Foundation's Edge - Isaac Asimov [136]
There was a silence for long moments after that. Gendibal realized that it was not just happiness in Novi's eyes, but exultation and pride, too. She said softly, "And you took me with you for that reason?"
Gendibal nodded. "That was an important reason. Yes."
Her voice sank to a whisper. "How can I help as much as possible, Master?"
He said, "Remain calm. Don't be afraid. And just--just stay as you are."
She said, "I will stay as I am. And I will stand between you and danger, as I did in the case of Rufirant."
She left the room and Gendibal looked after her.
It was strange how much there was to her. How could so simple a creature hold such complexity? The smoothness of her mind structure had, beneath it, enormous intelligence, understanding, and courage. What more could he ask--of anyone?
Somehow, he caught an image of Sura Novi--who was not a Speaker, not even a Second Foundationer, not even educated--grimly at his side, playing a vital auxiliary role in the drama that was coming.
Yet he could not see the details clearly. --He could not yet see precisely what it was that awaited them.
2.
"A SINGLE JUMP," MUTTERED TREVIZE, "AND there it is."
"Gaia?" asked Pelorat, looking over Trevize's shoulder at the screen.
"Gaia's sun," said Trevize. "Call it Gaia-S, if you like, to avoid confusion. Galactographers do that sometimes."
"And where is Gaia itself, then? Or do we call it Gaia-P--for planet?"
"Gaia would be sufficient for the planet. We can't see Gaia yet, however. Planets aren't as easy to see as stars are and we're still a hundred microparsecs away from Gaia-S. Notice that it's only a star, even though a bright one. We're not close enough for it to show as a disc. --And don't stare at it directly, Janov. It's still bright enough to damage the retina. I'll throw in a filter, once I'm through with my observations. Then you can stare."
"How much is a hundred microparsecs in units which a mythologist can understand, Golan?"
"Three billion kilometers; about twenty times the distance of Terminus from our own sun. Does that help?"
"Enormously. --But shouldn't we get closer?"
"No!" Trevize looked up in surprise. "Not right away. After what we've heard about Gaia, why should we rush? It's one thing to have guts; it's another to be crazy. Let's take a look first."
"At what, Golan? You said we can't see Gaia yet?"
"Not at a glance, no. But we have telescopic viewers and we have an excellent computer for rapid analysis. We can certainly study Gaia-S, to begin with, and we can perhaps make a few other observations. --Relax, Janov." He reached out and slapped the other's shoulder with an avuncular flourish.
After a pause Trevize said, "Gaia-S is a single star or, if it has a companion, that companion is much farther away from it than we are at the present moment and it is, at best, a red dwarf, which means we need not be concerned with it. Gaia-S is a G4 star, which means it is perfectly capable of having a habitable planet, and that's good. If it were an A or an M, we would have to turn around and leave right now."
Pelorat said, "I may be only a mythologist, but couldn't we have determined the spectral class of Gaia-S from Sayshell?"
"We could and we did, Janov, but it never hurts to check at closer quarters. --Gaia-S has a planetary system, which is no surprise. There are two gas giants in view and one of them is nice and large--if the computer's distance estimate is accurate. There could easily be another on the other side of the star and therefore not easily detectable, since we happen--by chance--to be somewhat close to the planetary plane. I can't make out anything in the inner regions, which is also no surprise."
"Is that bad?"
"Not really. It's expected. The habitable planets would be of rock and metal and would be much smaller than the gas giants and much closer to the star, if they're to be warm enough--and on