The Foundation Trilogy

Channis did not waver. He said: ‘The ship cannot be landed for forty-eight hours, excellency. We are here and unarmed. Can you doubt our honest intentions?’

There was a long silence, and then the governor said gruffly: ‘Tell me of the world from which you come.’

That was all. It passed with that. There was no more unpleasantness. The governor, having fulfilled his official duty, apparently lost interest and the audience died a full death.

And when it was all over, Pritcher found himself back in their quarters and took stock of himself.

Carefully – holding his breath – he ‘felt’ his emotions. Certainly he seemed no different to himself, but would he feel any difference? Had he felt different after the Mule’s conversion? Had not everything seemed natural? As it should have been.

He experimented.

With cold purpose, he shouted inside the silent caverns of his mind, and the shout was, ‘The Second Foundation must be discovered and destroyed.’

And the emotion that accompanied it was honest hate. There was not as much as a hesitation involved in it.

And then it was in his mind to substitute the word ‘Mule’ for the phrase ‘Second Foundation’ and his breath caught at the mere emotion and his tongue clogged.

So far, good.

But had he been handled otherwise – more subtly? Had tiny changes been made? Changes that he couldn’t detect because their very existence warped his judgement.

There was no way to tell.

But he still felt absolute loyalty to the Mule! If that were unchanged, nothing else really mattered.

He turned his mind to action again. Channis was busy at his end of the room. Pritcher’s thumbnail idled at his wrist communicator.

And then at the response that came he felt a wave of relief surge over him and leave him weak.

The quiet muscles of his face did not betray him, but inside he was shouting with joy – and when Channis turned to face him, he knew that the farce was about over.

FOURTH INTERLUDE

The two Speakers passed each other on the road and one stopped the other.

‘I have word from the First Speaker.’

There was a half-apprehensive flicker in the other’s eyes. ‘Intersection point?’

‘Yes! May we live to see the dawn!’

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