Prelude to Foundation - Isaac Asimov [79]
Dors said to Raindrop Forty-Three in a soft voice, "Have you ever met a tribesman before, Sister, or a tribeswoman?"
A long hesitation and then a slow negative shake of the head.
Seldon threw out his arms. "Well, there you are. If there is a rule of silence, it applies only to the Brothers. Would they have sent these young women-these Sisters-to deal with us if there was any rule against speaking to tribesmen?"
"It might be, Hari, that they were meant to speak only to me and I to you."
"Nonsense. I don't believe it and I won't believe it. 1 am not merely a tribesman, I am an honored guest in Mycogen, asked to be treated as such by Chetter Hummin and escorted here by Sunmaster Fourteen himself. I will not be treated as though I do not exist. I will be in communication with Sunmaster Fourteen and I will complain bitterly."
Raindrop Forty-Five began to sob and Raindrop Forty-Three, retaining her comparative impassivity, nevertheless flushed faintly.
Dors made as though to appeal to Seldon once again, but he stopped her with a brief and angry outward thrust of his right arm and then stared Toweringly at Raindrop Forty-Three.
And finally she spoke and did not twitter. Rather, her voice trembled hoarsely, as though she had to force it to sound in the direction of a male being and was doing so against all her instincts and desires.
"You must not complain of us, tribesman. That would be unjust. You force me to break the custom of our people. What do you want of me?"
Seldon smiled disarmingly at once and held out his hand. "The garment you brought me. The kirtle."
Silently, she stretched out her arm and deposited the kirtle in his hand.
He bowed slightly and said in a soft warm voice, "Thank you, Sister." He then cast a very brief look in Dors's direction, as though to say: You see? But Dors looked away angrily.
The kirtle was featureless, Seldon saw as he unfolded it (embroidery and decorativeness were for women, apparently), but it came with a tasseled belt that probably had some particular way of being worn. No doubt he could work it out.
He said, "I'll step into the bathroom and put this thing on. It won't take but a minute, I suppose."
He stepped into the small chamber and found the door would not dose behind him because Dors was forcing her way in as well. Only when the two of them were in the bathroom together did the door close.
"What were you doing?" Dors hissed angrily. "You were an absolute brute, Hari. Why did you treat the poor woman that way?^
Seldon said impatiently, "I had to make her talk to me. I'm counting on her for information. You know that. I'm sorry I had to be cruel, but how else could I have broken down her inhibitions?" And he motioned her out.
When he emerged, he found Dors in her kirtle too.
Dors, despite the bald head the skincap gave her and the inherent dowdiness of the kirtle, managed to look quite attractive. The stitching on the robe somehow suggested a figure without revealing it in the least. Her belt was wider than his own and was a slightly different shade of gray from her kirtle. What's more, it was held in front by two glittering blue stone snaps. (Women did manage to beautify themselves even under the greatest difficulty, Seldon thought.)
Looking over at Hari, Dors said, "You look quite the Mycogenian now. The two of us are fit to be taken to the stores by the Sisters."
"Yes," said Seldon, "but afterward I want Raindrop Forty-Three to take me on a tour of the microfarms."
Raindrop Forty-Three's eyes widened and she took a rapid step backward.
"I'd like to see them," said Seldon calmly.
Raindrop Forty-Three looked quickly at Dors. "Tribeswoman-"
Seldon said, "Perhaps you know nothing of the farms, Sister."
That seemed to touch a nerve. She lifted her chin haughtily as she still carefully addressed Dors. "I have worked on the microfarms. All Brothers and Sisters do at some point in their lives."
"Well then, take me on the tour," said Seldon, "and lets not go through the argument again. I