by Isaac Asimov
"They fired at Raych," said Seldon, trying to mask his own sick feeling at what had happened.
They left the apartment hurriedly and, once out on the walkway, found it choked with people, almost all men, who raised a shout when they saw them emerge. They pushed in close and the smell of poorly washed humanity was overpowering.
Someone shouted, "Where are the Sunbadgers?"
"Inside," called out Dors piercingly. "Leave them alone. They'll be helpless for a while, but they'll get reinforcements, so get out of here fast"
"What about you?" came from a dozen throats.
"We're getting out too. We won't be back."
"I'll take care of them," shrilled Raych, struggling out of Seldon's arms and standing on his feet. He was rubbing his right shoulder madly. "I can walk. Lemme past."
The crowd opened for him and he said, "Mister, lady, come with me. Fast!"
They were accompanied down the walkway by several dozen men and then Raych suddenly gestured at an opening and muttered, "In here, folks. I'll rake ya to a place no one will ever find ya. Even Davan prob'ly don't know it. Only thing is, we got to go through the sewer levels. No one will see us there, but it's sort of stinky . . . know what I mean?"
"I imagine we'll survive," muttered Seldon.
And down they went along a narrow spiraling ramp and up rose the mephitic odors to greet them.
80.
Raych found them a hiding place. It had meant climbing up the metal rungs of a ladder and it had led them to a large loftlike room, the use of which Seldon could not imagine. It was filled with equipment, bulky and silent, the function of which also remained a mystery. The room was reasonably clean and free of dust and a steady draft of air wafted through that prevented the dust from settling and-more important seemed to lessen the odor.
Raych seemed pleased. "Ain't this nice?" he demanded. He still rubbed his shoulder now and then and winced when he rubbed too hard.
"It could be worse," said Seldon. "Do you know what this place is used for, Raych?"
Raych shrugged or began to do so and winced. "I dunno," he said. Then he added with a touch of swagger, "Who cares?"
Dors, who had sat down on the floor after brushing it with her hand and then looking suspiciously at her palm, said, "If you want a guess, I think this is part of a complex that is involved in the detoxification and recycling of wastes. The stuff must surely end up as fertilizer."
"Then," said Seldon gloomily, "those who run the complex will be down here periodically and may come at any moment, for all we know."
"I been here before," said Raych. "I never saw no one here."
"I suppose Trantor is heavily automated wherever possible and if anything calls for automation it would be this treatment of wastes," said Dors. "We may be safe . . . for a while."
"Not for long. We'll get hungry and thirsty, Dors."
"I can get food and water for us," said Raych. "Ya got to know how to make out if you're an alley kid."
"Thank you, Raych," said Seldon absently, "but right now I'm not hungry." He sniffed. "I may never be hungry again."
"You will be," said Dors, "and even if you lose your appetite for a while, you'll get thirsty. At least elimination is no problem. We're practically living over what is clearly an open sewer."
There was silence for a while. The light was dim and Seldon wondered why the Trantorians didn't keep it dark altogether. But then it occurred to him that he had never encountered true darkness in any public area. h was probably a habit in an energy-rich society. Strange that a world of forty billion should be energy-rich, but with the internal heat of the planet to draw upon, to say nothing of solar energy and nuclear fusion plants in space, it was. In fact, come to think of it, there was no energypoor planet in the Empire. Was there a time when technology had been so primitive that energy poverty was possible?
He leaned against a system of pipes through which-for all he knewsewage ran. He drew away from the pipes as the thought occurred to him and he sat down next to Dors.
He said, "Is there any way we can get in touch with Chetter Hummin?"
Dors said, "As a matter of fact, I did send a message, though I hated to."
"You hated to?"
"My orders are to protect you. Each time I have to get in touch with him, it means I've failed."
Seldon regarded her out of narrowed eyes. "Do you have to be so compulsive, Dons? You can't protect me against the security officers of an entire sector."
"I suppose not. We can disable a few-"
"I know. We did. But they'll send out reinforcements . . . armored ground-cars . . . neuronic cannon . . . sleeping mist. I'm not sure what they have, but they're going to throw in their entire armory. I'm sure of it."
"You're probably right," said Dons, her mouth tightening.
"They won't find ya, lady," said Raych suddenly. His sharp eyes had moved from one to the other as they talked. "They never find Davan."
Dors smiled without joy and ruffled the boy's hair, then looked at the palm of her hand with a little dismay. She said, "I'm not sure if you ought to stay with us, Raych. I don't want them finding you. "
"They won't find me and if I leave ya, who'll get ya food and water and who'll find ya new hidin' places, so the Sunbadgers'll never know where to look?"
"No, Raych, they'll find us. They don't really look too hard for Davan. He annoys them, but I suspect they don't take him seriously. Do you know what I mean?"
"You mean he's just a pain in the . . . the neck and they figure he ain't worth chasing all over the lot."
"Yes, that's what I mean. But you see, we hurt two of the officers very badly and they're not going to let us get away with that. If it takes their whole force-if they have to sweep through every hidden or unused corridor in the sector-they'll get us."
Raych said, "That makes me feel like . . . like natin'n'. If I didn't run in there and get zapped, ya wouldn't have taken out them officers and ya wouldn't be in such trouble."
"No, sooner or later, we'd have-uh-taken them out. Who knows? We may have to take out a few more."
"Well, ya did it beautiful," said Raych. "If I hadn't been aching all over, I could've watched more and enjoyed it."
Seldon said, "It wouldn't do us any good to try to fight the entire security system. The question is: What will they do to us once they have us? A prison sentence, surely."
"Oh no. If necessary, we'll have to appeal to the Emperor," put in Dors.
"The Emperor?" said Raych, wide-eyed. "You know the Emperor?"
Seldon waved at the boy. "Any Galactic citizen can appeal to the Emperor. -That strikes me as the wrong thing to do, Dors. Ever since Hummin and I left the Imperial Sector, we've been evading the Emperor."
"Not to the extent of being thrown into a Dahlite prison. The Imperial appeal will serve as a delay-in any case, a diversion-and perhaps in the course of that delay, we can think of something else."
"There's Hummin."
"Yes, there is," said Dors uneasily, "but we can't consider him the doit-all. For one thing, even if my message reached him and even if he was able to rush to Dahl, how would he find us here? And, even if he did, what could he do against the entire Dahlite security force?"
"In that case," said Seldon. "We're going to have to think of something we can do before they find us."
Raych said, "If ya follow me, I can keep ya ahead of them. I know every place there is around here."
"You can keep us ahead of one person, but there'll be a great many, moving down any number of corridors. We'll escape one group and bump into another."
They sat in uncomfortable silence for a good while, each confronting what seemed to 6e a hopeless situation. Then Dors Venabili stirred and said in a tense, low whisper, "They're here. I hear them."
For a while, they strained, listening, then Raych sprang to his feet and hissed, "They comin' that way. We gotta go this way."
Seldon, confused, heard nothing at all, but would have been content to trust the othe
rs' superior hearing, but even as Raych began moving hastily and quietly away from the direction of the approaching tread, a voice rang out echoing against the sewer walls. "Don't move. Don't move."
And Raych said, "That's Davan. How'd he know we were here?"
"Davan?" said Seldon. "Are you sure?"
"Sure I'm sure. He'll help."
81.
Davan asked, "What happened?"
Seldon felt minimally relieved. Surely, the addition of Davan could scarcely count against the full force of the Dahl Sector, but, then again, he commanded a number of people who might create enough confusion
He said, "You should know, Davan. I suspect that many of the crowd who were at Tisalver's place this morning were your people."
"Yes, a number were. The story is that you were being arrested and that you manhandled a squadron of Sunbadgers. Bur why were you being arrested?"
"Two," said Seldon, lifting two fingers. "Two Sunbadgers. And that's bad enough. Part of the reason we were being arrested was that we had gone to see you."
"That's not enough. The Sunbadgers don't bother with me much as a general thing." He added bitterly, "They underestimate me."
"Maybe," said Seldon, "out the woman from whom we rent our rooms reported us for having started a riot . . . over the newsman we ran into on our way to you. You know about that. With your people on the scene yesterday and again this morning and with two officers badly hurt, they may well decide to clean out these corridors-and that means you will suffer. I really am sorry. I had no intention or expectation of being the cause of any of this."
But Davan shook his head. "No, you don't know the Sunbadgers. That's not enough either. They don't want to clean us up. The sector would have to do something about us if they did. They're only too happy to let us rot in Billibotton and the other slums. No, they're after you you. What have you done?"
Dors said impatiently, "We've done nothing and, in any case, what does it matter? If they're not after you and they are after us, they're going to come down here to flush us out. If you get in the way, you'll be in deep trouble."
"No, not me. I have friends-powerful friends," said Davan. "I told you that last night. And they can help you as well as me. When you refused to help us openly, I got in touch with them. They know who you are, Dr. Seldon. You're a famous man. They're in a position to talk to the Mayor of Dahl and see to it that you are left alone, whatever you have done. But you'll have to be taken awayout of Dahl."
Seldon smiled. Relief flooded over him. He said, "You know someone powerful, do you, Davan? Someone who responds at once, who has the ability to talk the Dahl government out of taking drastic steps, and who can take us away? Good. I'm not surprised." He turned to Dors, smiling. "It's Mycogen all over again. How does Hummin do it?"
But Dors shook her head. "Too quick. -I don't understand."
Seldon said, "I believe he can do anything."
"I know him better than you do-and longer-and I don't believe that."
Seldon smiled, "Don't underestimate him." And then, as though anxious not to linger longer on that subject, he turned to Davan. "But how did you find us? Raych said you knew nothing about this place."
"He don't," shrilled Raych indignantly. "This place is all mine. I found it."
"I've never been here before," said Davan, looking about. "It's an interesting place. Raych is a corridor creature, perfectly at home in this maze."
"Yes, Davan, we gathered as much ourselves. But how did you find it?"
"A heat-seeker. I have a device that detects infra-red radiation, the particular thermal pattern that is given off at thirty-seven degrees Celsius. It will react to the presence of human beings and not to other heat sources. It reacted to you three."
Dons was frowning. "What good is that on Trantor, where there are human beings everywhere? They have them on ocher worlds, but-"
Davan said, "But not on Trantor. I know. Except that they are useful in the slums, in the forgotten, decaying corridors and alleyways."
"And where did you get it?" asked Seldon.
Davan said, "It's enough that I have it. -But we've got to get you away, Master Seldon. Too many people want you and I want my powerful friend to have you."
"Where is he, this powerful friend of yours?"
"He's approaching. At least a new thirty-seven-degree source is registering and I don't see that it can be anyone else."
Through the door strode a newcomer, but Seldon's glad exclamation died on his lips. h was not Chetter Hummin.
* * *
Wye
WYE- . . . A sector of the world-city of Trantor . . . In the latter centuries of the Galactic Empire, Wye was the strongest and stablest portion of the world-city. Its rulers had long aspired to the Imperial throne, justifying that by their descent from early Emperors. Under Mannix IV, Wye was militarized and (Imperial authorities later claimed) was planning a planet-wide coup .
ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA
82.
The man who entered was tall and muscular. He had a long blond mustache that curled up at the tips and a fringe of hair that went down the sides of his face and under his chin, leaving the point of his chin and his lower lip smoothly bare and seeming a little moist. His head was so closely cropped and his hair was so fight that, for one unpleasant moment, Seldon was reminded of Mycogen.
The newcomer wore what was unmistakably a uniform. It was red and white and about his waist was a wide belt decorated with silver studs.
His voice, when he spoke, was a rolling bass and its accent was not like any that Seldon had heard before. Most unfamiliar accents sounded uncouth in Seldon's experience, but this one seemed almost musical, perhaps because of the richness of the low tones.
"I am Sergeant Emmer Thalus," he rumbled in a slow succession of syllables. "I have come seeking Dr. Hari Seldon."
Seldon said, "I am he." In an aside to Dors, he muttered, "if Hummin couldn't come himself, he certainly sent a magnificent side of beef to represent him."
The sergeant favored Seldon with a stolid and slightly prolonged look. Then he said, "Yes. You have been described to me. Please come with me, Dr. Seldon."
Seldon said, "Lead the way."
The sergeant stepped backward. Seldon and Dors Venabili stepped forward.
The sergeant stopped and raised a large hand, palm toward Dors. "I have been instructed to take Dr. Hari Seldon with me. I have not been instructed to take anyone else."
For a moment, Seldon looked at him uncomprehendingly. Then his look of surprise gave way to anger. "It's quite impossible that you have been told that, Sergeant. Dr. Dors Venabili is my associate and my companion. She must come with me."
"That is nor in accordance with my instructions, Doctor."
"I don't care about your instructions in any way, Sergeant Thalus. I do not budge without her."
"What's more," said Dors with clear irritation, "my instructions are to protect Dr. Seldon at all times. I cannot do that unless I am with him. Therefore, where he goes, I go."
The sergeant looked puzzled. "My instructions are strict that I see to it chat no harm comes to you, Dr. Seldon. If you will not come voluntarily, I must carry you to my vehicle. I will try to do so gently."
He extended his two arms as though to seize Seldon by the waist and carry him off bodily.
Seldon skittered backward and out of reach. As he did so, the side of his fight palm came down on the sergeant's right upper arm where the muscles were thinnest, so that he struck the bone.
The sergeant drew a sudden deep breath and seemed to shake himself a bit, but turned, face expressionless, and advanced again. Davan, watching, remained where he was, motionless, but Raych moved behind the sergeant
Seldon repeated his palm stroke a second time, then a third, but now Sergeant Thalus, anticipating the blow, lowered his shoulder to catch it on hard muscle.
Dors had drawn her knives.
"Sergeant," she said forcefully. "Turn in this direction, I want you to understand I may be
forced to hurt you severely if you persist in attempting to carry Dr. Seldon off against his will."
The sergeant paused, seemed to take in the slowly waving knives solemnly, then said, "It is not in my instructions to refrain from harming anyone but Dr. Seldon."
His right hand moved with surprising speed toward the neuronic whip in the holster at his hip. Dors moved as quickly forward, knives flashing.
Neither completed the movement.
Dashing forward, Raych had pushed at the sergeant's back with his left hand and withdrew the sergeant's weapon from its holster with his right He moved away quickly, holding the neuronic whip in both hands now and shouting, "Hands up, Sergeant, or you're gonna get it!"
The sergeant whirled and a nervous look crossed his reddening face. It was the only moment chat its stolidity had weakened. "Put that down, sonny," he growled. "You don't know how it works."
Raych howled, "I know about the safety. It's off and this thing can fire. And it will if you try to rush me."
The sergeant froze. He clearly knew how dangerous it was to have an excited twelve-year-old handling a powerful weapon.
Nor did Seldon feel much better. He said, "Careful, Raych. Don't shoot. Keep your finger off the contact."
"I ain't gonna let him rush me."
"He won't. -Sergeant, please don't move. Let's get something straight. You were told to take me away from here. Is that right?"
"That's right," said the sergeant, eyes somewhat protruding and firmly fixed on Raych (whose eyes were as firmly fixed on the sergeant).
"But you were not cold to take anyone else. Is that right?"
"No, I was not, Doctor," said the sergeant firmly. Not even the threat of a neuronic whip was going to make him weasel. One could see that.
"Very well, but listen to me, Sergeant. Were you told not to take anyone else?"
"I just said-
"No no. Listen, Sergeant. There's a difference. Were your instructions simply 'Take Dr. Seldon!'? Was that the entire order, with no mention of anyone else, or were the orders more specific? Were your orders as follows: 'Take Dr. Seldon and don't take anyone else'?"
The sergeant turned that over in his head, then he said, "I was told to take you, Dr. Seldon."
