Prelude to Foundation

He had learned to identify almost every variety of sound, because in the underground maze of Billibotton, if you wanted to survive with even a minimum of comfort, you had to be aware of things before you saw them. And there was something about the sound of a ground-car motor that he now heard that signaled danger to him. It had an official sound, a hostile sound. He shook himself awake and stole quietly toward the walkway. He scarcely needed to see the Spaceship-and-Sun on the ground-car. Its lines were enough. He knew they had to be coming for the man and the lady because they had seen Davan.

He did not pause to question his thoughts or to analyze them. He was off on a run, beating his way through the gathering life of the day. He was back in less than fifteen minutes. The ground-car was still there and there were curious and cautious onlookers gazing at it from all sides and from a respectful distance. There would soon be more. He pounded his way up the stairs, trying to remember which door he should bang on. No time for the elevator. He found the door-at least he thought he did-and he banged, shouting in a squeak, “Lady! Lady!”

He was too excited to remember her name, but he remembered part of the man’s.

“Hari!” he shouted. “Let me in.”

The door opened and he rushed in-tried to rush in. The rough hand of an officer seized his arm. “Hold it, kid. Where do you think you’re going?”

“Leggo! I ain’t done nothin’.” He looked about. “Hey, lady, what’re they doin’?”

“Arresting us,” said Dors grimly.

“What for?” said Raych, panting and struggling. “Hey, leggo, you Sunbadger. Don’t go with him, lady. You don’t have to go with him.”

“You get out,” said Russ, shaking the boy vehemently.

“No, I ain’t, You ain’t either, Sunbadger. My whole gang is coming. You ain’t gettin’ out, less’n you let these guys go.”

“What whole gang?” said Russ, frowning.

“They’re right outside now. Prob’ly takin’ your ground-car apart. And they’ll take yore apart.”

Russ turned toward his partner, “Call headquarters. Have them send out a couple of trucks with Macros.”

“No!” shrieked Raych, breaking loose and rushing at Astinwald. “Don’t call!”

Russ leveled his neuronic whip and fired.

Raych shrieked, grasped at his right shoulder, and fell down, wriggling madly. Russ had not yet turned back to Seldon, when the latter, seizing him by the wrist, pushed the neuronic whip up in the air and then around and behind, while stamping on his foot to keep him relatively motionless. Hari could feel the shoulder dislocate, even while Russ emitted a hoarse, agonized yell. Astinwald raised his blaster quickly, but Dors’s left arm was around his shoulder and the knife in her right hand was at his throat.

“Don’t move!” she said. “Move a millimeter, any part of you, and I cut you through your neck to the spine.-Drop the blaster. Drop it! And the neuronic whip.”

Seldon picked up Raych, still moaning, and held him tightly. He turned to Tisalver and said, “There are people out there. Angry people. I’ll have them in here and they’ll break up everything you’ve got. They’ll smash the walls. If you don’t want that to happen, pick up those weapons and throw them into the next room. Take the weapons from the security officer on the door and do the same. Quickly! Get your wife to help. She’ll think twice next time before sending in complaints against innocent people.-Dors, this one on the floor won’t do anything for a while. Put the other one out of action, but don’t kill him.”

“Right,” said Dors. Reversing her knife, she struck him hard on the skull with the haft. He went to his knees.

She made a face. “I hate doing that.”

“They fired at Raych,” said Seldon, trying to mask his own sick feeling at what had happened.

They left the apartment hurriedly and, once out on the walkway, found it choked with people, almost all men, who raised a shout when they saw them emerge. They pushed in close and the smell of poorly washed humanity was overpowering. Someone shouted, “Where are the Sunbadgers?”

“Inside,” called out Dors piercingly. “Leave them alone. They’ll be helpless for a while, but they’ll get reinforcements, so get out of here fast.”

“What about you?” came from a dozen throats.

“We’re getting out too. We won’t be back.”

“I’ll take care of them,” shrilled Raych, struggling out of Seldon’s arms and standing on his feet. He was rubbing his right shoulder madly. “I can walk. Lemme past.”

The crowd opened for him and he said, “Mister, lady, come with me. Fast!” They were accompanied down the walkway by several dozen men and then Raych suddenly gestured at an opening and muttered, “In here, folks. I’ll rake ya to a place no one will ever find ya. Even Davan prob’ly don’t know it. Only thing is, we got to go through the sewer levels. No one will see us there, but it’s sort of stinky… know what I mean?”

“I imagine we’ll survive,” muttered Seldon.

And down they went along a narrow spiraling ramp and up rose the mephitic odors to greet them.

80.