Страница 40 из 70
"Impossible, Dors. It would just complicate matters for me. I'll go Myself and I'll have no trouble."
"You would have no idea how to handle the General."
Seldon looked grave. "And you would? You sound exactly like Elar. He, too, is convinced that I am a helpless old fool. He, too, wants to come with me-or, rather, to go in my place. I wonder how many people on Trantor are willing to take my place," he added with clear sarcasm. "Dozens? Millions?"
For ten years the Galactic Empire had been without an Emperor, but there was no indication of that fact in the way the Imperial Palace grounds were operated. Mille
It meant, of course, that there was no figure in Imperial robes to preside over formalities of one sort or another. No Imperial voice gave orders; no Imperial wishes made themselves known; no Imperial gratifications or a
And yet the army of gardeners kept the grounds in perfect condition. An army of service people kept the buildings in top shape. The Emperor's bed-never slept in-was made with fresh sheets every day; the rooms were cleaned; everything worked as it always worked; and the entire Imperial staff, from top to bottom, worked as they had always worked. The top officials gave commands as they would have done if the Emperor had lived, commands that they knew the Emperor would have given. In many cases, in particular in the higher echelons, the perso
It was as though the Empire, accustomed to the rule of an Emperor, insisted on this "ghost rule" to hold the Empire together.
The junta knew this-or, if they didn't, they felt it vaguely. In ten years none of those military men who had commanded the Empire had moved into the Emperor's private quarters in the Small Palace. Whatever these men were, they were not Imperial and they knew they had no rights there. A populace that endured the loss of liberty would not endure any sign of irreverence to the Emperor-alive or dead.
Even General Te
Te
So he said angrily-as one would, who felt himself to be absolute master of millions of worlds and yet who dared not call himself an Emperor-to Hender Li
Li
"Best yet, to be master in a palace. Why not?"
Li
Li
The time might, of course, come when Te
"No reason why you can't found a dynasty, General," said Li
"I don't believe that. I need merely a
"So it is, General. Your power is unquestioned on Trantor and in most of the I
"I
"And a good one," said Li
"You counsel caution, then."
"I always counsel caution, General."
"And someday you may counsel it once too often."
Li
"As in your constant harping to me about this Hari Seldon."
"He is your greatest danger, General."
"So you keep saying, but I don't see it. He's just a college professor."
Li
"I know, but that was in Cleon's time. Has he done anything since? With times being difficult and with the governors of the provinces being fractious, why is a professor my greatest danger?"
"It is sometimes a mistake," said Li
Te
"It was Seldon who destroyed Joranum and who succeeded Demerzel as First Minister. The Joranumite movement survived, however, and Seldon engineered its destruction, too, but not before it succeeded in bringing about the assassination of Cleon."
"But Seldon survived that, didn't he?"
"You are perfectly correct. Seldon survived."
"That is strange. To have permitted an Imperial assassination should have meant death for a First Minister."
"So it should have. Nevertheless, the junta has allowed him to live. It seemed wiser to do so."
"Why?"
Li
"I know nothing about that," said Te
Actually he had a vague memory of Li
"Almost no one knows anything about it," said Li
"And what is it?"
"It is a complex system of mathematics."
Te
"The story is," said Li
The General's eyes bulged. "You mean this Seldon is a fortune-teller?"**
"Not in the usual fashion. It is a matter of science."
"I don't believe it."
"It is hard to believe, but Seldon has become something of a cult figure here on Trantor-and in certain places in the Outer Worlds. Now psychohistory-if it can be used to predict the future or if even people merely think it can be so used-can be a powerful tool with which to uphold the regime. I'm sure you have already seen this, General. One need merely predict our regime will endure and bring forth peace and prosperity for the Empire. People, believing this, will help make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if Seldon wishes the reverse, he can predict civil war and ruin. People will believe that, too, and that would destabilize the regime."
"In that case, Colonel, we simply make sure that the predictions of psychohistory are what we want them to be."
"It would be Seldon who would have to make them and he is not a friend of the regime. It is important, General, that we differentiate between the Project that is working at Streeling University to perfect psychohistory and Hari Seldon. Psychohistory can be extremely useful to us, but it will be so only if someone other than Seldon were in charge."
"Are there others who could be?"
"Oh yes. It is only necessary to get rid of Seldon."
"What is so difficult with that? An order of execution-and it is done."
"It would be better, General, if the government was not seen to be directly involved in such a thing."
"I have arranged to have him meet with you, so that you can use your skill to probe his personality. You would then be able to judge whether certain suggestions I have in mind are worthwhile or not."
"When is the meeting to take place?"
"It was to take place very soon, but his representatives at the Project asked for a few days leeway, because they were in the process of celebrating his birthday-his sixtieth, apparently. It seemed wise to allow that and to permit a week's delay."
"Why?" demanded Te
"Quite right, General. Quite right. Your instincts are, as always, correct. However, it seemed to me that the needs of the state might require us to know what and how the birthday celebration-which is taking place right now-might involve."