Flux Orson Scott Card

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"I did read what you wrote, you know. You said it would be the labor of the next millennium
to find the answer."
"Just now. Lying here, just now, I saw it, just out of reach. Something about your work and
Hari's work, and the tree."
"The tree was about me needing you, Leyel. It wasn't about the origin of humanity."
"It's gone. Whatever I saw for a moment there, it's gone. But I can find it again. It's there in
your work, and Hari's Foundation, and the fall of the Empire, and the damned pear tree."
"I never said it was a pear tree."
"I used to play in the pear orchard on the grounds Of the estate in Holdwater. To me the
word 'tree' always means a pear tree. One of the deep-worn ruts in my brain."
"I'm relieved. I was afraid you were reminded of pears by the shape of these ancient
breasts when I bend over."
"Open your robe again. Let me see if I think of pears. "
***
Leyel paid for Hari Seldon's funeral. It was not lavish. Leyel had meant it to be. The moment
he heard of Hari's death-- not a surprise, since Hari's first brutal stroke had left him
half-paralyzed in a wheelchair-- he set his staff to work on a memorial service appropriate to
honor the greatest scientific mind of the millennium. But word arrived, in the form of a visit
from Commissioner Rom Divart, that any sort of public services would be...
"Shall we say, inappropriate?"
"The man was the greatest genius I've ever heard of! He virtually invented a branch of
science that clarified things that-- he made a science out of the sort of thing that soothsayers
and-- and-- economists used to do!"
Rom laughed at Leyel's little joke, of course, because he and Leyel had been friends
forever. Rom was the only friend of Leyel's childhood who had never sucked up to him or
resented him or stayed cool toward him because of the Forska fortune. This was, of course,
because the Divart holdings were, if anything, slightly greater. They had played together
unencumbered by strangeness or jealousy or awe.
They even shared a tutor for two terrible, glorious years, from the time Rom's father was
murdered until the execution of Rom's grandfather, which caused so much outrage among
the nobility that the mad Emperor was stripped of power and the Imperium put under the
control of the Commission of Public Safety. Then, as the youthful head of one of the great
families, Rom had embarked on his long and fruitful career in politics.
Rom said later that for those two years it was Leyel who taught him that there was still
some good in the world; that Leyel's friendship was the only reason Rom hadn't killed
himself. Leyel always thought this was pure theatrics. Rom was a born actor. That's why he
so excelled at making stunning entrances and playing unforgettable scenes on the grandest
stage of all-- the politics of the Imperium. Someday he would no doubt exit as dramatically
as his father and grandfather had.
But he was not all show. Rom never forgot the friend of his childhood. Leyel knew it, and
knew also that Rom's coming to deliver this message from the Commission of Public Safety
probably meant that Rom had fought to make the message as mild as it was. So Leyel
blustered a bit, then made his little joke. It was his way of surrendering gracefully.
What Leyel didn't realize, right up until the day of the funeral, was exactly how dangerous
his friendship with Hari Seldon had been, and how stupid it was for him to associate himself
with Hari's name now that the old man was dead. Linge Chen, the Chief Commissioner, had
not risen to the position of greatest power in the Empire without being fiercely suspicious of
potential rivals and brutally efficient about eliminating them. Hari had maneuvered Chen into
a position such that it was more dangerous to kill the old man than to give him his
Foundation on Terminus. But now Hari was dead, and apparently Chen was watching to see
who mourned.
Leyel did-- Leyel and the few members of Hari's staff who had stayed behind on Trantor to
maintain contact with Terminus up to the moment of Hari's death. Leyel should have known
better. Even alive, Hari wouldn't have cared who came to his funeral. And now, dead, he
cared even less. Leyel didn't believe his friend lived on in some ethereal plane, watching
carefully and taking attendance at the services. No, Leyel simply felt he had to be there, felt
he had to speak. Not for Hari, really. For himself. To continue to be himself, Leyel had to
make some kind of public gesture toward Hari Seldon and all he had stood for.
Who heard? Not many. Deet, who thought his eulogy was too mild by half. Hari's staff, who
were quite aware of the danger and winced at each of Leyel's list of Hari's
accomplishments. Naming them-- and emphasizing that only Seldon had the vision to do
these great works-- was, inherently a criticism of the level of intelligence and integrity in the
Empire. The Pubs were listening, too. They noted that Leyel clearly agreed with Hari Seldon
about the certainty of the Empire's fall-- that in fact as a galactic empire it had probably
already fallen, since its authority was no longer coextensive with the Galaxy. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Wątki