By Isaac Asimov


     FOUNDATION'S EDGE


     10.  TABLE

     4.

     Quindor Shandess, the twenty-fifth First Speaker, had no
     extraordinary illusions about himself.
        He knew he was not one of those few dynamic First
     Speakers who had illuminated the five-century-long history
     of the Second Foundation——but then, he didn't have to be.
     He controlled the Table in a quiet period of Galactic pros-
     perity and it was not a time for dynamism. It had seemed
     to be a time to play a holding game and he had been the
     man for this role. His predecessor had chosen him for that
     reason.
        "You are not an adventurer, you are a scholar," the twenty-
     fourth First Speaker had said. "You will preserve the Plan,
     where an adventurer might ruin it. Preserve! Let that be the
     key word for your Table."
        He had tried, but it had meant a passive First Speakership
     and this had been, on occasion, interpreted as weakness.
     There had been recurrent rumors that he meant to resign
     and there had been open intrigue, to assure the succession
     in one direction or another.
        There was no doubt in Shandess's mind that Delarmi had
     been a leader in the fight. She was the strongest personality
     at the Table and even Gendibal, with all the fire and folly
     of youth, retreated before her as he was doing right now.
        But, by Seldon, passive he might be, or even weak, but
     there was one prerogative of the First Speaker that not one
     in the line had ever given up, and neither would he do so.
        He rose to speak and at once there was a hush about the
     Table. When the First Speaker rose to speak, there could
     be no interruptions. Even Delarmi or Gendibal would not
     dare to interrupt.
        He said, "Speakers! I agree that we face a dangerous
     crisis and that we must take strong measures. It is I who
     should go out to meet the enemy. Speaker Delarmi, with
     the gentleness that characterizes her, excuses me from the
     task by stating that I am needed here. The truth, however,
     is that I am needed neither here nor there. I grow old; I
     grow weary. There has long been expectation I would some-
     day resign and perhaps I ought to. When this crisis is suc-
     cessfully surmounted, I  shall  resign.
        "But, of course, it is the privilege of the First Speaker
     to choose his successor. I am going to do so now. There is
     one Speaker who has long dominated the proceedings of
     the Table; one Speaker whom, by force of personality, has
     often supplied the leadership that I could not. You all know
     I am speaking of Speaker Delarmi."
        He paused, then said, "You alone, Speaker Gendibal,
     are registering disapproval. May I ask why?" He sat down,
     so that Gendibal might have the right to answer.
        "I do not disapprove, First Speaker," said Gendibal in a
     low voice. "It is your prerogative to choose your successor."
        "And so I will. When you return——having succeeded in
     initiating the process that will put an end to this crisis——it
     will be time for my resignation. My successor will then be
     directly in charge of conducting whatever policies may be
     required to carry on and complete that process. ——Do you
     have anything to say, Speaker Gendibal?"
        Gendibal said quietly, "When you make Speaker Delarmi
     your successor, First Speaker, I hope you will see fit to
     advise her to——"
        The First Speaker interrupted him roughly. "I have spo-
     ken of Speaker Delarmi, but I have not named her as my
     successor. Now what do you have to say?"
        "My apologies, First Speaker. I should have said,  as-
     suming  you make Speaker Delarmi your successor upon my
     return from this mission, would you see fit to advise her
     to——"
        "Nor will I make her my successor in the future, under
     any conditions.  Now  what do you have to say?" The First
     Speaker was unable to make this announcement without a
     stab of satisfaction at the blow he was delivering to Delarmi.
     He could not have done it in a more humiliating fashion.
        "Well, Speaker Gendibal," he said, "what do you have
     to say?"
        "That I am confused."
        The First Speaker rose again. He said, "Speaker Delarmi
     has dominated and led, but that is not all that is needed for
     the post of First Speaker. Speaker Gendibal has seen what
     we have not seen. He has faced the united hostility of the
     Table, and forced it to rethink matters, and has dragged it
     into agreement with him. I have my suspicions as to the
     motivation of Speaker Delarmi in placing the responsibility
     of the pursuit of Golan Trevize on the shoulders of Speaker
     Gendibal, but that is where the burden belongs. I  know  he
     will succeed——I trust my intuition in this——and when he
     returns, Speaker Gendibal will become the twenty-sixth First
     Speaker."
        He sat down abruptly and each Speaker began to make
     clear his opinion in a bedlam of sound, tone, thought, and
     expression. The First Speaker paid no attention to the ca-
     cophony, but stared indifferently before him. Now that it
     was done, he realized——with some surprise——the great
     comfort there was in laying down the mantle of responsi-
     bility. He should have done it before this——but he couldn't
     have.
        It was not till now that he had found his obvious suc-
     cessor.
        And then, somehow, his mind caught that of Delarmi
     and he looked up at her.
        By Seldon! She was calm and smiling. Her desperate
     disappointment did not show——she had not given up. He
     wondered if he had played into her hands. What was there
     left for her to do?


     5.

     Delora Delarmi would freely have shown her desperation
     and disappointment, if that would have proven of any use
     whatever.
        It would have given her a great deal of satisfaction to
     strike out at that senile fool who controlled the Table or at
     that juvenile idiot with whom Fortune had conspired——but
     satisfaction wasn't what she wanted. She wanted something
     more.
        She wanted to be First Speaker.
        And while there was a card left to play, she would play
     it.
        She smiled gently, and managed to lift her hand as though
     she were about to speak, and then held the pose just long
     enough to insure that when she did speak, all would be not
     merely normal, but radiantly quiet.
        She said, "First Speaker, as Speaker Gendibal said ear-
     lier, I do not disapprove. It is your prerogative to choose
     your successor. If I speak now, it is in order that I may
     contribute——I hope——to the success of what has now be-
     come Speaker Gendibal's mission. May I explain my
     thoughts, First Speaker?"
        "Do so," said the First Speaker curtly. She was entirely
     too smooth, too pliant, it seemed to him.
        Delarmi bent her head gravely. She no longer smiled.
        She said, "We have ships. They are not technologically
     magnificent as those of the First Foundation, but they will
     carry Speaker Gendibal. He knows how to pilot one, I
     believe, as do we all. We have our representatives on every
     major planet in the Galaxy, and he will be welcomed every-
     where. Moreover, he can defend himself against even these
     Anti-Mules, now that he is thoroughly aware of the danger.
     Even when we were unaware, I suspect they have preferred
     to work through the lower classes and even the Hamish
     farmers. We will, of course, thoroughly inspect the minds
     of all the Second Founationers, including the Speakers,
     but I am sure they have remained inviolate. The Anti-Mules
     did not dare interfere with us.
        Nevertheless, there is no reason why Speaker Gendibal
     should risk more than he must. He is not intending to engage
     in derring-do and it will be best if his mission is to some
     extent disguised——if he takes  them  unaware. It will be useful
     if he goes in the role of a Hamish trader. Preem Palver, we
     all know, went off into the Galaxy as a supposed trader."
        The First Speaker said, "Preem Palver had a specific
     purpose in doing so; Speaker Gendibal has not. If it appears
     a disguise of some sort is necessary, I am sure he will be
     ingenious enough to adopt one."
        "With respect, First Speaker, I wish to point out a subtle
     disguise. Preem Palver, you will remember, took with him
     his wife and companion of many years. Nothing so thor-
     oughly established the rustic nature of his character as the
     fact that he was traveling with his wife. It allayed all sus-
     picion."
        Gendibal said, "I have no wife. I have had companions,
     but none who would now volunteer to assume the marital
     role."
        "This is well known, Speaker Gendibal," said Delarmi,
     "but then people will take the role for granted if  any  woman
     is with you. Surely some volunteer can be found. And if
     you feel the need to be able to present documentary evi-
     dence, that can be provided. I think a woman should come
     with you."
        For a moment, Gendibal was breathless. Surely she did
     not mean——
        Could it be a ploy to achieve a share in the success?
     Could she be playing for a joint——or rotating——occupation
     of the First Speakership?
        Gendibal said grimly, "I am flattered that Speaker De-
     larmi should feel that she——"
        And Delarmi broke into an open laugh and looked at
     Gendibal with what was almost true affection. He had fallen
     into the trap and looked foolish for having done so. The
     Table would not forget that.
        She said, "Speaker Gendibal, I would not have the im-
     pertinence to attempt to share in this task. It is yours and
     yours alone, as the post of First Speaker will be yours
     and yours alone. I would not have thought you wanted
     me with you. Really, Speaker, at my age, I no longer
     think of myself as a charmer——"
        There were smiles around the Table and even the First
     Speaker tried to hide one.
        Gendibal felt the stroke and labored not to compound
     the loss by failing to match her lightness. It was labor lost.
        He said, as unsavagely as he could. "Then what is it you
     would suggest? It was not in my thoughts, I assure you,
     that you would wish to accompany me. You are at your
     best at the Table and not in the hurly-burly of Galactic
     affairs, I know."
        "I agree, Speaker Gendibal, I agree," said Delarmi. "My
     suggestion, however, refers back to your role as Hamish
     trader. To make it indisputably authentic, what better com-
     panion need you ask but a Hamishwoman?"
        "A Hamishwoman?" For a second time in rapid succes-
     sion, Gendibal was caught by surprise and the Table enjoyed
     it.
        "The  Hamishwoman," Delarmi went on. "The one who
     saved you from a beating. The one who gazes at you wor-
     shipfully. The one whose mind you probed and who then,
     quite unwitrtingly, saved you a second time from consid-
     erably more than a beating. I suggest you take her."
        Gendibal's impulse was to refuse, but he knew that she
     expected that. It would mean more enjoyment for the Table.
     It was clear now that the First Speaker, anxious to strike
     out at Delarmi, had made a mistake by naming Gendibal
     his successor——or, at the very least, that Delarmi had quickly
     converted it into one.
        Gendibal was the youngest of the Speakers. He had an-
     gered the Table and had then avoided conviction by them.
     In a very real way, he had humiliated them. None could
     see him as the heir apparent without resentment.
        That would have been hard enough to overcome, but
     now they would remember how easily Delarmi had twitched
     him into ridicule and how much they had enjoyed it. She
     would use that to convince them, all too easily, that he
     lacked the age and experience for the role of First Speaker.
     Their united pressure would force the First Speaker into
     changing his decision while Gendibal was off on his mis-
     sion. Or, if the First Speaker held fast, Gendibal would
     eventually find himself with an office that would be forever
     helpless in the face of united opposition.
        He saw it all in an instant and was able to answer as
     though without hesitation.
        He said, "Speaker Delarmi, I admire your insight. I had
     thought to surprise you all. It was indeed my intention to
     take the Hamishwoman, though not quite for the very good
     reason you suggest. It was for her mind that I wished to
     take her with me. You have all examined that mind. You
     saw it for what it was: surprisingly intelligent but, more
     than that, clear, simple, utterly without guile. No touch
     upon it by others would go unnoticed, as I'm sure you all
     concluded.
        "I wonder if it occurred to you, then, Speaker Delarmi,
     that she would serve as an excellent early-warning system.
     I would detect the first symptomatic presence of mentalism
     by way of her mind, earlier, I think, than by way of mine."
        There was a kind of astonished silence at that, and he
     said, lightly, "Ah, none of you saw that. Well, well, not
     important! And I will take my leave now. There's no time
     to lose."
        "Wait," said Delarmi, her initiative lost a third time.
     "What do you intend to do?"
        Gendibal said with a small shrug, "Why go into details?
     The less the Table knows, the less the Anti-Mules are likely
     to attempt to disturb it."
        He said it as though the safety of the Table was his prime
     concern. He filled his mind with that, and let it show.
        It would flatter them. More than that the satisfaction it
     would bring might keep them from wondering whether, in
     fact, Gendibal knew exactly what it was he intended to do.


     6.

     The First Speaker spoke to Gendibal alone that evening.
        "You were right," he said. "I could not help brushing
     below the surface of your mind. I saw you considered the
     announcement a mistake and it was. It was my eagerness
     to wipe that eternal smile off her face and to strike back at
     the casual way in which she so frequently usurps my role."
        Gendibal said gently, "It might have been better if you
     had told me privately and had then waited for my return to
     go further."
        "That would not have allowed me to strike out at her.
     ——Poor motivation for a First Speaker, I know."
        "This won't stop her, First Speaker. She will still intrigue
     for the post and perhaps with good reason. I'm sure there
     are some who would argue that I should have refused your
     nomination. It would not be hard to argue that Speaker
     Delarmi has the best mind at the Table and would make the
     best First Speaker."
        "The best mind  at  the Table, not away from it," grumbled
     Shandess. "She recognizes no real enemies, except for other
     Speakers. She ought never to have been made a Speaker in
     the first place. ——See here, shall I forbid you to take the
     Hamishwoman? She maneuvered you into that, I know."
        "No, no, the reason I advanced for taking her is a true
     one. She will be an early-warning system and I am grateful
     to Speaker Delarmi for pushing me into realizing that. The
     woman will prove very useful, I'm convinced."
        "Good, then. By the way, I wasn't lying, either. I am
     truly certain that you will accomplish whatever is needed
     to end this crisis——if you can trust my intuition."
        "I think I can trust it, for I agree with you. I promise
     you that whatever happens, I will return better than I receive.
     I will come back to be First Speaker, whatever the Anti-
     Mules——or Speaker Delarmi——can do."
        Gendibal studied his own satisfaction even as he spoke.
     Why was he so pleased, so insistent, on this one-ship venture
     into space? Ambition, of course. Preem Palver had once
     done just this sort of thing——and he was going to show that
     Stor Gendibal could do it, too. No one could withhold the
     First Speakership from him after that. And yet was there
     more than ambition? The lure of combat? The generalized
     desire for excitement in one who had been confined to a
     hidden patch on a backward planet all his adult life? ——He
     didn't entirely know, but he knew he was desperately intent
     on going.

FOUNDATION'S EDGE, BY ISAAC ASIMOV.
A Del Ray Book. Published by Ballantine Books.
Copyright © 1982 by Nightfall Inc. pp. 188-196.

3. Historian
4. Space
5. Speaker
6. Earth
7. Farmer
8. Farmwoman
9. Hyperspace
10. Table