Prelude to Foundation

“You mean you didn’t see him go down?”

“Look. He wasn’t on my mind. The idiot wasn’t correctly dressed and I could see that inside of half an hour he wasn’t going to be able to take the cold. I gave him a sweater, but that wasn’t going to help much for his legs and feet. So I left the elevator open for him and I told him how to use it and explained that it would take him down and then return automatically. It was all very simple and I’m sure he did get cold and he did go down and the elevator did come back and then eventually we all went down.”

“But you don’t know exactly when he went down?”

“No, I don’t. I told you. I was busy. He certainly wasn’t up there when we left, though, and by that time twilight was coming on and it looked as though it might sleet. So he had to have gone down.”

“Did anyone else see him go down?”

“I don’t know. Clowzia may have. She was with him for a while. Why don’t you ask her?”

Dors found Clowzia in her quarters, just emerging from a hot shower.

“It was cold up there,” she said.

Dors said, “Were you with Hari Seldon Upperside?”

Clowzia said, eyebrows lifting, “Yes, for a while. He wanted to wander about and ask questions about the vegetation up there. He’s a sharp fellow, Dors. Everything seemed to interest him, so I told him what I could till Leggen called me back. He was in one of his knock-your-head-off tempers. The weather wasn’t working and he-”

Dors interrupted. “Then you didn’t see Hari go down in the elevator?”

“I didn’t see him at all after Leggen called me over.-But he has to be down here. He wasn’t up there when we left.”

“But I can’t find him anywhere.”

Clowzia looked perturbed. “Really?-But he’s got to be somewhere down here.”

“No, he doesn’t have to be somewhere down here,” said Dors, her anxiety growing.

“What if he’s still up there?”

“That’s impossible. He wasn’t. Naturally, we looked about for him before we left. Leggen had shown him how to go down. He wasn’t properly dressed and it was rotten weather. Leggen told him if he got cold not to wait for us. He was getting cold. I know! So what else could he do but go down?”

“But no one saw him go down.-Did anything go wrong with him up there?”

“Nothing. Not while I was with him. He was perfectly fine except that he had to be cold, of course.”

Dors, by now quite unsettled, said, “Since no one saw him go down, he might still be up there. Shouldn’t we go up and look?”

Clowzia said nervously, “I told you we looked around before we went down. It was still quite light and he was nowhere in sight.”

“Let’s look anyway.”

“But I can’t take you up there. I’m just an intern and I don’t have the combination for the Upperside dome opening. You’ll have to ask Dr. Leggen.”

26.

Dors Venabili knew that Leggen would not willingly go Upperside now. He would have to be forced.

First, she checked the library and the dining areas again. Then she called Seldon’s room. Finally, she went up there and signaled at the door. When Seldon did not respond, she had the floor manager open it. He wasn’t there. She questioned some of those who, over the last few weeks, had come to know him. No one had seen him.

Well, then, she would make Leggen take her Upperside. By now, though, it was night. He would object strenuously and how long could she spend arguing if Hari Seldon was trapped up there on a freezing night with sleet turning to snow?

A thought occurred to her and she rushed to the small University computer, which kept track of the doings of the students, faculty, and service staff. Her fingers flew over the keys and she soon had what she wanted. There were three of them in another part of the campus. She signed out for a small glidecart to take her over and found the domicile she was looking for. Surely, one of them would be available-or findable. Fortune was with her. The first door at which she signaled was answered by a query light. She punched in her identification number, which included her department affiliation. The door opened and a plump middle-aged man stared out at her. He had obviously been washing up before dinner. His dark blond hair was askew and he was not wearing any upper garment. He said, “Sorry. You catch me at a disadvantage. What can I do for you, Dr. Venabili?”

She said a bit breathlessly, “You’re Rogen Benastra, the Chief Seismologist, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“This is an emergency. I must see the seismological records for Upperside for the last few hours.”

Benastra stared at her. “Why? Nothing’s happened. I’d know if it had. The seismograph would inform us.”

“I’m not talking about a meteoric impact.”

“Neither am I. We don’t need a seismograph for that. I’m talking about gravel, pinpoint fractures. Nothing today.”

“Not that either. Please. Take me to the seismograph and read it for me. This is life or death.”

“I have a dinner appointment-”

“I said life or death and I mean it.”