Foundation and Earth - Isaac Asimov [183]
Bliss said, “Fallom, just rest a little. I’ll think of something to make things a little better for you. Remember—I love you just the same way that Jemby did.”
She seized Pelorat’s elbow and rushed him out into the living room, saying, “It’s nothing, Pel. —Nothing.”
“It’s Fallom, though, isn’t it? She still misses Jemby.”
“Terribly. And there’s nothing we can do about it. I can tell her that I love her—and, truthfully, I do. How can you help loving a child so intelligent and gentle? —Fearfully intelligent. Trevize thinks too intelligent. She’s seen Bander in her time, you know—or viewed it, rather, as a holographic image. She’s not moved by that memory, however; she’s very cold and matter-of-fact about it, and I can understand why. There was only the fact that Bander was owner of the estate and that Fallom would be the next owner that bound them. No other relationship at all.”
“Does Fallom understand that Bander is her father?”
“Her mother. If we agree that Fallom is to be regarded as feminine, so is Bander.”
“Either way, Bliss dear. Is Fallom aware of the parental relationship?”
“I don’t know that she would understand what that is. She may, of course, but she gave no hint. However, Pel, she has reasoned out that Bander is dead, for it’s dawned on her that Jemby’s inactivation must be the result of power loss and since Bander supplied the power—That frightens me.”
Pelorat said thoughtfully, “Why should it, Bliss? It’s only a logical inference, after all.”
“Another logical inference can be drawn from that death. Deaths must be few and far distant on Solaria with its long-lived and isolated Spacers. Experience of natural death must be a limited one for any of them, and probably absent altogether for a Solarian child of Fallom’s age. If Fallom continues to think of Bander’s death, she’s going to begin to wonder why Bander died, and the fact that it happened when we strangers were on the planet will surely lead her to the obvious cause and effect.”
“That we killed Bander?”
“It wasn’t we who killed Bander, Pel. It was I.”
“She couldn’t guess that.”
“But I would have to tell her that. She is annoyed with Trevize as it is, and he is clearly the leader of the expedition. She would take it for granted that it would be he who would have brought about the death of Bander, and how could I allow Trevize to bear the blame unjustly?”
“What would it matter, Bliss? The child feels nothing for her fath—mother. Only for her robot, Jemby.”
“But the death of the mother meant the death of her robot, too. I almost did own up to my responsibility. I was strongly tempted.”
“Why?”
“So I could explain it my way. So I could soothe her, forestall her own discovery of the fact in a reasoning process that would work it out in a way that would offer no justification for it.”
“But there was justification. It was self-defense. In a moment, we all would have been dead, if you had not acted.”
“It’s what I would have said, but I could not bring myself to explain. I was afraid she wouldn’t believe me.”
Pelorat shook his head. He said, sighing, “Do you suppose it might have been better if we had not brought her? The situation makes you so unhappy.”
“No,” said Bliss angrily, “don’t say that. It would have made me infinitely more unhappy to have to sit here right now and remember that we had left an innocent child behind to be slaughtered mercilessly because of what we had done.”
“It’s the way of Fallom’s world.”
“Now, Pel, don’t fall into Trevize’s way of thinking. Isolates find it possible to accept such things and think no more about it. The way of Gaia is to save life, however, not destroy it—or to sit idly by while it is destroyed. Life of all kinds must, we all know, constantly be coming to an end in order that other life might endure, but never uselessly, never to no end. Bander’s death, though unavoidable, is hard enough to bear; Fallom’s would have been past all bounds.”
“Ah well,” said Pelorat, “I suppose you’re right. —And in any case, it is not the problem of Fallom concerning which I’ve come to see