Forward the Foundation - Isaac Asimov [69]
The whole thing was keeping him awake at night and distracted by day.
The signal light flashed.
"First Minister. Your two o'clock appointment, sir-"
"What two o'clock appointment is this?"
"Mandell Gruber, the gardener. He has the necessary certification."
Seldon remembered. "Yes. Send him in."
This was no time to see Gruber, but he had agreed to it in a moment of weakness-the man had seemed distraught. A First Minister should not have such moments of weakness, but Seldon had been Seldon long before he had become First :Minister.
"Come in, Gruber," he said kindly.
Gruber stood before him, head ducking mechanically, eyes darting this way and that. Seldon was quite certain the gardener had never been in any room as magnificent as this one and he had the bitter urge to say: "Do you like it? Please take it. I don't want it."
But he only said, "What is it, Gruber? Why are you so unhappy"
There was no immediate answer; Gruber merely smiled vacantly.
Seldon said, "Sit down, man. Right there in that chair."
"Oh no, First Minister. It would not be fitting. I'll get it dirty."
"If you do, it will be easy to clean. Do as I say. -Good! Now just sit there a minute or two and gather your thoughts. Then, when you are ready, tell me what's the matter."
Gruber sat silent for a moment, then the words came out in a panting rush. "First Minister. It is Chief Gardener I am to be. The blessed Emperor himself told me so."
"Yes, I have heard of that, but that surely isn't what is troubling you. Your new post is a matter of congratulations and I do congratulate you. I may even have contributed to it, Gruber. I have never forgotten your bravery at the time I was nearly killed and you can be sure I mentioned it to His Imperial Majesty. It is a suitable reward, Gruber, and you would deserve the promotion in any case, for it is quite clear from your record that you are fully qualified for the post. So, now that that's out of the way, tell me what is troubling you."
"First Minister, it is the very post and promotion that's troubling me. It is something I cannot manage, for I am not qualified."
"We are convinced you are."
Gruber grew agitated. "And is it in an office I will have to sit? I can't sit in an office. I could not go out in the open air and work with the plants and animals. I would be in prison, First Minister."
Seldon's eyes opened wide. "No such thing, Gruber. You needn't stay in the office longer than you have to. You could wander around the grounds freely, supervising everything. You will have all the outdoors you want and you will merely spare yourself the hard work."
"I want the hard work, First Minister, and it's no chance at all they will let me come out of the office. I have watched the present Chief Gardener. He couldn't leave his office, though he wanted to, ever so. There is too much administration, too much bookkeeping. Sure, if he wants to know what is going on, we must go to his office to tell him. He watches things on holovision "-he said with infinite contempt "as though you can tell anything about growing, living things from pictures. It is not for me, First Minister."
"Come, Gruber, be a man. It's not all that bad. You'll get used to it. You'll work your way in slowly."
Gruber shook his head. "First off-at the very first-I will have to deal with all the new gardeners. I'll be buried." Then, with sudden energy, "It is a job I do not want and must not have, First Minister."
"Right now, Gruber, perhaps you don't want the job, but you are not alone. I'll tell you that right now I wish I were not First Minister. This job is too much for me. I even have a notion that there are times when the Emperor himself is tired of his Imperial robes. We're all in this Galaxy to do our work and the work isn't always pleasant."
"I understand that, First Minister, but the Emperor must be Emperor, for he was born to that. And you must be First Minister, for there is no one else who can do the job. But in my case, it is just Chief Gardener we are ruminating upon. There