Second Foundation - Isaac Asimov [36]
(Her breath came short at this point, and she hissed the words between her teeth, but the Transcriber simply wrote them, calmly and gracefully.)
with the last rem-
nants of the dead First Empire gone and with only ineffectual warlords ruling over the splinters and remnants of the decayed colossus,
(She got that phrase out of a thriller on the video last week, but old Miss Erlking never listened to anything but symphonies and lectures, so she’d never know.)
there came the Mule.
“This strange man was not allowed for in the Plan. He was a mutant, whose birth could not have been predicted. He had the strange and mysterious power of controlling and manipulating human emotions and in this manner could bend all men to his will. With breathtaking swiftness, he became a conqueror and Empire-builder, until, finally, he even defeated the Foundation itself.
“Yet he never obtained universal dominion, since in his first overpowering lunge he was stopped by the wisdom and daring of a great woman
(Now there was that old problem again. Father would insist that she never bring up the fact that she was the grandchild of Bayta Darell. Everyone knew it and Bayta was just about the greatest woman there ever was and she had stopped the Mule single-handed.)
in a manner the true story
of which is known in its entirety to very few.
(There! If she had to read it to the class, that last could be said in a dark voice, and someone would be sure to ask what the true story was, and then—well, and then she couldn’t help tell the truth if they asked her, could she? In her mind, she was already wordlessly whizzing through a hurt and eloquent explanation to a stern and questioning paternal parent.)
“After five years of restricted rule, another change took place, the reasons for which are not known, and the Mule abandoned all plans for further conquest. His last five years were those of an enlightened despot.
“It is said by some that the change in the Mule was brought about by the intervention of the Second Foundation. However, no man has ever discovered the exact location of this other Foundation, nor knows its exact function, so that theory remains unproven.
“A whole generation has passed since the death of the Mule. What of the future, then, now that he has come and gone? He interrupted Seldon’s Plan and seemed to have burst it to fragments, yet as soon as he died, the Foundation rose again, like a nova from the dead ashes of a dying star.
(She had made that up herself.)
Once again, the planet
Terminus houses the center of a commercial federation almost as great and as rich as before the conquest, and even more peaceful and democratic.
“Is this planned? Is Seldon’s great dream still alive, and will a Second Galactic Empire yet be formed six hundred years from now? I, myself, believe so, because
(This was the important part. Miss Erlking always had those large, ugly red-pencil scrawls that went: “But this is only descriptive. What are your personal reactions? Think! Express yourself! Penetrate your own soul!” Penetrate your own soul. A lot she knew about souls, with her lemon face that never smiled in its life—)
never at any time has the political situation been so favorable. The old Empire is completely dead and the period of the Mule’s rule put an end to the era of warlords that preceded him. Most of the surrounding portions of the Galaxy are civilized and peaceful.
“Moreover, the internal health of the Foundation is better than ever before. The despotic times of the pre-Conquest hereditary mayors have given way to the democratic elections of early times. There are no longer dissident worlds of independent Traders; no longer the injustices and dislocations that accompanied accumulations of great wealth in the hands of a few.
“There is no reason, therefore, to fear failure, unless it is true that the Second Foundation itself presents a danger. Those who think so have no evidence to back their claim, but merely vague fears and superstitions. I think that our confidence in ourselves, in our nation, and in Hari Seldon’s great Plan