Forward the Foundation - Isaac Asimov [166]
"I know. But I miss my body."
Manella said with just a touch of malice, "Especially when Dors doesn't seem to get any older."
Seldon said uneasily, "Well yes, I suppose-" He looked away, clearly unwilling to talk about the matter.
Manella looked at her father-in-law gravely. The trouble was, he knew nothing about children-or about people generally. It was hard to think that he had spent ten years as First Minister under the old Emperor and yet ended up knowing as little about people as he did.
Of course, he was entirely wrapped up in this psychohistory of his, that dealt with quadrillions of people, which ultimately meant dealing with no people at all-as individuals. And how could he know about children when he had had no contact with any child except Raych, who had entered his life as a twelve-year-old? Now he had Wanda, who was-and would probably remain to him-an utter mystery.
Manella thought all this lovingly. She had the incredible desire to protect Hari Seldon from a world he did not understand. It was the only point at which she and her mother-in-law, Dors Venabili, met and coalesced-this desire to protect Hari Seldon.
Manella had saved Seldon's life ten years before. Dors, in her strange way, had considered this an invasion of her prerogative and had never quite forgiven Manella.
Seldon, in his turn, had then saved Manella's life. She closed her eyes briefly and the whole scene returned to her, almost as though it were happening to her right now.
3
It was a week after the assassination of Cleon-and a horrible week it shad been. All of Trantor was in chaos.
Hari Seldon still kept his office as First Minister, but it was clear he had no power. He called in Manella Dubanqua.
"I want to thank you for saving Raych's life and my own. I haven't
I a chance to do so yet." Then with a sigh, "I have scarcely had a chance to do anything this past week."
Manella asked, "What happened to the mad gardener?"
"Executed! At once! No trial! I tried to save him by pointing out that was insane. But there was no question about it. If he had done anything else, committed any other crime, his madness would have been recognized and he would have been spared. Committed-locked up and treated-but spared, nonetheless. But to kill the Emperor-" Seldon shook his head sadly.
Manella said, "What's going to happen now, First Minister?"
"I'll tell you what I think. The Entun Dynasty is finished. Cleon's son will not succeed. I don't think he wants to. He fears assassination in his turn and I don't blame him one bit. It would be much better for him to retire to one of the family estates on some Outer World and live a quiet Because he is a member of the Imperial House, he will untie allowed to do this. You and I may be less fortunate."
Manella frowned. "In what way, sir?"
Seldon cleared his throat. "It is possible to argue that because you killed Gleb Andorin, he dropped his blaster, which became available to Mandell Gruber, who used it to kill Cleon. Therefore you bear a strong share of the responsibility of the crime and it may even be said that it was all prearranged.”
“But that’s ridiculous. I am a member of the security establishment, fulfilling my duties-doing what I was ordered to do."
Seldon smiled sadly. "You're arguing rationally and rationality is not going to be in fashion for a while. What's going to happen now, in the absence of a legitimate successor to the Imperial throne, is that we are bound to have a military government."
(In later years, when Manella came to understand the workings of psychohistory, she wondered if Seldon had used the technique to work out what was going to happen, for the military rule certainly came to pass. At the time, however, he made no mention of his fledgling theory.)
"If we do have a military government," he went on, "then it will be necessary for them to establish a firm rule at once, crush any signs of disaffection, act vigorously and cruelly, even in defiance