Foundation and Earth

"It introduces some difficulties, but that can't be helped, I suppose. The stars themselves aren't uniformly distributed, and certainly habitable planets aren't, so there are bound to be unevennesses in the establishment of new worlds. The computer will adjust each of those dots to its present position, allowing for its likely motion in the last twenty thousand years-even in that time it won't mean much of an adjustment-and then fit them all into a 'bestsphere.' It will find a spherical surface, in other words, from which the distance of all the dots is a minimum. Then we find the center of the sphere, and Earth should be fairly close to that center. Or so we hope. It won’t take long."

70.

IT DIDN'T. Trevize, who was used to accepting miracles from the computer, found himself astonished at how little time it took.

Trevize had instructed the computer to sound a soft, reverberating note upon deciding upon the co-ordinates of the best-center. There was no reason for that, except for the satisfaction of hearing it and knowing that perhaps the search had been ended.

The sound came in a matter of minutes, and was like the gentle stroking of a mellow gong. It swelled till they could feel the vibration physically, and then slowly faded.

Bliss appeared at the door almost at once. "What's that?" she asked, her eyes big. "An emergency?"

Trevize said, "Not at all."

Pelorat added eagerly, "We may have located Earth, Bliss. That sound was the computer's way of saying so."

She walked into the room. "I might have been warned."

Trevize said, "I'm sorry, Bliss. I didn't mean it to be quite that loud."

Fallom had followed Bliss into the room and said, "Why was there that sound, Bliss?"

"I see she's curious, too," said Trevize. He sat back, feeling drained. The next step was to try the finding on the real Galaxy, to focus on the coordinates of the center of the Spacer worlds and see if a G-type star was actually present. Once again, he was reluctant to take the obvious step, unable to make himself put the possible solution to the actual test.

"Yes," said Bliss. "Why shouldn't she? She's as human as we are."

"Her parent wouldn't have thought so," said Trevize abstractedly. "I worry about the kid. She's bad news."

"In what way has she proven so?" demanded Bliss.

Trevize spread his arms. "Just a feeling."

Bliss gave him a disdainful look, and turned to Fallom. "We are trying to locate Earth, Fallom."

"What's Earth?"

"Another world, but a special one. It's the world our ancestors came from. Do you know what the word 'ancestors' means from your reading, Fallom?"

"Does it mean ***?" But the last word was not in Galactic.

Pelorat said, "That's an archaic word for 'ancestors,' Bliss. Our word 'forebears' is closer to it."

"Very well," said Bliss, with a sudden brilliant smile. "Earth is the world where our forebears came from, Fallom. Yours and mine and Pel’s and Trevize's."

"Yours, Bliss-and mine also." Fallom sounded puzzled. "Both of them?"

"There's just one set of forebears," said Bliss. "We had the same forebears, all of us."

Trevize said, "It sounds to me as though the child knows very well that she's different from us."

Bliss said to Trevize in a low voice, "Don't say that. She must be made to see she isn't. Not in essentials."

"Hermaphrodism is essential, I should think."

"I'm talking about the mind."

"Transducer-lobes are essential, too."

"Now, Trevize, don't be difficult. She's intelligent and human regardless of details."

She turned to Fallom, her voice rising to its normal level. "Think quietly about this, Fallom, and see what it means to you. Your forebears and mine were the same. All the people on all the worlds-many, many worlds-all had the same forebears, and those forebears lived originally on the world named Earth. That means we're all relatives, doesn't it? Now go back to our room and think of that."

Fallom, after bestowing a thoughtful look on Trevize, turned and ran off, hastened on by Bliss's affectionate slap on her backside.

Bliss turned to Trevize, and said, "Please, Trevize, promise me you won't make any comments in her hearing that will lead her to think she's different from us."

Trevize said, "I promise. I have no wish to impede or subvert the educational procedure, but, you know, she is different from us."

"In ways. As I'm different from you, and as Pel is."

"Don't be naive, Bliss. The differences in Fallom's case are much greater."

"A little greater. The similarities are vastly more important. She, and her people, will be part of Galaxia some day, and a very useful part, I'm sure."

"All right. We won't argue." He turned to the computer with clear reluctance. "And meanwhile, I'm afraid I have to check the supposed position of Earth in real space."

"Afraid?"

"Well," Trevize lifted his shoulders in what he hoped was a half-humorous way, "what if there's no suitable star near the place?"

"Then there isn't," said Bliss.

"I'm wondering if there's any point in checking it out now. We won't be able to make a Jump for several days."