Isaac Asimov - Foundation and Earth

“Do you think it might be Earth, then?”

“Think?” said Trevize almost explosively. “I don’t have to think. It is Earth. It has the giant satellite you told me of.”

“It has?” And Pelorat’s face broke into a wider smile than any that Trevize had ever seen upon it.

“Absolutely! Here, look at it under maximum magnification.”

Pelorat saw two crescents, one distinctly larger and brighter than the other.

“Is that smaller one the satellite?” he asked.

“Yes. It’s rather farther from the planet than one might expect but it’s definitely revolving about it. It’s only the size of a small planet; in fact, it’s smaller than any of the four inner planets circling the sun. Still, it’s large for a satellite. It’s at least two thousand kilometers in diameter, which makes it in the size range of the large satellites that revolve about gas giants.”

“No larger?” Pelorat seemed disappointed. “Then it’s not a giant satellite?”

“Yes, it is. A satellite with a diameter of two to three thousand kilometers that is circling an enormous gas giant is one thing. That same satellite circling a small, rocky habitable planet is quite another. That satellite has a diameter over a quarter that of Earth. Where have you heard of such near-parity involving a habitable planet?”

Pelorat said timidly, “I know very little of such things.”

Trevize said, “Then take my word for it, Janov. It’s unique. We’re looking at something that is practically a double planet, and there are few habitable planets that have anything more than pebbles orbiting them. —Janov, if you consider that gas giant with its enormous ring system in sixth place, and this planet with its enormous satellite in third—both of which your legends told you about, against all credibility, before you ever saw them—then that world you’re looking at must be Earth. It cannot conceivably be anything else. We’ve found it, Janov; we’ve found it.”

They were on the second day of their coasting progress toward Earth, and Bliss yawned over the dinner meal. She said, “It seems to me we’ve spent more time coasting toward and away from planets than anything else. We’ve spent weeks at it, literally.”

“Partly,” said Trevize, “that’s because Jumps are dangerous too close to a star. And in this case, we’re moving very slowly because I do not wish to advance into possible danger too quickly.”

“I thought you said you had the feeling we would not be stopped.”

“So I do, but I don’t want to stake everything on a feeling.” Trevize looked at the contents of the spoon before putting it into his mouth and said, “You know, I miss the fish we had on Alpha. We only had three meals there.”

“A pity,” agreed Pelorat.

“Well,” said Bliss, “we visited five worlds and had to leave each one of them so hurriedly that we never had time to add to our food supplies and introduce variety. Even when the world had food to offer, as did Comporellon and Alpha, and, presumably—”

She did not complete the sentence, for Fallom, looking up quickly, finished it for her. “Solaria? Could you get no food there? There is plenty of food there. As much as on Alpha. And better, too.”

“I know that, Fallom,” said Bliss. “There was just no time.”

Fallom stared at her solemnly. “Will I ever see Jemby again, Bliss? Tell me the truth.”

Bliss said, “You may, if we return to Solaria.”

“Will we ever return to Solaria?”

Bliss hesitated. “I cannot say.”

“Now we go to Earth, is that right? Isn’t that the planet where you say we all originate?”

“Where our forebears originated,” said Bliss.

“I can say ‘ancestors,’ ” said Fallom.

“Yes, we are going to Earth.”

“Why?”

Bliss said lightly, “Wouldn’t anyone wish to see the world of their ancestors?”

“I think there’s more to it. You all seem so concerned.”

“But we’ve never been there before. We don’t know what to expect.”

“I think it is more than that.”

Bliss smiled. “You’ve finished eating, Fallom dear, so why not go to the room and let us have a little serenade on your flute. You’re playing it more beautifully all the time. Come, come.” She gave Fallom an accelerating pat on the rear end, and off Fallom went, turning only once to give Trevize a thoughtful look.

Trevize looked after her with clear distaste. “Does that thing read minds?”

“Don’t call her a ‘thing,’ Trevize,” said Bliss sharply.

“Does she read minds? You ought to be able to tell.”

“No, she doesn’t. Nor can Gaia. Nor can the Second Foundationers. Reading minds in the sense of overhearing a conversation, or making out precise ideas is not something that can be done now, or in the foreseeable future. We can detect, interpret, and, to some extent, manipulate emotions, but that is not the same thing at all.”

“How do you know she can’t do this thing that supposedly can’t be done?”

“Because as you have just said, I ought to be able to tell.”

“Perhaps she is manipulating you so that you remain ignorant of the fact that she can.”

Bliss rolled her eyes upward. “Be reasonable, Trevize. Even if she had unusual abilities, she could do nothing with me for I am not Bliss, I am Gaia. You keep forgetting. Do you know the mental inertia represented by an entire planet? Do you think one Isolate, however talented, can overcome that?”

“You don’t know everything, Bliss, so don’t be overconfident,” said Trevize sullenly. “That th— She has been with us not very long. I couldn’t learn anything but the rudiments of a language in that time, yet she already speaks Galactic perfectly and with virtually a full vocabulary. Yes, I know you’ve been helping her, but I wish you would stop.”

“I told you I was helping her, but I also told you she’s fearfully intelligent. Intelligent enough so that I would like to have her part of Gaia. If we can gather her in; if she’s still young enough; we might learn enough about the Solarians to absorb that entire world eventually. It might well be useful to us.”

“Does it occur to you that the Solarians are pathological Isolates even by my standards?”

“They wouldn’t stay so as part of Gaia.”

“I think you’re wrong, Bliss. I think that Solarian child is dangerous and that we should get rid of her.”

“How? Dump her through the airlock? Kill her, chop her up, and add her to our food supply?”

Pelorat said, “Oh, Bliss.”

And Trevize said, “That’s disgusting, and completely uncalled for.” He listened for a moment. The flute was sounding without flaw or waver, and they had been talking in half-whispers. “When this is all over, we’ve got to return her to Solaria, and make sure that Solaria is forever cut off from the Galaxy. My own feeling is that it should be destroyed. I distrust and fear it.”

Bliss thought awhile and said, “Trevize, I know that you have the knack of coming to a right decision, but I also know you have been antipathetic to Fallom from the start. I suspect that may just be because you were humiliated on Solaria and have taken a violent hatred to the planet and its inhabitants as a result. Since I must not tamper with your mind, I can’t tell that for sure. Please remember that if we had not taken Fallom with us, we would be on Alpha right now—dead and, I presume, buried.”

“I know that, Bliss, but even so—”

“And her intelligence is to be admired, not envied.”

“I do not envy her. I fear her.”

“Her intelligence?”

Trevize licked his lips thoughtfully. “No, not quite.”