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MYCOGEN- A sector of ancient Trantor buried in the past of its own legends Mycogen made little impact on the planet Self-satisfied and self-separated to a degree

Encyclopedia Galactica

31

When Seldon woke, he found a new face looking at him solemnly For a moment he frowned owlishly and then he said, "Huhtly "You remember me, then?"

"It was only for a day, nearly two o, but I remember You were not arrested, then, or in any way-"

"As you see, I alanced at Dors, who stood to one side-"it was not very easy for lad to see you-Do you mind, by the way?" He jerked his thumb in the direction of the bathroom

Hummin said, "Take your time Have breakfast"

Hummin didn’t join him at breakfast Neither did Dors Nor did they speak Hummin scanned a book-film with an attitude of easy absorption Dors inspected her nails critically and then, taking out anotes with a stylus

Seldon watched thehtfully and did not try to start a conversation The silence now ht be in response to some Trantorian reserve customary at a sickbed To be sure, he now felt perfectly normal, but perhaps they did not realize that It was only when he was done with his last morsel and with the final drop of er tasted odd) that Hummin spoke

He said, "How are you, Seldon?"

"Perfectly well, Hummin Sufficiently well, certainly, for lad to hear it," said Hu this to happen"

Seldon frowned "No I insisted on going Upperside"

"I’one with you"

"I told her I didn’t want her to go with me"

Dors said, "That’s not so, Hari Don’t defend rily, "But don’t forget that Dors also ca resistance, and undoubtedly savedthe truth at all Have you added that to your evaluation, Huain, obviously embarrassed "Please, Hari Chetter Hu that I should either have kept you froone up with you As for my subsequent actions, he has praised them"

"Nevertheless," said Huo Let us talk about what happened Upperside, Seldon"

Seldon looked about and said guardedly, "Is it safe to do so?"

Huhtly "Dors has placed this room in a Distortion Field I can be pretty sure that no Ient at the University-if there is one-has the expense to penetrate it You are a suspicious person, Seldon"

"Not by nature," said Seldon "Listening to you in the park and afterward- You are a persuasive person, Huh, I was ready to fear that Eto De in every shadow"

"I soravely

"If he was," said Seldon, "I wouldn’t knoas he What does he look like?"

"That scarcely matters You wouldn’t see him unless he wanted you to and by then it would all be over, I iine-which is e must prevent Let’s talk about that jet-down you saw"

Seldon said, "As I told you, Hummin, you filled me with fears of Demerzel As soon as I saw the jet-down, I assumed he was after me, that I had foolishly stepped outside the protection of Streeling University by going Upperside, that I had been lured up there for the specific purpose of being picked up without difficulty"

Dors said, "On the other hand, Leggen-"

Seldon said quickly, "Was he here last night?"

"Yes, don’t you reuely I was dead tired It’s all a blur in ht, Leggen said that the jet-doas ical vessel from another station Perfectly ordinary Perfectly harmless"

"What?" Seldon was taken aback "I don’t believe that"

Hummin said, "Now the question is: Why don’t you believe that? Was there anything about the jet-down thatspecific, that is, and not just a pervasive suspicion placed in your head byhis lower lip He said, "Its actions It seeh it were looking for so, then it would appear in another spot just the same way, then in another spot, and so on It see Uppersidein on , Seldon You e ani for you It wasn’t, of course It was siical vessel, its actions were perfectly normal and harmless"

Seldon said, "It didn’t seem that way to me"

Hummin said, "I’ Your conviction that you were in danger is sien’s decision that it was a ical vessel is also only an assumption"

Seldon said stubbornly, "I can’t believe that it was an entirely innocent event"

"Well then," said Hu for you Hoould whoever sent that vessel know you would be there to seek?"

Dors interjected, "I asked Dr Leggen if he had, in his report of the forthcoical work, included the inforroup There was no reason he should in the ordinary course of events and he denied that he had, with considerable surprise at the question I believed hihtfully, "Don’t believe him too readily Wouldn’t he deny it, in any case? Now ask yourself why he allowed Seldon to co in the first place We know he objected initially, but he did relent, without ht And that, to en"

Dors frowned and said, "I suppose that does e the entire affair Perhaps he permitted Hari’s co taken He ht further argue that he encouraged his young intern, Clowzia, to engage Hari’s attention and draw hi hien’s odd lack of concern over Hari’s absence when it cao below He would insist that Hari had left earlier, soroundwork for, since he had carefully showed hio down by hio back up in search of hi for someone he assumed would not be found"

Hummin, who had listened carefully, said, "You ainst him, but let’s not accept that too readily either After all, he did come Upperside with you in the end"

"Because footsteps had been detected The Chief Seisist had [been] witness to that"

"Well, did Leggen show shock and surprise when Seldon was found? I ht into extreence Did he act as though Seldon wasn’t supposed to be there? Did he behave as though he were asking himself: How is it they didn’t pick hiht carefully, then said, "He was obviously shocked by the sight of Hari lying there, but I couldn’t possibly tell if there was anything to his feelings beyond the very natural horror of the situation"

"No, I suppose you couldn’t"

But now Seldon, who had been looking fro intently, said, "I don’t think it was Leggen"

Hummin transferred his attention to Seldon "Why do you say that?"

"For one thing, as you noted, he was clearly unwilling to have ureed only because he had the impression that I was a clever ical theory I was anxious to go up there and, if he had been under orders to see to it that I was taken Upperside, there would have been no need to be so reluctant about it"

"Is it reasonable to suppose he wanted you only for your mathematics? Did he discuss the mathematics with you? Did he make an attempt to explain his theory to you?"

"No," said Seldon, "he didn’t He did say soh The trouble was, he was totally involved with his instruathered he had expected sunshine that hadn’t showed up and he was counting on his instru perfectly, which frustrated him I think this was an unexpected development that both soured his temper and turned his attention away fro woet the feeling, as I look back on it, that she deliberately led me away from the scene The initiative was etation on Upperside and it was I who drew her away, rather than vice versa Far fro her action, he called her back while I was still in sight and I ht entirely on my own"

"And yet," said Huestion that wasfor you, those on board must have known you’d be there Hoould they know-if not froett?"

"The ist na Randa"

"Randa?" said Dors "I can’t believe that I know hi for the Emperor He’s anti-Iht pretend to be," said Seldon "In fact, he would have to be openly, violently, and extre to ent"

"But that’s exactly what he’s not like," said Dors "He is not violent and extreood-natured and his views are always expressed enuine"

"And yet, Dors," said Seldon earnestly, "it was he who first told o Upperside, and it was he who persuaded Leggen to allowmy mathematical prowess in the process One et me up there, why he should labor so hard"

"For your good, perhaps He was interested in you, Hari, and ht have been useful in psychohistory Isn’t that possible?"

Hummin said quietly, "Let’s consider another point There was a considerable lapse of tiy project and the moment you actually went Upperside If Randa is innocent of anything underhanded, he would have no particular reason to keep quiet about it If he is a friendly and gregarious person-"

"He is," said Dors

"-then he ht very likely tell a number of friends about it In that case, we couldn’t really tell who the inforht be In fact, just to make another point, suppose Randa is anti-Ient We would have to ask: Whoent for? On whose behalf does he work?"

Seldon was astonished "Who else is there to work for but the Empire? Who else but Demerzel?"

Hu the whole complexity of Trantorian politics, Seldon" He turned toward Dors "Tell en naical vessel?"

"Hestelonia, Wye, Ziggoreth, and North Damiano"

"And you did not ask the question in any leading way? You didn’t ask if a particular sector ht be the source?"

"No, definitely not I simply asked if he could speculate as to the source of the jet-down"

"And you"-Hu, sone, on the jet-down?"

Seldon wanted to retort heatedly that the vessel could hardly be seen through the clouds, that it e for s, but only for escape-but he held back Surely, Hummin knew all that Instead, he said simply, "I’m afraid not"

Dors said, "If the jet-doas on a kidnapping ne have been masked?"

"That is the rational assumption," said Hummin, "and it tray well have been, but in this Galaxy rationality does not always triumph However, since Seldon see the vessel, we can only speculate What I’ is: Wye"

"Why?" echoed Seldon "I presume they wanted to take e of psychohistory"

"No, no" Hu student "W-y-e It is the name of a sector on Trantor A very special sector It has been ruled by a line of Mayors for sole dynasty There was a tio, when two Emperors and an Empress of the House of Wye sat on the Imperial throne It was a comparatively short period and none of the Wye rulers were particularly distinguished or successful, but the Mayors of Wye have never forgotten this Imperial past

"They have not been actively disloyal to the ruling houses that have succeeded them, but neither have they been known to volunteerthe occasional periods of civil war, theythe civil war and make it seem necessary to turn to Wye as a compromise solution That never worked out, but they never stopped trying either

"The present Mayor of Wye is particularly capable He is old now, but his a happens to Cleon-even a natural death-the Mayor will have a chance at the succession over Cleon’s own too-young son The Galactic public will always be a little more partial toward a claimant with an Imperial past

"Therefore, if the Mayor of Wye has heard of you, you ht serve as a useful scientific prophet on behalf of his house There would be a traditional e some convenient end for Cleon, use you to predict the inevitable succession of Wye and the co of peace and prosperity for a thousand years after Of course, once the Mayor of Wye is on the throne and has no further use for you, you rave"

Seldon broke the gri, "But we don’t know that it is this Mayor of Wye who is after me"

"No, we don’t Or that anyone at all is after you, at the ht, after all, have been an ordinary ested Still, as the news concerning psychohistory and its potential spreads-and it surely must-more and more of the powerful and semi-powerful on Trantor or, for that matter, elsewhere ant to make use of your services"

"What, then," said Dors, "shall we do?"

"That is the question, indeed" Hummin ruminated for a while, then said, "Perhaps it was a mistake to co place chosen would be a University Streeling is one of est andbefore tendrils fro their soft, blind way toward this place I think that as soon as possible-today, perhaps-Seldon should beplace But-"

"But?" said Seldon

"But I don’t knohere"

Seldon said, "Call up a gazeteer on the computer screen and choose a place at random"

"Certainly not," said Hummin "If we do that, we are as likely to find a place that is less secure than average, as one that is more secure No, this must be reasoned out-Somehow"

32

The three remained huddled in Seldon’s quarters till past lunch During that time, Hari and Dors spoke occasionally and quietly on indifferent subjects, but Huht, ate little, and his grave countenance (which, Seldon thought, made him look older than his years) reined hiraphy of Trantor in hisfor a corner that would be ideal Surely, it couldn’t be easy Seldon’s own Helicon was soer by a percent or two than Trantor was and had a smaller ocean The Heliconian land surface was perhaps 10 percent larger than the Trantorian But Helicon was sparsely populated, its surface only sprinkled with scattered cities; Trantor was all city Where Helicon was divided into twenty adht hundred and every one of those hundreds was itself a complex of subdivisions

Finally Seldon said in soht be best, Hummin, to choose which candidate for n, hand ainst the rest"

Hummin looked up and said in utmost seriousness, "That is not necessary I know the candidate who is n and he already has you"

Seldon smiled "Do you place yourself on the same level with the Mayor of Wye and the Emperor of all the Galaxy?"

"In point of view of position, no But as far as the desire to control you is concerned, I rival them They, however, and anyone else I can think of want you in order to strengthen their oealth and pohile I have no aood of the Galaxy"

"I suspect," said Seldon dryly, "that each of your co only of the good of the Galaxy"

"I am sure they would," said Hummin, "but so far, the only one of my competitors, as you call them, who you advance fictionalized predictions thatlike that I ask only that you perfect your psychohistorical technique so that mathematically valid predictions, even if only statistical in nature, can be made"

"True So far, at least," said Seldon with a half-sht as well ask: How are you coress?"

Seldon was uncertain whether to laugh or cage After a pause, he did neither, but ress? In less than two ht easily take me my whole life and the lives of the next dozen who follow me-And even then end in failure"

"I’ as final as a solution or even as hopeful as the beginning of a solution You’ve said flatly a number of times that a useful psychohistory is possible but i is whether there now seems any hope that it can be made practical"

"Frankly, no"

Dors said, "Please excuse me I am not a mathematician, so I hope this is not a foolish question How can you know so is both possible and iht personally reet all the people in the Empire, but that it is not a practical feat because you couldn’t live long enough to do it But how can you tell that psychohistory is so of this sort?"

Seldon looked at Dors with some incredulity "Do you want that explained"

"Yes," she said, nodding her head vigorously so that her curled hair vibrated

"As a matter of fact," said Hummin, "so would I"

"Without mathematics?" said Seldon with just a trace of a smile

"Please," said Hummin

"Well-" He retired into himself to choose a method of presentation Then he said, "-If you want to understand some aspect of the Universe, it helps if you simplify it as much as possible and include only those properties and characteristics that are essential to understanding If you want to determine how an object drops, you don’t concern yourself hether it is new or old, is red or green, or has an odor or not You elis and thus do not needlessly complicate matters The simplification you can call a model or a simulation and you can present it either as an actual representation on a computer screen or as a mathematical relationship If you consider the priravitation-"

Dors said at once, "You promised there would be noit ’primitive’ "

"No, no I mean ’pri as our records go back, that its discovery is shrouded in the mists of antiquity as is that of fire or the wheel In any case, the equations for such gravitational theory contain within themselves a description of the motions of a planetary systes Making use of such equations, we can even set up a pictorial si a star or two stars circling each other on a two-dimensional screen or set up raph Such sirasp a phenomenon than it would be if we had to study the phenoravitational equations, our knowledge of planetary enerally would be sparse indeed

"Now, as you wish to know more and more about any phenomenon or as a phenomenon becomes more complex, you need ra, and you end with a corasp"

"Can’t you foro down another degree"

"In that case, you would have to eliminate some characteristic of the phenomenon which you want to include and your simulation becomes useless The LPS-that is, ’the least possible si simulated does and eventually the simulation catches up with the phenoo that the Universe as a whole, in its full complexity, cannot be represented by any simulation smaller than itself

"In other words, you can’t get any picture of the Universe as a whole except by studying the entire Universe It has been shown also that if one attempts to substitute simulations of a small part of the Universe, then another s to put theether to form a total picture of the Universe, one would find that there are an infinite number of such part simulations It would therefore take an infinite time to understand the Universe in full and that is just another way of saying that it is ie there is"