by Isaac Asimov
Trevize threw in a request for maximum enhancement and the ring became ringlets, narrow and concentric, glittering in the sunlight. Only a portion of the ring system was visible on the viewscreen and the planet itself had moved off. A further direction from Trevize and one corner of the screen marked itself off and showed, within itself, a miniature of the planet and rings under lesser magnification.
“Is that sort of thing common?” asked Bliss, awed.
“No,” said Trevize. “Almost every gas giant has rings of debris, but they tend to be faint and narrow. I once saw one in which the rings were narrow, but quite bright. But I never saw anything like this; or heard of it, either.”
Pelorat said, “That’s clearly the ringed giant the legends speak of. If this is really unique—”
“Really unique, as far as I know, or as far as the computer knows,” said Trevize.
“Then this must be the planetary system containing Earth. Surely, no one could invent such a planet. It would have had to have been seen to be described.”
Trevize said, “I’m prepared to believe just about anything your legends say now. This is the sixth planet and Earth would be the third?”
“Right, Golan.”
“Then I would say we were less than 1.5 billion kilometers from Earth, and we haven’t been stopped. Gaia stopped us when we approached.”
Bliss said, “You were closer to Gaia when you were stopped.”
“Ah,” said Trevize, “but it’s my opinion Earth is more powerful than Gaia, and I take this to be a good sign. If we are not stopped, it may be that Earth does not object to our approach.”
“Or that there is no Earth,” said Bliss.
“Do you care to bet this time?” asked Trevize grimly.
“What I think Bliss means,” put in Pelorat, “is that Earth may be radioactive as everyone seems to think, and that no one stops us because there is no life on the Earth.”
“No,” said Trevize violently. “I’ll believe everything that’s said about Earth, but that. We’ll just close in on Earth and see for ourselves. And I have the feeling we won’t be stopped.”
89.
The gas giants were well behind. An asteroid belt lay just inside the gas giant nearest the sun. (That gas giant was the largest and most massive, just as the legends said.)
Inside the asteroid belt were four planets.
Trevize studied them carefully. “The third is the largest. The size is appropriate and the distance from the sun is appropriate. It could be habitable.”
Pelorat caught what seemed to be a note of uncertainty in Trevize’s words.
He said, “Does it have an atmosphere?”
“Oh yes,” said Trevize. “The second, third, and fourth planets all have atmospheres. And, as in the old children’s tale, the second’s is too dense, the fourth’s is not dense enough, but the third’s is just right.”
“Do you think it might be Earth, then?”
“Think?” said Trevize almost explosively. “I don’t have to think. It is Earth. It has the giant satellite you told me of.”
“It has?” And Pelorat’s face broke into a wider smile than any that Trevize had ever seen upon it.
“Absolutely! Here, look at it under maximum magnification.”
Pelorat saw two crescents, one distinctly larger and brighter than the other.
“Is that smaller one the satellite?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s rather farther from the planet than one might expect but it’s definitely revolving about it. It’s only the size of a small planet; in fact, it’s smaller than any of the four inner planets circling the sun. Still, it’s large for a satellite. It’s at least two thousand kilometers in diameter, which makes it in the size range of the large satellites that revolve about gas giants.”
“No larger?” Pelorat seemed disappointed. “Then it’s not a giant satellite?”
“Yes, it is. A satellite with a diameter of two to three thousand kilometers that is circling an enormous gas giant is one thing. That same satellite circling a small, rocky habitable planet is quite another. That satellite has a diameter over a quarter that of Earth. Where have you heard of such near-parity involving a habitable planet?”
Pelorat said timidly, “I know very little of such things.”
Trevize said, “Then take my word for it, Janov. It’s unique. We’re looking at something that is practically a double planet, and there are few habitable planets that have anything more than pebbles orbiting them. —Janov, if you consider that gas giant with its enormous ring system in sixth place, and this planet with its enormous satellite in third—both of which your legends told you about, against all credibility, before you ever saw them—then that world you’re looking at must be Earth. It cannot conceivably be anything else. We’ve found it, Janov; we’ve found it.”
90.
They were on the second day of their coasting progress toward Earth, and Bliss yawned over the dinner meal. She said, “It seems to me we’ve spent more time coasting toward and away from planets than anything else. We’ve spent weeks at it, literally.”
“Partly,” said Trevize, “that’s because Jumps are dangerous too close to a star. And in this case, we’re moving very slowly because I do not wish to advance into possible danger too quickly.”
“I thought you said you had the feeling we would not be stopped.”
“So I do, but I don’t want to stake everything on a feeling.” Trevize looked at the contents of the spoon before putting it into his mouth and said, “You know, I miss the fish we had on Alpha. We only had three meals there.”
“A pity,” agreed Pelorat.
“Well,” said Bliss, “we visited five worlds and had to leave each one of them so hurriedly that we never had time to add to our food supplies and introduce variety. Even when the world had food to offer, as did Comporellon and Alpha, and, presumably—”
She did not complete the sentence, for Fallom, looking up quickly, finished it for her. “Solaria? Could you get no food there? There is plenty of food there. As much as on Alpha. And better, too.”
“I know that, Fallom,” said Bliss. “There was just no time.”
Fallom stared at her solemnly. “Will I ever see Jemby again, Bliss? Tell me the truth.”
Bliss said, “You may, if we return to Solaria.”
“Will we ever return to Solaria?”
Bliss hesitated. “I cannot say.”
“Now we go to Earth, is that right? Isn’t that the planet where you say we all originate?”
“Where our forebears originated,” said Bliss.
“I can say ‘ancestors,’ ” said Fallom.
“Yes, we are going to Earth.”
“Why?”
Bliss said lightly, “Wouldn’t anyone wish to see the world of their ancestors?”
“I think there’s more to it. You all seem so concerned.”
“But we’ve never been there before. We don’t know what to expect.”
“I think it is more than that.”
Bliss smiled. “You’ve finished eating, Fallom dear, so why not go to the room and let us have a little serenade on your flute. You’re playing it more beautifully all the time. Come, come.” She gave Fallom an accelerating pat on the rear end, and off Fallom went, turning only once to give Trevize a thoughtful look.
Trevize looked after her with clear distaste. “Does that thing read minds?”
“Don’t call her a ‘thing,’ Trevize,” said Bliss sharply.
“Does she read minds? You ought to be able to tell.”
“No, she doesn’t. Nor can Gaia. Nor can the Second Foundationers. Reading minds in the sense of overhearing a conversation, or making out precise ideas is not something that can be done now, or in the foreseeable future. We can detect, interpret, and, to some extent, manipulate emotions, but that is not the same thing at all.”
“How do you know she can’t do this thing that supposedly can’t be done?”
“Because as you have j
ust said, I ought to be able to tell.”
“Perhaps she is manipulating you so that you remain ignorant of the fact that she can.”
Bliss rolled her eyes upward. “Be reasonable, Trevize. Even if she had unusual abilities, she could do nothing with me for I am not Bliss, I am Gaia. You keep forgetting. Do you know the mental inertia represented by an entire planet? Do you think one Isolate, however talented, can overcome that?”
“You don’t know everything, Bliss, so don’t be overconfident,” said Trevize sullenly. “That th— She has been with us not very long. I couldn’t learn anything but the rudiments of a language in that time, yet she already speaks Galactic perfectly and with virtually a full vocabulary. Yes, I know you’ve been helping her, but I wish you would stop.”
“I told you I was helping her, but I also told you she’s fearfully intelligent. Intelligent enough so that I would like to have her part of Gaia. If we can gather her in; if she’s still young enough; we might learn enough about the Solarians to absorb that entire world eventually. It might well be useful to us.”
“Does it occur to you that the Solarians are pathological Isolates even by my standards?”
“They wouldn’t stay so as part of Gaia.”
“I think you’re wrong, Bliss. I think that Solarian child is dangerous and that we should get rid of her.”
“How? Dump her through the airlock? Kill her, chop her up, and add her to our food supply?”
Pelorat said, “Oh, Bliss.”
And Trevize said, “That’s disgusting, and completely uncalled for.” He listened for a moment. The flute was sounding without flaw or waver, and they had been talking in half-whispers. “When this is all over, we’ve got to return her to Solaria, and make sure that Solaria is forever cut off from the Galaxy. My own feeling is that it should be destroyed. I distrust and fear it.”
Bliss thought awhile and said, “Trevize, I know that you have the knack of coming to a right decision, but I also know you have been antipathetic to Fallom from the start. I suspect that may just be because you were humiliated on Solaria and have taken a violent hatred to the planet and its inhabitants as a result. Since I must not tamper with your mind, I can’t tell that for sure. Please remember that if we had not taken Fallom with us, we would be on Alpha right now—dead and, I presume, buried.”
“I know that, Bliss, but even so—”
“And her intelligence is to be admired, not envied.”
“I do not envy her. I fear her.”
“Her intelligence?”
Trevize licked his lips thoughtfully. “No, not quite.”
“What, then?”
“I don’t know. Bliss, if I knew what I feared, I might not have to fear it. It’s something I don’t quite understand.” His voice lowered, as though he were speaking to himself. “The Galaxy seems to be crowded with things I don’t understand. Why did I choose Gaia? Why must I find Earth? Is there a missing assumption in psychohistory? If there is, what is it? And on top of all that, why does Fallom make me uneasy?”
Bliss said, “Unfortunately, I can’t answer those questions.” She rose, and left the room.
Pelorat looked after her, then said, “Surely things aren’t totally black, Golan. We’re getting closer and closer to Earth and once we reach it all mysteries may be solved. And so far nothing seems to be making any effort to stop us from reaching it.”
Trevize’s eyes flickered toward Pelorat and he said in a low voice, “I wish something would.”
Pelorat said, “You do? Why should you want that?”
“Frankly, I’d welcome a sign of life.”
Pelorat’s eyes opened wide. “Have you found that Earth is radioactive after all?”
“Not quite. But it is warm. A bit warmer than I would have expected.”
“Is that bad?”
“Not necessarily. It may be rather warm but that wouldn’t make it necessarily uninhabitable. The cloud cover is thick and it is definitely water vapor, so that those clouds, together with a copious water ocean, could tend to keep things livable despite the temperature we calculated from microwave emission. I can’t be sure, yet. It’s just that—”
“Yes, Golan?”
“Well, if Earth were radioactive, that might well account for its being warmer than expected.”
“But that doesn’t argue the reverse, does it? If it’s warmer than expected, that doesn’t mean it must be radioactive.”
“No. No, it doesn’t.” Trevize managed to force a smile. “No use brooding, Janov. In a day or two, I’ll be able to tell more about it and we’ll know for sure.”
91.
Fallom was sitting on the cot in deep thought when Bliss came into the room. Fallom looked up briefly, then down again.
Bliss said quietly, “What’s the matter, Fallom?”
Fallom said, “Why does Trevize dislike me so much, Bliss?”
“What makes you think he dislikes you?”
“He looks at me impatiently— Is that the word?”
“It might be the word.”
“He looks at me impatiently when I am near him. His face always twists a little.”
“Trevize is having a hard time, Fallom.”
“Because he’s looking for Earth?”
“Yes.”
Fallom thought awhile, then said, “He is particularly impatient when I think something into moving.”
Bliss’s lips tightened. “Now, Fallom, didn’t I tell you you must not do that, especially when Trevize is present?”
“Well, it was yesterday, right here in this room, and he was in the doorway and I didn’t notice. I didn’t know he was watching. It was just one of Pel’s book-films, anyway, and I was trying to make it stand on one tip. I wasn’t doing any harm.”
“It makes him nervous, Fallom, and I want you not to do it, whether he’s watching or not.”
“Does it make him nervous because he can’t do it?”
“Perhaps.”
“Can you do it?”
Bliss shook her head slowly. “No, I can’t.”
“It doesn’t make you nervous when I do it. It doesn’t make Pel nervous, either.”
“People are different.”
“I know,” said Fallom, with a sudden hardness that surprised Bliss and caused her to frown.
“What do you know, Fallom?”
“I’m different.”
“Of course, I just said so. People are different.”
“My shape is different. I can move things.”
“That’s true.”
Fallom said, with a shade of rebelliousness, “I must move things. Trevize should not be angry with me for that, and you should not stop me.”
“But why must you move things?”
“It is practice. Exerceez. —Is that the right word?”
“Not quite. Exercise.”
“Yes. Jemby always said I must train my—my—”
“Transducer-lobes?”
“Yes. And make them strong. Then, when I was grown up, I could power all the robots. Even Jemby.”
“Fallom, who did power all the robots if you did not?”
“Bander.” Fallom said it very matter-of-factly.
“Did you know Bander?”
“Of course. I viewed him many times. I was to be the next estate-head. The Bander estate would become the Fallom estate. Jemby told me so.”
“You mean Bander came to your—”
Fallom’s mouth made a perfect O of shock. She said in a choked voice, “Bander would never come to—” The youngster ran out of breath and panted a bit, then said, “I viewed Bander’s image.”
Bliss asked hesitantly, “How did Bander treat you?”
Fallom looked at Bliss with a faintly puzzled eye. “Bander would ask me if I needed anything; if I was comfortable. But Jemby was always near me so I never needed anything and I was always comfortable.”
Her head bent and she stared at the floor. Then she placed her hands over her eyes and said, “But Jemby s
topped. I think it was because Bander—stopped, too.”
Bliss said, “Why do you say that?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. Bander powered all the robots, and if Jemby stopped, and all the other robots, too, it must be that Bander stopped. Isn’t that so?”
Bliss was silent.
Fallom said, “But when you take me back to Solaria I will power Jemby and all the rest of the robots, and I will be happy again.”
She was sobbing.
Bliss said, “Aren’t you happy with us, Fallom? Just a little? Sometimes?”
Fallom lifted her tear-stained face to Bliss and her voice trembled as she shook her head and said, “I want Jemby.”
In an agony of sympathy, Bliss threw her arms about the youngster. “Oh, Fallom, how I wish I could bring you and Jemby together again,” and was suddenly aware that she was weeping, too.
92.
Pelorat entered and found them so. He halted in mid-step and said, “What’s the matter?”
Bliss detached herself and fumbled for a small tissue so that she might wipe her eyes. She shook her head, and Pelorat at once said, with heightened concern, “But what’s the matter?”
Bliss said, “Fallom, just rest a little. I’ll think of something to make things a little better for you. Remember— I love you just the same way that Jemby did.”
She seized Pelorat’s elbow and rushed him out into the living room, saying, “It’s nothing, Pel. —Nothing.”
“It’s Fallom, though, isn’t it? She still misses Jemby.”
“Terribly. And there’s nothing we can do about it. I can tell her that I love her—and, truthfully, I do. How can you help loving a child so intelligent and gentle? —Fearfully intelligent. Trevize thinks too intelligent. She’s seen Bander in her time, you know—or viewed it, rather, as a holographic image. She’s not moved by that memory, however; she’s very cold and matter-of-fact about it, and I can understand why. There was only the fact that Bander was owner of the estate and that Fallom would be the next owner that bound them. No other relationship at all.”