Forward the Foundation

"Yes, ma'am," said Wanda in her clear voice.

"I'm going to tell you exactly what I'm going to do with you. You're right-handed, I suppose."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Very well, then, I'll spray a little patch on your left forearm with an anesthetic. It will just feel like a cool wind. Nothing else. I'll then scrape a little skin from you just a tiny bit. There'll be no pain, no blood, no mark afterward. When I'm done, I'll spray a little disinfectant on it. The whole thing will take just a few minutes. Does that sound all right to you?"

"Sure," said Wanda, as she held out her arm.

When it was over, Dr. Endelecki said, "I'll put the scraping under the microscope, choose a decent cell, and put my computerized gene analyzer to work. It will mark off every last nucleotide, but there are billions of them. It will probably take the better part of a day. It's all automatic, of course, so I won't be sitting here watching it and there's no point in your doing so, either.

"Once the genome is prepared, it will take an even longer time to analyze it. If you want a complete job, it may take a couple of weeks. That is why it's so expensive a procedure. The work is hard and long. I'll call you in when I have it." She turned away, as if she had dismissed the family, and busied herself with the gleaming apparatus on the table in front of her.

Seldon said, "If you come across anything unusual, will you get in touch with me instantly? I mean, don't wait for a complete analysis if you find something in the first hour. Don't make me wait."

"The chances of finding anything in the first hour are very slim, but I promise you, Professor Seldon that I will be in touch with you at once if it seems necessary."

Manella snatched Wanda's arm and led her off triumphantly. Raych followed, feet dragging. Seldon lingered and said, "This is more important than you know, Dr. Endelecki."

Dr. Endelecki nodded as she said, "Whatever the reason, Professor, I'll do my best."

Seldon left, his lips pressed tightly together. Why he had thought that somehow the genome would be worked out in five minutes and that a glance at it in another five minutes would give him an answer, he did not know. Now he would have to wait for weeks, without knowing what would be found.

He ground his teeth. Would his newest brainchild, the Second Foundation, ever be established or was it an illusion that would remain always just out of reach?

7

Hari Seldon walked into Dr. Endelecki's office, a nervous smile on his face.

He said, "You said a couple of weeks, Doctor. It's been over a month mow."

Dr. Endelecki nodded. "I'm sorry, Professor Seldon but you wanted everything exact and that is what I have tried to do."

"Well?" The look of anxiety on Seldon's face did not disappear. What did you find?"

"A hundred or so defective genes."

"What! Defective genes. Are you serious, Doctor?"

"Quite serious. Why not? There are no genomes without at least a hundred defective genes; usually there are considerably more. It's not as bad as it sounds, you know."

"No, I don't know. You're the expert, Doctor, not I."

Dr. Endelecki sighed and stirred in her chair. "You don't know anything about genetics, do you, Professor?"

"No, I don't. A man can't know everything."

"You're perfectly right. I know nothing about this-what do you call it?-this psychohistory of yours."

Dr. Endelecki shrugged, then continued. "If you wanted to explain anything about it, you would be forced to start from the beginning and I would probably not understand it even so. "Now, as to genetics-"

"Well?"

"An imperfect gene usually means nothing. There are imperfect genes-so imperfect and so crucial that they produce terrible disorders. These are very rare, though. Most imperfect genes simply don't work with absolute accuracy. They're like wheels that are slightly out of balance. A vehicle will move along, trembling a bit, but it will move along."

"Is that what Wanda has?"

"Yes. More or less. After all, if all genes were perfect, we would all look precisely the same, we would all behave precisely the same. It's the difference in genes that makes for different people."

"But won't it get worse as we grow older?"

"Yes. We all get worse as we grow older. I noticed you limping when you came in. Why is that?"

"A touch of sciatica," muttered Seldon.

"Did you have it all your life?"

"Of course not."

"Well, some of your genes have gotten worse with time and now you limp."

"And what will happen to Wanda with time?"

"I don't know. I can't predict the future, Professor; I believe that is your province. However, if I were to hazard a guess, I would say that nothing unusual will happen to Wanda-at least, genetically-except the gathering of old age."

Seldon said, "Are you sure?"

"You have to take my word for it. You wanted to find out about Wanda's genome and you ran the risk of discovering things perhaps it is better not to know. But I tell you that, in my opinion, I can see nothing terrible happening to her."

"The imperfect genes-should we fix them? Can we fix them?"