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CHAPTER THIRTEEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY

Pelorat wrinkled his nose when he and Trevize re-entered the Far Star

Trevize shrugged "The hu never works instantaneously and artificial scents merely overlay - they do not replace"

"And I suppose no two ships smell quite alike, once they've been occupied for a period of time by different people"

"That's right, but did you smell Sayshell Planet after the first hour?"

"No," admitted Pelorat

"Well, you won't smell this after a while, either In fact, if you live in the ship long enough, you'll welco home And by the way, if you become a Galactic rover after this, Janov, you'll have to learn that it is impolite to comment on the odor of any ship or, for that matter, any world to those who live on that ship or world Between us, of course, it is all right"

"As ais I do consider the Far Star home At least it's Foundation-made" Pelorat smiled "You know, I never considered nize only hu away from the Foundation fills my heart with love for it"

Trevize washis bed "You're not very far from the Foundation, you know The Sayshell Union is almost surrounded by Federation territory We have an ambassador and an enormous presence here, from consuls on down The Sayshellians like to oppose us in words, but they are usually very cautious about doing anything that gives us displeasure - Janov, do turn in We got nowhere today and we have to do better tomorrow"

Still, there was no difficulty in hearing between the two roo restlessly, finally said in a not very loud voice, "Golan?"

"Yes"

"You're not sleeping?"

"Not while you're talking"

"We did get somewhere today Your friend, Compor"

"Ex-friend," growled Trevize

"Whatever his status, he talked about Earth and told us so I hadn't come across in my researches before Radioactivity!"

Trevize lifted himself to one elbow "Look, Golan, if Earth is really dead, that doesn't mean we return home I still want to find Gaia"

Pelorataway feathers "My dear chap, of course So do I Nor do I think Earth is dead Co what he felt was the truth, but there's scarcely a sector in the Galaxy that doesn't have soin of humanity on some local world And they almost invariably call it Earth or some closely equivalent name

"We call it 'globocentrisranted that they are better than their neighbors; that their culture is older and superior to that of other worlds; that what is good in other worlds has been borrowed from them, while what is bad is distorted or perverted in the borrowing or invented elsewhere And the tendency is to equate superiority in quality with superiority in duration If they cannot reasonably maintain their own planet to be Earth or its equivalent - and the beginnings of the human species - they al Earth in their own sector, even when they cannot locate it exactly"

Trevize said, "And you're tellingthe common habit when he said Earth existed in the Sirius Sector - Still, the Sirius Sector does have a long history, so every world in it should be well known and it should be easy to check thethere"

Pelorat chuckled "Even if you were to show that no world in the Sirius Sector could possibly be Earth, that wouldn't help You underestimate the depths to which mysticism can bury rationality, Golan There are at least half a dozen sectors in the Galaxy where respectable scholars repeat, with every appearance of solemnity and with no trace of a smile, local tales that Earth - or whatever they choose to call it - is located in hyperspace and cannot be reached, except by accident"

"And do they say anyone has ever reached it by accident?"

"There are always tales and there is always a patriotic refusal to disbelieve, even though the tales are never in the least credible and are never believed by anyone not of the world that produces them"

"Then, Janov, let's not believe them ourselves Let's enter our own private hyperspace of sleep"

"But, Golan, it's this business of Earth's radioactivity that interests me To me, that seems to bear the mark of truth - or a kind of truth"

"What do you mean, a kind of truth?"

"Well, a world that is radioactive would be a world in which hard radiation would be present in higher concentration than is usual The rate of her on such a world and evolution would proceed more quickly - andthe points on which alree is that life on Earth was incredibly diverse: millions of species of all kinds of life It is this diversity of life - this explosive developence to the Earth, and then the surge outward into the Galaxy If Earth were for some reason radioactive - that is, ht account for everything else about Earth that is - or was unique"

Trevize was silent for a moment Then, "In the first place, we have no reason to believe Co freely in order to induce us to leave this place and go chasing madly off to Sirius I believe that's exactly what he was doing And even if he were telling the truth, what he said was that there was so much radioactivity that life became impossible"

Pelorat ain "There wasn't too much radioactivity to allow life to develop on Earth and it is easier for life to maintain itself - once established - than to develop in the first place Granted, then, that life was established and maintained on Earth Therefore the level of radioactivity could not have been incoin with and it could only have fallen off with ti that can raise the level"

"Nuclear explosions?" suggested Trevize

"What would that have to do with it?"

"I mean, suppose nuclear explosions took place on Earth?"

"On Earth's surface? Impossible There's no record in the history of the Galaxy of any society being so foolish as to use nuclear explosions as a weapon of war We would never have survived During the Trigellian insurrections, when both sides were reduced to starvation and desperation and when Jendippurus Khoratt suggested the initiation of a fusion reaction in"

"He was hanged by the sailors of his own fleet I know Galactic history I was thinking of accident"

"There's no record of accidents of that sort that are capable of significantly raising the intensity of radioactivity of a planet, generally" He sighed "I suppose that e get around to it, we'll have to go to the Sirius Sector and do a little prospecting there"

"Someday, perhaps, ill But for now"

"Yes, yes, I'll stop talking"

He did and Trevize lay in the dark for nearly an hour considering whether he had attracted too o to the Sirius Sector and then return to Gaia when attention - everyone's attention - was elsewhere

He had arrived at no clear decision by the time he fell asleep His dreams were troubled

They did not arrive back in the city tillThe tourist center was quite crowded this tied to obtain the necessary directions to a reference library, where in turn they received instruction in the use of the localcomputers

They went carefully through thewith those that were nearest, and checked out whatever inforists, and ancient historians

Pelorat said, "Ah!"

"Ah?" said Trevize with some asperity "Ah, what?"

"This name, Quintesetz It seems familiar"

"You know him?"

"No, of course not, but I may have read papers of his Back at the ship, where I have my reference collection"

"We're not going back, Janov If the na point If he can't help us, he will undoubtedly be able to direct us further" He rose to his feet "Let's find a way of getting to Sayshell University And since there will be nobody there at lunchtime, let's eat first"

It was not till late afternoon that they had h itswoht - or ht not - lead them to Quintesetz

"I wonder," said Pelorat uneasily, "howtoward the close of the schoolday"

And, as though that were a cue, the young lady whom they had last seen half an hour before, walked rapidly toward theround with a sharp musical tone as she walked The pitch varied with the speed and force of her steps

Pelorat winced He supposed that each world had its oays of assaulting the senses, just as each had its own ser noticed the sht also learn not to notice the cacophony of fashionable young women when they walked

She came to Pelorat and stopped "May I have your full name, Professor?"

"It's Janov Pelorat, miss"

"Your home planet?"

Trevize began to lift one hand as though to enjoin silence, but Pelorat, either not seeing or not regarding, said, "Terminus"

The young woman smiled broadly, and looked pleased "When I told Professor Quintesetz that a Professor Pelorat was inquiring for him, he said he would see you if you were Janov Pelorat of Terminus, but not otherwise"

Pelorat blinked rapidly "You - you mean, he's heard of me?"

"It certainly seems so"

And, aled a smile as he turned to Trevize "He's heard of me I honestly didn't think I mean, I've written very few papers and I didn't think that anyone" He shook his head "They weren't really important"

"Well then," said Trevize, s yourself in an ecstasy of self-underestio" He turned to the woman "I presume, miss, there's some sort of transportation to take us to him?"

"It's within walking distance We won't even have to leave the building colad to take you there - Are both of you from Terminus?" And off she went

The two men followed and Trevize said, with a trace of annoyance, "Yes, we are Does that make a difference?"

"Oh no, of course not There are people on Sayshell that don't like Foundationers, you know, but here at the university, we're more cosmopolitan than that Live and let live is what I always say I mean, Foundationers are people, too You knohat I mean?"

"Yes, I knohat you mean Lots of us say that Sayshellians are people"

"That's just the way it should be I've never seen Ter city"

"Actually it isn't," said Trevize matter-of-factly "I suspect it's smaller than Sayshell City"

"You're tweaking er," she said "It's the capital of the Foundation Federation, isn't it? I mean, there isn't another Terminus, is there?"

"No, there's only one Terminus, as far as I know, and that's where we're from - the capital of the Foundation Federation"

"Well then, itall the way here to see the professor We're very proud of hiest authority in the whole Galaxy"

"Really?" said Trevize "On what?"

Her eyes opened wide again, "You are a teaser He knows more about ancient history than - than I know about my own family" And she continued to walk on ahead on her musical feet

One can only be called a teaser and a finger-tweaker so often without developing an actual impulse in that direction Trevize smiled and said, "The professor knows all about Earth, I suppose?"

"Earth?" She stopped at an office door and looked at them blankly

"You know The world where huot its start"

"Oh, you uess he should know all about it After all, it's located in the Sayshell Sector Everyone knows that! - This is his office Let nal him"

"No, don't," said Trevize "Not for just a minute Tell me about Earth"

"Actually I never heard anyone call it Earth I suppose that's a Foundation word We call it Gaia, here"

Trevize cast a swift look at Pelorat "Oh? And where is it located?"

"Nowhere It's in hyperspace and there's no way anyone can get to it When I was a little girl, randmother said that Gaia was once in real space, but it was so disgusted at the"

"Cris," muttered Pelorat, "that, out of sha s it had sent out into the Galaxy"

"You know the story, then See? - A girlfriend of ood enough for professors from the Foundation"

A glittering section of lettering on the slass of the door read: SOTAYN QUINTESETZ ABT in the hard-to-read Sayshellian calligraphy - and under it was printed, in the same fashion: DEPARTMENT OF ANCIENT HISTORY

The woer on a smooth lass turned a milky white for a moment and a soft voice said, in an abstracted sort of way, "Identify yourself, please"

"Janov Pelorat of Terminus," said Pelorat, "with Golan Trevize of the sa open at once

The man who stood up, walked around his desk, and advanced to ht brown in skin color and his hair, which was set in crisp curls over his head, was iron-gray He held out his hand in greeting and his voice was soft and low "I ahted to meet you, Professors"

Trevize said, "I don't own an academic title I merely accompany Professor Pelorat You may call me simply Trevize I am pleased to meet you, Professor Abt"

Quintesetz held up one hand in clear embarrassment "No no Abt is nificance outside of Sayshell Ignore it, please, and call me S Q We tend to use initials in ordinary social intercourse on Sayshell I' but one"

He seeht hand after wiping it unobtrusively on his trousers

Trevize took it, wondering what the proper Sayshellianwas

Quintesetz said, "Please sit down I'm afraid you'll find these chairs to be lifeless ones, but I, for one, don't wantyou nowadays, but I prefer a hug to , hey?"

Trevize smiled and said, "Who would not? Your name, SQ, seeize if the remark is impertinent"

"I don't enerations back, randparents left Askone when Foundation dorew too heavy"

Pelorat said, "And we are Foundationers Our apologies"

Quintesetz waved his hand genially, "I don't hold a grudge across a stretch of five generations Not that such things haven't been done,to eat? To drink? Would you like round?"

"If you don't ht to business, if Sayshellian ould permit"

"Sayshellian ways are not a barrier to that, I assure you - You have no idea how reo that I caical Review and it struck me as a remarkable synthesis all too brief"

Pelorat flushed with pleasure "How delighted I am that you have read it I had to condense it, of course, since the Revieould not print a full study I have been planning to do a treatise on the subject"

"I wish you would In any case, as soon as I had read it, I had this desire to see you I even had the notion of visiting Terh that would have been hard to arrange"

"Why so?" asked Trevize

Quintesetz looked eer to join the Foundation Federation and rather discourages any social communication with the Foundation We've a tradition of neutralism, you see Even the Mule didn't bother us, except to extort from us a specific statement of neutrality For that reason, any application for perenerally and particularly Terh a scholar such as myself, intent on academic business, would probably obtain his passport in the end - But none of that was necessary; you have come to me I can scarcely believe it I ask myself: Why? Have you heard of me, as I have heard of you?"

Pelorat said, "I know your work, S Q, and in my records I have abstracts of your papers It is why I have co both the in of the human species, and the early period of the exploration and settlement of the Galaxy In particular, I have co of Sayshell"

"From your paper," said Quintesetz, "I presuends"

"Even ends, otherwise"

Quintesetz rose and walked rapidly back and forth the length of his office, paused to stare at Pelorat, then walked again

Trevize said impatiently, "Well, sir"

Quintesetz said, "Odd! Really odd! It was only yesterday"

Pelorat said, "What was only yesterday?"

Quintesetz said, "I told you, Dr Pelorat - th name rather unnatural"

"Please do"

"I told you, J P, that I had admired your paper and that I had wanted to see you The reason I wanted to see you was that you clearly had an extensive collection of legends concerning the beginnings of the worlds and yet didn't have ours In other words, I wanted to see you in order to tell you precisely what you have come to see me to find out"

"What has this to do with yesterday, S Q ?" asked Trevize

"We have legends A legend An important one to our society, for it has become our central mystery"

"Mystery?" said Trevize

"I don'tof that sort That, I believe, would be the usualof the word in Galactic Standard There's a specializedonly certain adepts know the fullnot to be spoken of to outsiders - And yesterday was the day"

"The day of what, S Q ?" asked Trevize, slightly exaggerating his air of patience

"Yesterday was the Day of Flight"

"Ah," said Trevize, "a day of meditation and quiet, when everyone is supposed to remain at home"

"Soer cities, the ions, there is little observance in the older fashion - But you know about it, I see"

Pelorat, who had grown uneasy at Trevize's annoyed tone, put in hastily, "We heard a little of it, having arrived yesterday"

"Of all days," said Trevize sarcastically "See here, S Q As I said, I'm not an acade of a centralit was not to be spoken of to outsiders Why, then, are you speaking of it to us? We are outsiders"

"So you are But I'm not an observer of the day and the depth of ht at best J P 's paper, however, reinforced a feeling I have had for a long tiend is si is - or can be Somehow there is a kernel of truth behind it, however distorted that end of the Day of Flight"

Trevize said, "Is it safe to talk about it?"

Quintesetz shrugged "Not entirely, I suppose The conservative ele our population would be horrified However, they don't control the govern and would be stronger still, if the conservatives didn't take advantage of our - if you'll excusethe matter out of ue of Acadely, in case of need"

"In that case," said Pelorat, "would you tell us about your central mystery, SQ ?"

"Yes, but let me make sure on't be interrupted or, for that matter, overheard Even if one must stare the bull in the face, one needn't slap its oes"

He flicked a pattern on the work-face of an instrument on his desk and said, "We're incommunicado now"

"Are you sure you're not bugged?" asked Trevize

"Bugged?"

"Tapped! Eavesdropped! - Subjected to a device that will have you under observation - visual or auditory or both"

Quintesetz looked shocked "Not here on Sayshell!"

Trevize shrugged "If you say so"

"Please go on, SQ," said Pelorat

Quintesetz pursed his lips, leaned back in his chair (which gave slightly under the pressure) and put the tips of his fingers together He seein

He said, "Do you knohat a robot is?"

"A robot?" said Pelorat "No"

Quintesetz looked in the direction of Trevize, who shook his head slowly

"You knohat a computer is, however?"

"Of course," said Trevize impatiently

"Well then, a mobile computerized tool"

"Is a mobile computerized tool" Trevize was still impatient "There are endless varieties and I don't know of any generalized term for it except mobile computerized tool"

" - that looks exactly like a hu is a robot" S Q completed his definition with equanimity "The distinction of a robot is that it is humaniform"

"Why humaniform?" asked Pelorat in honest amazement "I'rant you, but I'end 'Robot' is an old word froh our scholars say it bears the connotation of 'work"