Foundation and Empire 16. Conference

When the twenty-seven self-employed person Trading worlds, united only by their distrust of the m different planet of the Foundation, concert an assembly among themselves, and individually is big with a pride handsome of its smallness, hardened by its own insularity and embittered by unfading danger thither be preliminary negotiations to be overcome of a pettiness sufficiently dumbfounding to heartsicken the most persevering.It is nary(prenominal) decent to fix in advance such details as methods of voting, sign of represendation whether by world or by population. These be matters of involved political importance. It is not enough to fix matters of priority at the table, both council and dinner, those are matters of involved social importance.It was the place of collision since that was a matter of overpowering provincialism. And in the end the devious routes of diplomacy led to the world of Radole, which some commentators had suggested at the start for logical reason o f central position.Radole was a small world and, in military potential, mayhap the weakest of the twenty-seven. That, by the way, was another factor in the logic of the choice.It was a ribbon world of which the Galaxy boasts sufficient, however among which, the inhabited variety is a rarity for the physical requirements are difficult to meet. It was a world, in other lyric poem, where the two halves side of meat the monotonous extremes of heat and c doddery, while the region of possible life is the girdling ribbon of the gloam zone.Such a world invariably sounds uninviting to those who pay off not tried it, scarcely at that place exist spots, strategically placed and Radole City was located in such a one.It spread on the soft slopes of the foothills before the hacked-out mountains that backed it along the rim of the cold hemisphere and held off the frightful ice. The warm, ironical air of the sun-half spilled over, and from the mountains was piped the water-and amid the two, Radole City became a continuous garden, swimming in the eonian morning of an eternal June.Each house nestled among its flower garden, open to the fangless elements. Each garden was a horticultural forcing ground, where highlife plants grew in fantastic patterns for the sake of the foreign exchange they brought until Radole had almost become a producing world, rather than a typical Trading world.So, in its way, Radole City was a little point of softness and luxury on a horrible planet a tiny scrap of Eden and that, too, was a factor in the logic of the choice.The strangers came from each of the twenty-six other Trading worlds delegates, wives, secretaries, new(a)smen, ships, and crews and Radoles population nearly doubled and Radoles resources strained themselves to the limit. unrivalled ate at will, and drank at will, and slept not at all.Yet on that point were few among the roisterers who were not intensely aware that all that volume of the Galaxy burnt slowly in a so rt of peacefulness, relaxing war. And of those who were aware, in that location were dime classes. First, there were the homoy who knew little and were very confident.Such as the young shoes pilot who wore the Haven cockade on the clasp of his cap, and who managed, in holding his glass before his eyes, to catch those of the faintly smiling Radolian girl opposite. He was articulateingWe came fight through the war-zone to get here-on purpose. We traveled about a light-minute or so, in neutral, right past Horleggor-Horleggor? broke in a long-legged native, who was playing legions to that particular gathering. Thats where the scuff got the guts outwit out of him perish week, wasnt it?Whered you hear that the scuff got the guts cohere out of him? demanded the pilot, loftily.Foundation radio.Yeah? Well, the mules got Horleggor. We almost ran into a convoy of his ships, and thats where they were coming from. It isnt a gut-beating when you stay where you fought, and the gut-beate r leaves in a hurry.Someone else said in a high, blurred voice, Dont talk wish well that. Foundation unceasingly takes it on the chin for a while. You watch just sit tight and watch. Ol Foundation contends when to come back. And and then pow The thick voice concluded and was succeeded by a bleary grin.Anyway. said the pilot from Haven, after a short pause, As I say, we saw the Mules ships, and they looked pretty good, pretty good. I tell you what they looked new. unsanded? said the native, thought honesty. They build them themselves? He broke a leaf from an overhanging branch, sniffed delicately at it, then crunched it between his teeth, the bruised tissues bleeding greenly and diffusing a minty odor. He said, You trying to tell me they beat Foundation ships with homebuilt jobs? Go on.We saw them, doc. And I depose tell a ship from a comet, too, you bonk.The native leaned close. You know what I think. Listen, dont kid yourself. Wars dont just start by themselves, and we have a bunch of shrewd apples caterpillar track things. They know what theyre doing.The well-unthirsted one said with sudden loudness, You watch ol Foundation. They wait for the last minute, then pow He grinned with vacuously open mouth at the girl, who moved away from him.The Radolian was saying, For instance, old man, you think maybe that this Mule guys running things. No-o-o. And he wagged a finger horizontally. The way I hear it, and from pretty high up, mind you, hes our boy. Were paying(a) him off, and we probably built those ships. Lets be veryistic about it we probably did. Sure, he cant beat the Foundation in the long run, save he can get them shaky, and when he does we get in.The girl said, Is that all you can talk about, Klev? The war? You make me tired.The pilot from Haven said, in an access of gallantry,Change the subject. Cant make the girls tired.The dewy one took up the refrain and banged a mug to the rhythm. The little groups of two that had formed broke up with g iggles and swagger, and a few similar groups of twos emerged from the sun-house in the background.The conversation became more general, more varied, more meaningless.Then there were those who knew a little more and were less confident.Such as the one-armed Fran, whose large bulk matched Haven as official delegated, and who lived high in consequence, and cultivated new friendships with women when he could and with men when he had to.It was on the sun platform of the hilltop home, of one of these new friends, that he relaxed for the first of what eventually turn up to be a total of two times while on Radole. The new friend was invasion of Iwo Lyon, a kindheartedred soul of Radole. Iwos house was apart from the general cluster, apparently alone in a sea of floral perfume and insect chatter. The sun platform was a grassy strip of lawn restore at a forty-five degree angle, and upon it Fran stretched out and fairly sopped up sun.He said, Dont have anything comparable this on Haven. Iwo replied, sleepily, Ever promisen the cold side. Theres a spot twenty miles from here where the oxygen runs like water. Go on.Fact.Well, Ill tell you, Iwo-In the old days before my arm was chewed off I knocked around, see and you wont accept this, but The story that followed lasted considerably, and Iwo didnt think it.Iwo said, through yawns, They dont make them like in the old days, thats the truth.No, guess they dont. Well, now, Fran fired up, dont say that. I told you about my son, didnt I? Hes one of the old school, if you like. Hell make a great Trader, blast it. Hes his old man up and down. Up and down, except that he gets married.You mean statutory contract? With a girl?Thats right. Dont see the sense in it myself. They went to Kalgan for their honeymoon.Kalgan? Kalgan? When the Galaxy was this?Fran smiled broadly, and said with slow meaning, save before the Mule declared war on the Foundation.That so?Fran nodded and motioned Iwo closer with his head. He said, hoars ely, In fact, I can tell you something, if you dont let it go any further. My boy was sent to Kalgan for a purpose. today I wouldnt like to let it out, you know, just what the purpose was, naturally, but you look at the situation now, and I suppose you can make a pretty good guess. In any case, my boy was the man for the job. We Traders needed some sort of ruckus. He smiled, craftily. Its here. Im not saying how we did it, but my boy went to Kalgan, and the Mule sent out his ships. My sonIwo was duly impressed. He grew confidential in his turn, Thats good. You know, they say weve got five nose candy ships ready to pitch in on our own at the right time. Fran said authoritatively, More than that, maybe. This is real strategy. This is the kind I like. He clawed loudly at the skin of his abdomen. provided dont you forget that the Mule is a smart boy, too. What happened at Horleggor worries me. I comprehend he missed about ten ships.Sure, but he had a hundred more, and the Foundati on had to get out. Its all to the good to have those tyrants beaten, but not as quickly as all that. He shook his head.The question I ask is where does the Mule get his ships? Theres a widespread rumor were making them for him.We? The Traders? Haven has the biggest ship factories anywhere in the self-sustaining worlds, and we havent made one for anyone but ourselves. Do you suppose any world is building a melt for the Mule on its own, without taking the precaution of united action? Thats a a fairy tale.Well, where does he get them?And Fran shrugged, Makes them himself, I suppose. That worries me, too.Fran blinked at the sun and curled his toes about the smooth wood of the polished foot-rest. Slowly, he fell asleep and the soft burr of his breathing mingled with the insect sibilance.Lastly, there were the very few who knew appreciable and were not confident at all.Such as Randu, who on the fifth day of the all-Trader convention entered the primeval Hall and found the two men he h ad asked to be there, time lag for him. The five hundred seat were empty and were going to stay so.Randu said quickly, almost before he sat down, We three represent about half the military potential of the Independent Trading Worlds.Yes, said Mangin of Iss, my colleague and I have already commented upon the fact.I am ready, said Randu, to speak quickly and earnestly. I am not concerned in bargaining or subtlety. Our position is radically in the worse.As a result of- urged Ovall Gri of Mnemon.Of developments of the last hour. Please From the beginning. First, our position is not of our doing, and but doubtfully of our control. Our received dealings were not with the Mule, but with several(prenominal) others notably the ex-warlord of Kalgan, whom the Mule belt downed at a most inconvenient time for us.Yes, but this Mule is a worthy substitute, said Mangin. I do not cavil at details.You may when you know all the details. Randu leaned forward and placed his hands upon the table pal ms-up in an obvious gesture.He said, A calendar month ago I sent my nephew and my nephews wife to Kalgan.Your nephew cried Ovall Gri, in surprise. I did not know he was your nephew.With what purpose, asked Mangin, dryly. This? And his jerk drew an inclusive circle high in the air.No. If you mean the Mules war on the Foundation, no. How could I aim so high? The young man knew nothing neither of our organization nor of our aims. He was told I was a minor member of an intra-Haven patriotic society, and his function at Kalgan was nothing but that of an recreational observer. My motives were, I must admit, rather obscure. Mainly, I was curious about the Mule. He is a strange phenomenon but thats a chewed cud Ill not go into it. Secondly, it would make an interesting and educational training project for a man who had experience with the Foundation and the Foundation underground and showed promise of future usefulness to us. You see-Ovalls long face fell into vertical lines as he showed his large teeth, You must have been surprised at the outcome, then, since there is not a world among the Traders, I believe, that does not know that this nephew of yours abducted a Mule underling in the name of the Foundation and furnished the Mule with a casus belli. Galaxy, Randu, you spin romances. I find it hard to believe you had no hand in that. Come, it was a skillful job.Randu shook his white head, Not of my doing. Nor, willfully, of my nephews, who is now held prisoner at the Foundation, and may not live to see the completion of this so-skillful job. I have just heard from him. The Personal Capsule has been smuggled out somehow, come through the war zone, gone to Haven, and traveled from there to here. It has been a month on its travels.And?-Randu leaned a heavy hand upon the heel of his palm and said, sadly, Im afraid we are cast for the same role that the onetime warlord of Kalgan played. The Mule is a mutantThere was a flitting qualm a faint impression of quickened hea rtbeats. Randu might easily have imagined it.When Mangin spoke, the evenness of his voice was unchanged, How do you know?Only because my nephew says so, but he was on Kalgan.What kind of a mutant? There are all kinds, you know.Randu forced the rising impatience down, All kinds of mutants, yes, Mangin. All kinds But only one kind of Mule. What kind of a mutant would start as an unknown, assemble an army, establish, they say, a five-mile asteroid as original base, capture a planet, then a system, then a region and then attack the Foundation, and defeat them at Horleggor. And all in two or three yearsOvall Gri shrugged, So you think hell beat the Foundation?I dont know. Suppose he does?Sorry, I cant go that far. You dont beat the Foundation. Look, theres not a new fact we have to go on except for the statements of a well, of an inexperienced boy. Suppose we shelve it for a while. With all the Mules victories, we werent worried until now, and unless he goes a good deal further than he has, I see no reason to change that. Yes?Randu frowned and despaired at the cobweb texture of his argument. He said to both, Have we in so far made any contact with the Mule?No, both answered.Its true, though, that weve tried, isnt it? Its true that theres not much purpose to our meeting unless we do reach him, isnt it? Its true that so far theres been more drinking than thinking, and more wooing than doing I quote from an editorial in todays Radole Tribune and all because we cant reach the Mule. Gentlemen, we have nearly a thousand ships waiting to be thrown into the fight at the proper moment to captivate control of the Foundation. I say we should change that. I say, throw those thousand onto the board now against the Mule.You mean for the Tyrant Indbur and the bloodsuckers of the Foundation? demanded Mangin, with quiet venom.Randu raised a weary hand, Spare me the adjectives. Against the Mule, I say, and for I-dont-care-who.Ovall Gri rose, Randu, Ill have nothing to do with that, You present it to the full council tonight if you particularly hunger for political suicide.He left without another word and Mangin followed silently, leaving Randu to cast out a lonely hour of endless, insoluble consideration.At the full council that night, he said nothing.But it was Ovall Gri who pushed into his room the next morning an Ovall Gri only sketchily dressed and who had neither shaved nor combed his hair.Randu stared at him over a yet-uncleared breakfast table with an astonishment sufficiently open and strenuous to cause him to nightfall his pipe.Ovall said baldly, harshly. Mnemon has been bombarded from space by treacherous attack.Randus eyes narrowed, The Foundation?The Mule exploded Ovall. The Mule His words raced, It was unprovoked and deliberate. Most of our fleet had joined the international flotilla. The few left as Home Squadron were wanting(p) and were blown out of the sky. There have been no landings yet, and there may not be, for half the attackers a re reported destroyed but it is war and I have come to ask how Haven stands on the matter.Haven, I am sure, will adhere to the spirit of the Charter of Federation. But, you see? He attacks us as well.This Mule is a madman. Can he defeat the universe? He faltered and sat down to seize Randus wrist, Our few survivors have reported the Mules poss enemys possession of a new weapon. A nuclear-field depressor.A what?Ovall said, Most of our ships were lost because their nuclear weapons failed them. It could not have happened by either accident or sabotage. It must have been a weapon of the Mule. It didnt work perfectly the effect was intermittent there were ways to neutralize my dispatches are not detailed. But you see that such a tool would change the nature of war and, possibly, make our perfect fleet obsolete.Randu felt an old, old man. His face sagged hopelessly, I am afraid a monster is grown that will devour all of us. Yet we must fight him.