there is probably a route fight through, straight as a top of longitude.Yeah? Well, in the first place, dimwit, it probably took tailfin one C ships five nose candy years to work out that route by hit-and-miss, and my funky half-credit charts dont give it. Besides, maybe those straight routes are a good thing to avoid. Theyre probably choked up with ships. And besides-Oh, for Galaxys sake, stop driveling and slavering so much clean-handed indignation. Her hands were in his h air.He yowled, Ouch Let go seized her wrists and whipped downward, whereupon Toran, Bayta, and chair organize a tangled threesome on the floor. It degenerated into a panting grappler match, composed mostly of choking laughter and various foul blows.Toran stony-broke loose at Magnificos breathless entrance.What is it?The lines of anxiety puckered the clowns face and tightened the skin whitely over the enormous bridge of his nose. The instruments are behaving queerly, sir. I have not, in the cognition of my ignorance, touched anything-In two seconds, Toran was in the pilot room. He utter quietly to Magnifico, Wake up Ebling Mis. Have him come down here.He state to Bayta, who was trying to get a basic order back to her hair by use of her fingers, Weve been detected, Bay.Detected? And Baytas arms dropped. By whom?Galaxy knows, muttered Toran, but I imagine by someone with blasters already ranged and trained.He sat down and in a low voice was already sending into the sub-ether the sh ips identification code.And when Ebling Mis entered, bathrobed and blear-eyed, Toran said with a desperate calm, It seems were inside the allowances of a local Inner Kingdom which is called the Autarchy of Filia.Never heard of it, said Mis, abruptly.Well, neither did I, replied Toran, but were being stopped by a Filian ship just the same, and I dont know what it will involve.The captain-inspector of the Filian ship crowded alongside with six armed men following him. He was short, thin-haired, thin-lipped, and dry-skinned. He coughed a sharp cough as he sat down and threw unmortgaged the folio under his arm to a blank page.Your passports and ships clearance, please.We have none, said Toran.None, hey? he snatched up a microphone suspended from his belt and spoke into it quickly, Three men and one woman. Papers not in order. He made an accompanying notation in the folio.He said, Where are you from?Siwenna, said Toran warily.Where is that?Thirty meter parsecs, eighty degrees west Tr antor, forty degrees-Never mind, never mind Toran could see that his inquisitor had written down Point of origin Periphery.The Filian continued, Where are you discharge?Toran said, Trantor sector.Purpose?Pleasure trip.Carrying any cargo?No.Hm-m-m. Well check on that. He nodded and two men jumped to activity. Toran made no move to interfere.What brings you into Filian territory? The Filians eyes gleamed unamiably.We didnt know we were. I lack a proper chart.You will be required to pay a hundred credits for that lack and, of course, the usual fees required for tariff duties, et cetera.He spoke again into the microphone but listened more than he spoke. Then, to Toran, Know anything just about nuclear technology?A little, replied Toran, guardedly.Yes? The Filian closed his folio, and added, The men of the Periphery have a knowledgeable reputation that way. Put on a jibe and come with me.Bayta stepped forward, What are you going to do with him?Toran put her aside gently, and asked coldly, Where do you want me to come?Our power plant needs minor adjustments. Hell come with you. His pointing finger aimed directly at Magnifico, whose brown eyes opened commodious in a blubbery dismay.Whats he got to do with it? demanded Toran fiercely.The official looked up coldly. I am informed of pirate activities in this vicinity. A description of one of the known thugs tallies roughly. It is a purely routine matter of identification. Toran hesitated, but six men and six blasters are eloquent arguments. He reached into the press for the suits.An hour later, he rose upright in the bowels of the Filian ship and raged, Theres not a thing wrong with the motors that I can see. The busbars are true, the L-tubes are feeding properly and the reaction analysis checks. Whos in charge here?The head engineer said quietly, I am.Well, get me out of here-He was led to the officers level and the small anteroom held only an indifferent ensign.Wheres the man who came with me?Please wait, sai d the ensign.It was fifteen minutes later that Magnifico was brought in.What did they do to you? asked Toran quickly. nix. Nothing at all. Magnificos head shook a slow negative.It took two hundred and fifty credits to fulfill the demands of Filia fifty credits of it for instant blowhole and they were in free space again.Bayta said with a forced laugh, Dont we rate an escort? Dont we get the usual figurative boot over the border?And Toran replied, grimly, That was no Filian ship and were not leaving for a while. Come in here.They gathered about him.He said, whitely, That was a Foundation ship, and those were the Mules men aboard.Ebling circle to pick up the cigar he had dropped. He said, Here? Were fifteen thousand parsecs from the Foundation. And were here. Whats to prevent them from making the same trip. Galaxy, Ebling, dont you think I can tell ships apart? I saw their engines, and thats enough for me. I tell you it was a Foundation engine in a Foundation ship.And how did the y get here? asked Bayta, logically. What are the chances of a random meeting of two given ships in space?Whats that to do with it? demanded Toran, hotly. It would only show weve been followed.Followed? hooted Bayta. Through hyperspace?Ebling Mis interposed wearily, That can be done given a good ship and a great pilot. But the possibility doesnt impress me.I havent been masking my trail, insisted Toran. Ive been building up take-off speed on the straight. A blind man could have careful our route.The blazes he could, cried Bayta. With the cockeyed jumps you are making, observing our initial direction didnt base a thing. We came out of the jump wrong-end forwards more than once.Were wasting time, blazed Toran, with gritted teeth. Its a Foundation ship under the Mule. Its stopped us. Its searched us. Its had Magnifico alone with me as guarantor to keep the rest of you quiet, in case you suspected. And were going to bum it out of space right now.Hold on now, and Ebling Mis clutched at him. Are you going to destroy us for one ship you think is an enemy? Think, man, would those scuppers interest us over an impossible route half through the bestinkered Galaxy, look us over, and then let us go?Theyre still implicated in where were going.Then why stop us and put us on our guard? You cant have it both ways, you know.Ill have it my way. Let go of me, Ebling, or Ill knock you down.Magnifico leaned forward from his balanced perch on his ducky chair back. His long nostrils flared with excitement. I crave your pardon for my interruption, but my myopic mind is of a sudden plagued with a queer thought.Bayta anticipated Torans gesture of annoyance, and added her grip to Eblings. Go ahead and speak, Magnifico. We will all listen faithfully.Magnifico said, In my stay in their ship what addled wits I have were bemazed and bemused by a chattering fear that befell men. Of a law I have a lack of memory of most that happened. more men staring at me, and talk I did not unde rstand. But towards the last as though a beam of sunlight had race through a cloud rift there was a face I knew. A glimpse, the merest glimmer and yet it glows in my memory ever stronger and brighter.Toran said, Who was it?That captain who was with us so long a time ago, when first you saved me from slavery.It had obviously been Magnificos intention to create a sensation, and the delighted pull a face that curled broadly in the shadow of his proboscis, attested to his realization of the intentions success. maitre d Han Pritcher? demanded Mis, sternly. Youre sure of that? Certain sure now?Sir, I swear, and he put a bone-thin hand upon his narrow chest. I would uphold the truth of it before the Mule and swear it in his teeth, though all his power were fundament him to deny it.Bayta said in pure wonder, Then whats it all about? The clown faced her eagerly, My lady, I have a theory. It came upon me, ready made, as though the Galactic Spirit had gently laid it in my mind. He actua lly raised his voice above Torans interrupting objection.My lady, he addressed himself alone to Bayta, if this captain had, like us, escaped with a ship if he, like us, were on a trip for a purpose of his own devising if he blundered upon us he would suspect us of following and waylaying him, as we suspect him of the like. What wonder he played this comedy to enter our ship?Why would he want us in his ship, then? demanded Toran. That doesnt fit.Why, yes, it does, clamored the clown, with a flux inspiration. He sent an underling who knew us not, but who described us into his microphone. The listening captain would be struck at my own poor likeness for, of a truth there are not umteen in this great Galaxy who bear a resemblance to my scantiness. I was the proof of the identity of the rest of you.And so he leaves us?What do we know of his mission, and the secrecy thereof? lie has spied us out for not an enemy and having it done so, must he needs think it reinvigorated to risk his plan by widening the knowledge thereof?Bayta said slowly, Dont be stubborn, Torie. It does explain things.It could be, agreed Mis.Toran seemed helpless in the face of coupled resistance. Something in the clowns fluent explanations bothered him. Something was wrong. Yet he was bewildered and, in spite of himself, his anger ebbed.For a while, he whispered, I thought we might have had one of the Mules ships.And his eyes were dark with the pain of Havens loss.The others understood.