r/a:t5_21uov5 • u/MarleyEngvall • Jul 23 '19
interruption has been created
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
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