Isaac Asimov - Foundation and Earth

“It isn’t Galactic. It’s in a prehistoric language of Earth, the same one that gave us Gaia as the name of Bliss’s planet.”

“What does Alpha mean, then?”

“Alpha is the first letter of the alphabet of that ancient language. That is one of the most firmly attested scraps of knowledge we have about it. In ancient times, ‘alpha’ was sometimes used to mean the first of anything. To call a sun ‘Alpha,’ implies that it’s the first sun. And wouldn’t the first sun be the one around which a planet revolved that was the first planet to bear human life—Earth?”

“Are you sure of that?”

“Absolutely,” said Pelorat.

“Is there anything in early legends—you’re the mythologist, after all—that gives Earth’s sun some very unusual attribute?”

“No, how can there be? It has to be standard by definition, and the characteristics the computer has given us are as standard as possible, I imagine. Aren’t they?”

“Earth’s sun is a single star, I suppose?”

Pelorat said, “Well, of course! As far as I know, all inhabited worlds orbit single stars.”

“So I would have thought myself,” said Trevize. “The trouble is that that star in the center of the view-screen is not a single star; it is a binary. The brighter of the two stars making up the binary is indeed standard and it is that one for which the computer supplied us with data. Circling that star with a period of roughly eighty years, however, is another star with a mass four fifths that of the brighter one. We can’t see the two as separate stars with the unaided eye, but if I were to enlarge the view, I’m sure we would.”

“Are you certain of that, Golan?” said Pelorat, taken aback.

“It’s what the computer is telling me. And if we are looking at a binary star, then it’s not Earth’s sun. It can’t be.”

Trevize broke contact with the computer, and the lights brightened.

That was the signal, apparently, for Bliss to return, with Fallom tagging after her. “Well, then, what are the results?” she asked.

Trevize said tonelessly, “Somewhat disappointing. Where I expected to find Earth’s sun, I found a binary star, instead. Earth’s sun is a single star, so the one centered is not it.”

Pelorat said, “Now what, Golan?”

Trevize shrugged. “I didn’t really expect to see Earth’s sun centered. Even the Spacers wouldn’t settle worlds in such a way as to set up an exact sphere. Aurora, the oldest of the Spacer worlds, might have sent out settlers of its own and that may have distorted the sphere, too. Then, too, Earth’s sun may not have moved at precisely the average velocity of the Spacer worlds.”

Pelorat said, “So the Earth can be anywhere. Is that what you’re saying?”

“No. Not quite ‘anywhere.’ All these possible sources of error can’t amount to much. Earth’s sun must be in the vicinity of the co-ordinates. The star we’ve spotted almost exactly at the co-ordinates must be a neighbor of Earth’s sun. It’s startling that there should be a neighbor that so closely resembles Earth’s sun—except for being a binary—but that must be the case.”

“But we would see Earth’s sun on the map, then, wouldn’t we? I mean, near Alpha?”

“No, for I’m certain Earth’s sun isn’t on the map at all. It was that which shook my confidence when we first spied Alpha. Regardless of how much it might resemble Earth’s sun, the mere fact that it was on the map made me suspect it was not the real thing.”

“Well, then,” said Bliss. “Why not concentrate on the same co-ordinates in real space? Then, if there is any bright star close to the center, a star that does not exist in the computer’s map, and if it is very much like Alpha in its properties, but is single, might it not be Earth’s sun?”

Trevize sighed. “If all that were so, I’d be willing to wager half my fortune, such as it is, that circling that star you speak of would be the planet Earth. —Again, I hesitate to try.”

“Because you might fail?”

Trevize nodded. “However,” he said, “just give me a moment or two to catch my breath, and I’ll force myself to do so.”

And while the three adults looked at each other, Fallom approached the computer-desk and stared curiously at the handmarks upon it. She reached out her own hand tentatively toward the markings, and Trevize blocked the motion with a swift outthrusting of his own arm and a sharp, “Mustn’t touch, Fallom.”

The young Solarian seemed startled, and retreated to the comfort of Bliss’s encircling arm.

Pelorat said, “We must face it, Golan. What if you find nothing in real space?”

“Then we will be forced to go back to the earlier plan,” said Trevize, “and visit each of the forty-seven Spacer worlds in turn.”

“And if that yields nothing, Golan?”

Trevize shook his head in annoyance, as though to prevent that thought from taking too deep a root. Staring down at his knees, he said abruptly, “Then I will think of something else.”

“But what if there is no world of forebears at all?”

Trevize looked up sharply at the treble voice. “Who said that?” he asked.

It was a useless question. The moment of disbelief faded, and he knew very well who the questioner was.

“I did,” said Fallom.

Trevize looked at her with a slight frown. “Did you understand the conversation?”

Fallom said, “You are looking for the world of forebears, but you haven’t found it yet. Maybe there isn’t no such world.”

“ Any such world,” said Bliss softly.

“No, Fallom,” said Trevize seriously. “There has been a very big effort to hide it. To try so hard to hide something means there is something there to hide. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes,” said Fallom. “You do not let me touch the hands on the desk. Because you do not let me do that means it would be interesting to touch them.”

“Ah, but not for you, Fallom. —Bliss, you are creating a monster that will destroy us all. Don’t ever let her in here unless I’m at the desk. And even then, think twice, will you?”

The small byplay, however, seemed to have shaken him out of his irresolution. He said, “Obviously, I had better get to work. If I just sit here, uncertain as to what to do, that little fright will take over the ship.”

The lights dimmed, and Bliss said in a low voice, “You promised, Trevize. Do not call her a monster or a fright in her hearing.”

“Then keep an eye on her, and teach her some manners. Tell her children should be never heard and seldom seen.”

Bliss frowned. “Your attitude toward children is simply appalling, Trevize.”

“Maybe, but this is not the time to discuss the matter.”

Then he said, in tones in which satisfaction and relief were equally represented, “There’s Alpha again in real space. —And to its left, and slightly upward, is almost as bright a star and one that isn’t in the computer’s Galactic map. That is Earth’s sun. I’ll wager all my fortune on it.”

“Well, now,” said Bliss, “We won’t take any part of your fortune if you lose, so why not settle the matter in a forthright manner? Let’s visit the star as soon as you can make the Jump.”

Trevize shook his head. “No. This time it’s not a matter of irresolution or fear. It’s a matter of being careful. Three times we’ve visited an unknown world and three times we’ve come up against something unexpectedly dangerous. And three times, moreover, we’ve had to leave that world in a hurry. This time the matter is ultimately crucial and I will not play my cards in ignorance again, or at least in any more ignorance than I can help. So far, all we have are vague stories about radioactivity, and that is not enough. By an odd chance that no one could have anticipated, there is a planet with human life about a parsec from Earth—”