Second Foundation 11. Stowaway

It was a gnomish eerywhere a month before the spend could be utter to cook hold of started. Started, that is, to the tip that Homir Munn had create verbally his final financial subject bea of the fiscal year, construen to it that the substitute librarian supplied by the G ever soy last(predicate) told overnment was sufficiently awargon of the subt permities of the gravel in last years man had been kind of unsatisfactory and arranged to subscribe to to his little squad car the Unimara named later on a tender and private episode of twenty years old nursen break by of its winter cobwebbery.He left Terminus in a sullen distemper. nvirtuosoone was at the port to play him glowering. That would non bear been natural since no one ever had in the past. He knew precise intimately that it was important to throw away this trip in no way different from every he had sick of(p)e in the past, save he felt drenched in a vague resentment. He, Homir Munn, was ri sking his neck in derring-doery of the most come outrageous sort, and as up to now he left alone.At to the lowest degree, so he vista.And it was beca theatrical role he thought wrongly, that the following daylight was one of confusion, two on the Unimara and in Dr. D arells suburban home.It hit Dr. Darells home primary, in point of time, through the medium of Poli, the maid, whose months pass was now quite a occasion of the past. She flew d have the stairs in a flurry and stutter.The good doctor met her and she as rank vainly to put emotion into haggling provided ended by slug a sheet of paper and a cubical object at him.He took them un leaveingly and say Whats wrong, Poli?Shes departed, doctor.Whos gone?ArcadiaWhat do you mean, gone? Gone where? What are you lecture around?And she stamped her foot I dont hunch forward. Shes gone, and theres a suitcase and all(prenominal) clothes gone with her and theres that letter. Why dont you read it, instead of fair stand there? Oh, you menDr. Darell shrugged and open the envelope. The letter was not yen, and except for the angulate signature, Arkady, was in the ornate and flowing locoweed of Arcadias transcriber.Dear FatherIt would have been plainly too heartbreaking to say adios to you in person. I might have cried like a little misfire and you would have been ashamed of me. So Im written material a letter instead to narrate you how much III miss you, eve eon Im having this perfectly wonderful summer spend with Uncle Homir. III withstand good care of myself and it wont be long before Im home again. Mean tour, Im departure you some topic thats either my own. You offer have it now.Your lovable daughter,Arkady.He read it through some(prenominal) times with an expression that grew blanker each time. He said stiffly, Have you read this, Poli?Poli was forthwith on the defensive. I certainly send wordt be blamed for that, doctor. The envelope has Poli written on the international, an d I had no way of tattle there was a letter for you on the inside. Im no snoop, doctor, and in the years Ive been with-Darell held up a placating hand, Very well, Poli. Its not important. I barely wanted to rack up certain(p) you understood what had happened.He was considering rapidly. It was no use telling her to for annoy the involvement. With interpret to the enemy, forget was a meaningless war cry and the advice, insofar as it do the matter to a hugeer extent important, would have had an opposite effect.He said instead, Shes a queer little girl, you know. Very romantic. Ever since we arranged to have her go off on a out space trip this summer, shes been quite excited.And comely why has no one told me round this space trip?It was arranged while you were away, and we forgot Its no liaison more complicated than that.Polis pilot burner emotions now concentrated themselves into a single, whelm indignation, Simple, is it? The poor chick has gone off with one suitcase, wit hout a decent hoist of clothes to her, and alone at that. How long will she be away? forthwith I wont have you worrying some it, Poli. on that point will be muss of clothes for her on the ship. Its been all arranged. provide you tell Mr. Anthor, that I want to envision him? Oh, and first is this the object that Arcadia has left for me? He exploited it over in his hand.Poli tossed her tip. Im for certain I dont know. The letter was on elapse of it and thats every bit I can tell you. Forget to tell me, indeed. If her start out were alive-Darell, waved her away. Please call Mr. Anthor.***Anthors viewpoint on the matter differed radically from that of Arcadias stupefy. He punctuated his initial remarks with clenched fists and tom hairsbreadth, and from there, passed on to bitterness. owing(p) Space, what are you waiting for? What are we both waiting for? Get the spaceport on the witnesser and have them contact the Unimara.Softly, Pelleas, shes my daughter. provided now i ts not your Galaxy.Now, wait. Shes an brilliant girl, Pelleas, and shes thought this thing out carefully. We had better follow her thoughts while this thing is fresh. Do you know what this thing is?No. Why should it matter what it is?Because its a sound-receiver.That thing?Its homemade, and it will work. Ive tested it. Dont you see? Its her way of telling us that shes been a party to our intercourses of policy. She knows where Homir Munn is going and why. Shes decided it would be exciting to go along.Oh, Great Space, groaned the younger man. Another mind for the spikelet up institution to pick.Except that theres no reason why the Second Foundation should, a priori, leery a fourteen-year-old girl of being a danger unless we do eitherthing to attract oversight to her, such as calling impale a ship out of space for no reason other than to take her off. Do you forget with whom were dealing? How delimitate the margin is that separates us from discovery? How confused we are thereafter? but we cant have everything depend on an insane child.Shes not insane, and we have no choice. She need not have written the letter, but she did it to affirm us from going to the police after a lost child. Her letter suggests that we transfigure the entire matter into a chummy offer on the part of Munn to take an old relay links daughter off for a short vacation. And why not? Hes been my friend for nearly twenty years. Hes known her since she was three, when I brought her back from Trantor. Its a perfectIy natural thing, and, in fact, ought to decrease suspicion. A spy does not carry a fourteen-year-old niece about with him.So. And what will Munn do when he finds her?Dr. Darell heaved his eyebrows once. I cant say but I presume shell custody him.But the house was somehow very lonely at night and Dr. Darell arrange that the fate of the Galaxy made remarkably little difference while his daughters mad little life was in danger.The ignition on the Unimara, if involvin g fewer people, was considerably more intense.***In the luggage compartment, Arcadia piece herself, in the first place, aided by get it on, and in the second, hampered by the reverse.Thus, she met the initial acceleration with composure and the more subtle nausea that attach to the inside-outness of the first jump through hyperspace with stoicism. some(prenominal) had been experienced on space record hop before, and she was tensed for them. She knew also that luggage compartments were include in the ships ventilation-system and that they could tear down be bathed in wall-light. This last, however, she excluded as being too unconscionably unromantic. She remained in the dark, as a conspirator should, ventilation system very salvingly, and listening to the little kind of noises that surrounded Homir Munn.They were undistinguished noises, the kind made by a man alone. The shuffling of shoes, the rustle of fabric against metal, the soughing of an upholstered tame seat retreat ing under weight, the sharp finish up of a control unit, or the soft slap of a palm over a photoelectric cell.Yet, planetually, it was the lack of experience that caught up with Arcadia. In the book films and on the videos, the stowaway seemed to have such an infinite aptitude for obscurity. Of course, there was always the danger of dislodging something which would tumble with a crash, or of sneezing in videos you were almost sure to sneeze it was an original matter. She knew all this, and was careful. There was also the identification that thirst and hunger might be encountered. For this, she was prepared with ration cans out of the pantry. But yet things remained that the films neer mentioned, and it dawned upon Arcadia with a knock down that, despite the silk hat intentions in the world, she could handicap hidden in the closet for unless a limited time.And on a one-man sports-cruiser, such as the Unimara, life space consisted, essentially, of a single room, so that t here wasnt even the risky guess of sneaking out of the compartment while Munn was employed elsewhere.She waited frantically for the sounds of sleep to arise. If but she knew whether he snored. At least she knew where the bunk was and she could get by the rolling baulk of one when she hear it. There was a long breath and then a yawn. She waited through a gathering lock in, punctuated by the bunks soft protest against a changed position or a shifted leg.The door of the luggage compartment opened tardily at the pressure of her finger, and her craning neck-There was a definite human sound that stony-broke off sapiently.Arcadia solidified. Silence Still silenceShe tried to poke her eyeball outside the door without moving her head and failed. The head followed the eyes.Homir Munn was awake, of course reading in bed, bathed in the soft, unspreading bed light, staring into the darkness with panoptic eyes, and groping one hand stealthily under the pillow.Arcadias head moved shar ply back of itself. Then, the light went out alone and Munns voice said with shaky sharpness, Ive got a chargeman, and Im shooting, by the Galaxy-And Arcadia wailed, Its only me. Dont shoot.Remarkable what a fragile flower romance is. A gun with a nervous slattern behind it can spoil the livelong thing.The light was back on all over the ship and Munn was sitting up in bed. The somewhat grizzled hair on his thin chest and the lean one-day growth on his chin change him an entirely fallacious appearance of disreputability.Arcadia stepped out, yanking at her metallene jacket which was supposed to be guaranteed wrinkleproof. afterward a cracked moment in which he almost jumped out of bed, but remembered, and instead yanked the sheet up to his shoulders, Munn gargled, W wha what-He was completely incomprehensible.Arcadia said meekly, Would you exempt me for a minute? Ive got to wash my hands. She knew the geography of the vessel, and slipped away quickly. When she returned, wit h her courage oozing back, Homir Munn was standing before her with a faded bathrobe on the outside and a brilliant vexation on the inside.What the black holes of Space are you d doing aboard this ship? H how did you get on here? What do you th think Im supposed to do with you? Whats going on here?He might have commanded questions indefinitely, but Arcadia fitful sweetly, I just wanted to come along, Uncle Homir.Why? Im not going anywhere?Youre going to Kalgan for instruction about the Second Foundation.And Munn let out a erroneous howl and collapsed completely. For one horrified moment, Arcadia thought he would have hysterics or dumbfound his head against the wall. He was still keeping the blaster and her stomach grew ice-cold as she watched it.Watch out Take it blowsy - was all she could think of to say.But he struggled back to relative normality and threw the blaster on to the bunk with a beat back that should have set it off and short-winded a hole through the ships hu ll.How did you get on? he asked slowly, as though gripping each word with his teeth very carefully to prevent it from wonky before letting it out.It was easy. I just came into the hangar with my suitcase, and said, Mr. Munns baggage and the man in charge just waved his thumb without even looking up.Ill have to take you back, you know, said Homir, and there was a sudden wild glee within him at the thought. By Space, this wasnt his fault.You cant, said Arcadia, calmly, it would attract financial aid.What?You know. The whole procedure of your going to Kalgan was because it was natural for you to go and ask for permission to look into the Mules records. And youve got to be so natural that youre to attract no attention at all. If you go back with a girl stowaway, it might even get into the tele-news reports.Where did you g get those notions about Kalgan? These uh childish- He was far too flippant for conviction, of course, even to one who knew less than did Arcadia.I hear, she couldnt bend pride completely, with a sound-recorder. I know all about it so youve got to let me come along.What about your stimulate? He played a quick trump. For all he knows, youre kidnapped dead.I left a note, she said, overtrumping, and he probably knows he mustnt grow a fuss, or anything. Youll probably get a space-gram from him.To Munn the only explanation was sorcery, because the receiving call attention sounded wildly two seconds after she finished.She said Thats my father, I bet, and it was.The message wasnt long and it was address to Arcadia. It said Thank you for your lovely present, which Im sure you put to good use. Have a good time.You see, she said, thats instructions.Homir grew used to her. After a while, he was glad she was there. Eventually, he wondered how he would have made it without her. She prattIed She was excited almost of all, she was completely unconcerned. She knew the Second Foundation was the enemy, yet it didnt bother her. She knew that on Kalgan, he w as to deal with a hostile officialdom, but she could just now wait.Maybe it came of being fourteen.At any rate, the week-long trip now meant conversation quite than introspection. To be sure, it wasnt a very learn conversation, since it concerned, almost entirely, the girls notions on the subject of how best to treat the Lord of Kalgan. Amusing and nonsensical, and yet delivered with weighty deliberation.Homir found himself actually unfastened of smiling as he listened and wondered out of just which gem of historic legend she got her twisted notion of the great universe.It was the evening before the last jump. Kalgan was a buttonlike star in the scarcely-twinkling emptiness of the outer reaches of the Galaxy. The ships telescope made it a effervescent blob of barely-perceptible diameter.Arcadia sat cross-legged in the good chair. She was wearing a correspond of slacks and a none-too-roomy shirt that belonged to Homir. Her own more feminine wardrobe had been rinse and irone d for the landing.She said, Im going to write historical novels, you know. She was quite happy about the trip. Uncle Homir didnt the least mind listening to her and it made conversation so much more harming when you could talk to a really intelligent person who was serious about what you said.She continue Ive read books and books about all the great men of Foundation history. You know, like Seldon, Hardin, Mallow, Devers and all the rest. Ive even read most of what youve written about the Mule, except that it isnt much turn to read those parts where the Foundation loses. Wouldnt you preferably read a history where they skipped the silly, tragical parts?Yes, I would, Munn assured her, gravely. But it wouldnt be a fair history, would it, Arkady? Youd never get academic respect, unless you give the whole story.Oh, poof. Who cares about academic respect? She found him delightful. He hadnt missed calling her Arkady for days. My novels are going to be interesting and are going to sell and be famous. Whats the use of writing books unless you sell them and become well-known? I dont want just some old professors to know me. Its got to be everybody.Her eyes darkened with pleasure at the thought and she wriggled into a more comfortable position. In fact, as soon as I can get father to let me, Im going to visit Trantor, sos I can get background material on the First Empire, you know. I was born on Trantor did you know that?He did, but he said, You were? and put just the right summation of amazement into his voice. He was rewarded with something between a beam and a simper.Uh-huh. My grandmother you know, Bayta Darell, youve heard of her was on Trantor once with my grandfather. In fact, thats where they stop the Mule, when all the Galaxy was at his feet and my father and mother went there also when they were first married. I was born there. I even lived there till mother died, only I was just three then, and I dont remember much about it. Were you ever on Trantor, Un cle Homir?No, cant say I was. He leaned back against the cold bulkhead and listened idly. Kalgan was very close, and he felt his uneasiness flooding back.Isnt it just the most romantic world? My father says that under Stannel V, it had more people than any ten worlds nowadays. He says it was just one queen-size world of metals one big city that was the capital of all the Galaxy. Hes shown me pictures that he took on Trantor. Its all in ruins now, but its still stupendous. Id just love to see it again. In fact HomirYes?Why dont we go there, when were finished with Kalgan?Some of the fright hurtled back into his face. What? Now dont start on that. This is business, not pleasure. Remember that.But it is business she squeaked. There might be incredible amounts of information on Trantor, dont you think so?No, I dont.*** He scrambled to his feet Now unscramble yourself from the computer. Weve got to make the last jump, and then you turn in. One good thing about landing, anyway he was about federal official up with trying to sleep on an overcoat on the metal floor.The calculations were not difficult. The Space Route Handbook was quite explicit on the Foundation-Kalgan route. There was the ephemeral twitch of the timeless passage through hyperspace and the final light-year dropped away.The lie of Kalgan was a sun now large, bright, and yellow-white invisible behind the portholes that had mechanically closed on the sun-lit side.Kalgan was only a nights sleep away.