Prelude to Foundation - Isaac Asimov [104]
They're not expecting to see a tribesman, Seldon thought, so they don't see one.
That, he decided, augured well for their forthcoming invasion of the Sacratorium. How much less would anyone expect to see tribespeople there and how much more effectively would they therefore fail to see them!
He was in fairly good humor when Dors emerged.
"You have everything?"
"Absolutely."
"Then lets go back to the room, so you can change."
The white kirtle did not fit her quite as well as the gray one did. Obviously, she could not have tried it on or even the densest shopkeeper would have been struck with alarm.
"How do I look, Hari?" she asked.
"Exactly like a boy," said Seldon. "Now let's try the sash . . . or obiah. I had better get used to calling it that."
Dors, without her skincap, was shaking out her hair gratefully. She said sharply, "Don't put it on now. We're not going to parade through Mycogen with the sash on. The last thing we want to do is call attention to ourselves."
"No no. I just want to see how it goes on."
"Well, not that one. This one is better quality and more elaborate."
"You're right, Dors. I've got to gather in what attention there is. I don't want them to detect you as a woman."
"I'm not thinking of that, Hari. I just want you to look pretty."
"A thousand thanks, but that's impossible, I suspect. Now, let's see, how does this work?"
Together, Hari and Dors practiced putting their obiahs on and taking them off, over and over again, until they could do it in one fluid motion. Dors taught Hari how to do it, as she had seen a man doing it the day before at the Sacratorium.
When Hari praised her for her acute observations, she blushed and said, "Its really nothing, Hari, just something I noticed."
Hari replied, "Then you're a genius for noticing."
Finally satisfied, they stood well apart, each surveying the other. Hari's obiah glittered, a bright red dragonlike design standing out against a paler field of similar hue. Dors's was a little less bold, had a simple thin line down the center, and was very light in color. "There," she said, "just enough to show good taste." She took it off.
"Now," said Seldon, "we fold it up and it goes into one of the inner pockets. I have my credit tile-Hummin's, really-and the key to this place in this one and here, on the other side, the Book."
"The Book? Should you be carrying it around?"
"I must. I'm guessing that anyone going to the Sacratorium ought to have a copy of the Book with him. They may intone passages or have readings. If necessary, we'll share the Book and maybe no one will notice. Ready?"
"I'll never be ready, but I'm going with you."
"It will be a tedious trip. Will you check my skincap and make sure no hair shows this time? And don't scratch your head."
"I won't. You look all right."
"So do you."
"You also look nervous."
And Seldon said wryly, "Guess why!"
Dors reached out impulsively and squeezed Hari's hand, then drew back as if surprised at herself. Looking down, she straightened her white kirtle. Hari, himself a trifle surprised and peculiarly pleased, cleared his throat and said, "Okay, let's go."
* * *
Aerie
ROBOT- . . . A term used in the ancient legends of several worlds for what are more usually called "automata." Robots are described as generally human in shape and made of metal, although some are supposed to have been pseudoorganic in nature. Hari Seldon, in the course of The Flight, is popularly supposed to have seen an actual robot, but that story is of dubious origin. Nowhere in Seldon's voluminous writings does he mention robots at all, although . . .
ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA
56.
They were not noticed.
Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili repeated the trip of the day before and this time no one gave them a second