Second Foundation 11. Stowaway

It was a little over a month before the summer could be said to have started. Started, that is, to the extent that Homir Munn had written his terminal financial report of the fiscal year, seen to it that the substitute librarian supplied by the Government was sufficiently aw ar of the sagaciousties of the post last years man had been quite unsatisfactory and arrange to have his little cruiser the Unimara named after a tender and mysterious episode of cardinal years past taken enumerate out of its winter cobwebbery.He leftover Terminus in a sullen distemper. No sensation was at the port to see him off. That would non have been natural since no one ever had in the past. He knew very well that it was important to have this trip in no way different from any he had put one over in the past, yet he felt drenched in a vague resentment. He, Homir Munn, was risking his neck in derring-doery of the intimately outrageous sort, and yet he left altogether.At least, so he thought.A nd it was because he thought wrongly, that the following day was one of confusion, both on the Unimara and in Dr. Darells suburban home.It hit Dr. Darells home first, in point of time, through the medium of Poli, the maid, whose months vacation was now quite a thing of the past. She flew down the stairs in a flurry and stutter.The good restore met her and she tried vainly to put emotion into words but ended by thrusting a sheet of paper and a cubical endeavor at him.He withalk them unwillingly and said Whats wrong, Poli?Shes gone, doctor.Whos gone?ArcadiaWhat do you mean, gone? Gone w present? What are you talking almost?And she stamped her foot I dont know. Shes gone, and theres a bagful and some apparel gone with her and theres that letter. why dont you read it, instead of incisively standing there? Oh, you menDr. Darell shrugged and opened the envelope. The letter was not desire, and buy food for the angulate signature, Arkady, was in the ornate and flowing handwriting o f Arcadias transcriber.Dear FatherIt would have been simply too heartbreaking to say good-by to you in person. I skill have cried like a little girl and you would have been ashamed of me. So Im writing a letter instead to tell you how more than III devolve you, even while Im having this perfectly wonderful summer vacation with Uncle Homir. III take good care of myself and it wont be long before Im home again. Meanwhile, Im leaving you something thats each(prenominal) my own. You can have it now.Your loving daughter,Arkady.He read it through several times with an expression that grew blanker each time. He said stiffly, Have you read this, Poli?Poli was straightaway on the defensive. I certainly cant be blamed for that, doctor. The envelope has Poli written on the outside, and I had no way of telling 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 vertical wanted to make received you dumb what had happened.He was considering rapidly. It was no use telling her to forget the matter. With regard to the enemy, forget was a meaningless word and the advice, insofar as it made the matter more 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 space trip this summer, shes been quite excited.And just why has no one told me about this space trip?It was arranged while you were away, and we forgot Its nothing more modify than that.Polis original emotions now concentrated themselves into a single, overwhelming indignation, Simple, is it? The poor chick has gone off with one suitcase, without a decent stitch of clothes to her, and alone at that. How long will she be away?Now I wont have you worrying about it, Poli. thither will be plenty of clothes for her on the ship. Its been all arranged. Will you tell Mr. Anthor, that I want to see him? Oh, and first is this the object that Arcadia has left for me? He turned it over in his hand.Poli tossed her head. Im sure I dont know. The letter was on top of it and thats every bit I can tell you. Forget to tell me, indeed. If her mother were alive-Darell, waved her away. Please call Mr. Anthor.***Anthors point of view on the matter differed radically from that of Arcadias father. He punctuated his initial remarks with clenched fists and tom hair, and from there, passed on to bitterness.Great Space, what are you waiting for? What are we both waiting for? welcome the spaceport on the viewer and have them contact the Unimara.Softly, Pelleas, shes my daughter. only if its not your Galaxy.Now, wait. Shes an intelligent 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, but it will work. Ive tested it. Dont you see? Its her way of telling us that shes been a party to our conversations 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 Second Foundation to pick.Except that theres no condition why the Second Foundation should, a priori, suspect a fourteen-year-old girl of being a danger unless we do anything to attract attention to her, such as calling back a ship out of space for no reason other than to take her off. Do you forget with whom were dealing? How narrow the edge is that separates us from discovery? How helpless 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 keep us from going to the police after a lost child. Her letter suggests that we convert the entire matter into a friendly offer on the part of Munn to take an old friends daught er 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 handle him.But the house was somehow very lonely at night and Dr. Darell anchor that the fate of the Galaxy made remarkably little difference while his daughters mad little life was in danger.The excitement on the Unimara, if involving fewer people, was good more intense.***In the luggage compartment, Arcadia found herself, in the first place, aided by experience, and in the second, hampered by the reverse.Thus, she met the initial acceleration with equanimity and the more subtle nausea that accompanied the inside-outness of the first jump through hyperspace with stoicism. Both ha d been experienced on space hops before, and she was tensed for them. She knew as well as that luggage compartments were included in the ships ventilation-system and that they could even be bathed in wall-light. This last, however, she excluded as being too unconscionably unromantic. She remained in the dark, as a conspirator should, breathing very softly, and listening to the little categorization 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 chair seat retreating under weight, the stabbing click of a control unit, or the soft slap of a palm over a photoelectric cell.Yet, eventually, 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 capacity for obscurity. Of course, there was always the danger of dislodging something which would fall with a cras h, or of sneezing in videos you were close sure to sneeze it was an accepted matter. She knew all this, and was careful. There was also the realization 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 never mentioned, and it dawned upon Arcadia with a shock that, despite the best intentions in the world, she could stay hidden in the closet for only a limited time.And on a one-man sports-cruiser, such as the Unimara, living space consisted, essentially, of a single room, so that there wasnt even the risky possibility of sneaking out of the compartment while Munn was engaged elsewhere.She waited frantically for the sounds of sleep to arise. If only she knew whether he snored. At least she knew where the bunk was and she could recognize the rolling protest of one when she heard it. There was a long breath and then a yawn. She waited through a gathering silence, punctuated by the bunks so ft protest against a changed position or a shifted leg.The door of the luggage compartment opened easily at the pressure of her finger, and her craning neck-There was a definite human sound that broke off sharply.Arcadia solidified. Silence quiet silenceShe tried to poke her eyes 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, thoroughgoing(a) into the darkness with wide eyes, and groping one hand stealthily under the pillow.Arcadias head moved sharply back of itself. Then, the light went out entirely and Munns function said with shaky sharpness, Ive got a blaster, 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 street girl behind it can spoil the whole thing.The light was back on all over the ship and Munn was sitting up in bed. The somewhat stew hair on his thi n chest and the sparse one-day growth on his chin lent him an entirely fallacious appearance of disreputability.Arcadia stepped out, yanking at her metallene jacket which was supposititious to be guaranteed wrinkleproof.After a wild 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 excuse me for a minute? Ive got to wash my hands. She knew the geography of the vessel, and slipped away quickly. When she returned, with her courage oozing back, Homir Munn was standing before her with a faded bathrobe on the outside and a brilliant fury 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 asked questions indefinitely, but Arcadia interrupted sweetly, I just wanted to come along, Uncle Homir.Why? Im not g oing anywhere?Youre going to Kalgan for information about the Second Foundation.And Munn let out a wild yowl and collapsed completely. For one horrified moment, Arcadia thought he would have hysterics or beat his head against the wall. He was still holding the blaster and her stomach grew ice-cold as she watched it.Watch out Take it easy - 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 force that should have set it off and blown a hole through the ships hull.How did you get on? he asked slowly, as though gripping each word with his teeth very carefully to prevent it from trembling 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 keeping 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 attention.What?You know. The whole purpose 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 heard, she couldnt avoid pride completely, with a sound-recorder. I know all about it so youve got to let me come along.What about your father? 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 make a fuss, or anything. Youll probably get a space-gram from him.To Munn the only explanation was sorcery, because the receiving signal sounded wildly two seconds after she finished.She said Thats m y father, I bet, and it was.The message wasnt long and it was addressed 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 gladiola she was there. Eventually, he wondered how he would have made it without her. She prattIed She was excited Most 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 was to deal with a hostile officialdom, but she could hardly wait.Maybe it came of being fourteen.At any rate, the week-long trip now meant conversation rather than introspection. To be sure, it wasnt a very edify 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 capable of smiling as he listened a nd wondered out of just which gem of historical fiction she got her twisted notion of the great universe.It was the evening before the last jump. Kalgan was a bright star in the scarcely-twinkling emptiness of the outer reaches of the Galaxy. The ships telescope made it a sparkling blob of barely-perceptible diameter.Arcadia sat cross-legged in the good chair. She was wearing a pair of slack and a none-too-roomy shirt that belonged to Homir. Her own more feminine wardrobe had been washed and ironed 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 pleasant when you could talk to a really intelligent person who was serious about what you said.She continued 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 fun to read those parts where the Foundation loses. Wouldnt you rather read a history where they skipped the silly, tragic 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 currently as I can get father to let me, Im going to visit Trantor, sos I can get background material on the world-class Empire, you know. I was born on Trantor did you know that?He did, but he said, You were? and put just the r ight amount 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 stopped 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, Uncle 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 tolerant 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 untangle yourself from the computer. Weve got to make the last jump, and then you turn in. iodin good thing about landing, anyway he was about fed 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 momentary twitch of the timeless passage through hyperspace and the final light-year dropped away.The sun of Kalgan was a sun now large, bright, and yellow-white invisible behind the portholes that had automatically closed on the sun-lit side.Kalgan was only a nights sleep away.