Foundation's Edge - Isaac Asimov [126]
The sky shifted and Pelorat blinked. The small red circle remained at the center of the screen, but the Five Sisters had disappeared. There were bright stars in the neighborhood but no tight pentagon. Again the sky shifted, and again, and again. It went on shifting. The red circle remained in place always, but at no time did a small pentagon of equally bright stars appear. Sometimes what might be a distorted pentagon of stars--unequally bright--appeared, but nothing like the beautiful asterism Quintesetz had pointed out.
"Had enough?" said Trevize. "I assure you, the Five Sisters can never be seen exactly as we have seen it from any populated world but the worlds of the Sayshell planetary system."
Pelorat said, "The Sayshellian view might have been exported to other planets. There were many proverbs in Imperial times--some of which linger into our own, in fact--that are Trantor-centered."
"With Sayshell as secretive about Gaia as we know it to be? And why should worlds outside the Sayshell Union be interested? Why would they care about a 'little Brother of the Five Sisters' if there were nothing in the skies at which to point?"
"Maybe you're right."
"Then don't you see that your original information must have come from Sayshell itself? Not just from somewhere in the Union, but precisely from the planetary system to which the capital world of the Union belongs."
Pelorat shook his head. "You make it sound as though it must, but it's not something I remember. I simply don't."
"Nevertheless, you do see the force of my argument, don't you?"
"Yes, I do."
"Next--When do you suppose the legend could have originated?"
"Anytime. I should suppose it developed far back in the Imperial Era. It has the feel of an ancient--"
"You are wrong, Janov. The Five Sisters are moderately close to Sayshell Planet, which is why they're so bright. Four of them have high proper motions in consequence and no two are part of a family, so that they move in different directions. Watch what happens as I shift the map backward in time slowly."
Again the red circle that marked the site of Gaia remained in place, but the pentagon slowly fell apart, as four of the stars drifted in different directions and the fifth shifted slightly.
"Look at that, Janov," said Trevize. "Would you say that was a regular pentagon?"
"Clearly lopsided," said Pelorat.
"And is Gaia at the center?"
"No, it's well to the side."
"Very well. That is how the asterism looked one hundred and fifty years ago. One and a half centuries, that's all. --The material you received concerning 'the Pentagon's Center' and so on made no real sense till this century anywhere, not even in Sayshell. The material you received had to originate in Sayshell and sometime in this century, perhaps in the last decade. And you got it, even though Sayshell is so close-mouthed about Gaia."
Trevize put the lights on, turned the star map off, and sat there staring sternly at Pelorat.
Pelorat said, "I'm confused. What's this about?"
"You tell me. Consider! Somehow I got the idea into my head that the Second Foundation still existed. I was giving a talk during my election campaign. I started a bit of emotional byplay designed to squeeze votes out of the undecided with a dramatic 'If the Second Foundation still existed--' and later that day I thought to myself: What if it did still exist? I began reading history books and within a week, I was convinced. There was no real evidence, but I have always felt that I had the knack of snatching the right conclusion out of a welter of speculation. This time, though--"
Trevize brooded a bit, then went on. "And look at what has happened since. Of all people, I chose Compor as my confidant and he betrayed