Forward the Foundation (Page 101)

He stared at her. "What?"

Wanda approached him and put her arms around him. "I’m not going to Santanni."

"Have your father and mother changed their minds?"

"No, they’re going."

"And you’re not? Why? Where are you going?"

"I’m going to stay here, Grandpa. With you." She hugged him. "Poor Grandpa!"

"But I don’t understand. Why? Are they allowing this?"

"You mean Mom and Dad. Not really. We’ve been arguing over this for weeks, but I’ve won out. Why not, Grandpa? They’ll go to Santanni and they’ll have each other-and they’ll have little Bellis, too. But if I go with them and leave you here, you’ll have no one. I don’t think I could stand that."

"But how did you get them to agree?"

"Well, you know-I pushed."

"What does that mean?"

"It’s my mind. I can see what you have in yours and in theirs and, as time goes on, I can see more clearly. And I can push them to do what I want."

"How do you do that?"

"I don’t know. But after a while, they get tired of being pushed and they’re willing to let me have my way. So I’m going to stay with you."

Seldon looked up at her with helpless love. "This is wonderful, Wanda. But Bellis-"

"Don’t worry about Bellis. She doesn’t have a mind like mine."

"Are you certain?" Seldon chewed at his lower lip.

"Quite certain. Besides, Mom and Dad have to have someone, too."

Seldon wanted to rejoice, but he couldn’t do so openly. There were Raych and Manella. What of them?

He said, "Wanda, what about your parents? Can you be so cold-blooded about them?"

"I’m not cold-blooded. They understand. They realize I must be with you."

"How did you manage that?"

"I pushed," said Wanda simply, "and eventually they came to see it my way.

"You can do that?"

"It wasn’t easy."

"And you did it because-" Seldon paused.

Wanda said, "Because I love you. Of course. And because-"

"Yes?"

"I must learn psychohistory. I know quite a bit of it already."

"How?"

"From your mind. From the minds of others at the Project, especially from Uncle Yugo before he died. But it’s in rags and tatters, so far. I want the real thing. Grandpa, I want a Prime Radiant of my own." Her face lit up and her words came quickly, with passion. "I want to study psychohistory in great detail. Grandpa, you’re quite old and quite tired. I’m young and eager. I want to learn all I can, so I can carry on when-"

Seldon said, "Well, that would be wonderful-if you could do it-but there is no funding anymore. I’ll teach you all I can, but-we can’t do anything."

"We’ll see, Grandpa. We’ll see."

16

Raych, Manella, and little Bellis were waiting at the spaceport.

The hypership was preparing for liftoff and the three had already checked their baggage.

Raych said, "Dad, come along with us."

Seldon shook his head. "I cannot."

"If you change your mind, we will always have a place for you."

"I know it, Raych. We’ve been together for almost forty years-and they’ve been good years. Dors and I were lucky to find you."

"I’m the lucky one." His eyes filled with tears. "Don’t think I don’t think of Mother every day."

"Yes." Seldon looked away miserably. Wanda was playing with Bellis when the call rang out for everyone to board the hypership.

They did, after a tearful last embrace of Wanda by her parents. Raych looked back to wave at Seldon and to try to plant a crooked smile on his face.

Seldon waved and one hand moved out blindly to embrace Wanda’s shoulders.

She was the only one left. One by one through his long life, he had lost his friends and those he had loved. Demerzel had left, never to return; Emperor Cleon was gone; his beloved Dors was gone; his faithful friend Yugo Amaryl was gone; and now Raych, his only son, was gone as well.

He was left only with Wanda.

11

Hari Seldon said, "It is beautiful outside-a marvelous evening. Considering that we live under a dome, you would think we would have beautiful weather like this every evening."

Wanda said indifferently, "We would grow tired of it, Grandpa, if it were beautiful all the time. A little change from night to night is good for us."

"For you, because you’re young, Wanda. You have many, many evenings ahead of you. I don’t. I want more good ones."

"Now, Grandpa, you’re not old. Your leg is doing well and your mind m as sharp as ever. I know. "

"Sure. Go ahead. Make me feel better." He then said with an air of discomfort, "I want to walk. I want to get out of this tiny apartment and take a walk to the Library and enjoy this beautiful evening."

"What do you want at the Library?"

"At the moment, nothing. I want the walk. But…"

"Yes. But?"

"I promised Raych I wouldn’t go walking around Trantor without a bodyguard."

"Raych isn’t here."

"I know," mumbled Seldon "but a promise is a promise."

"He didn’t say who the bodyguard should be, did he? Let’s go for a walk and I’ll be your bodyguard."

"You?" Seldon grinned.

"Yes, me. I hereby volunteer my services. Get yourself ready and we’ll go for a walk."

Seldon was amused. He had half a mind to go without his cane, since his leg was scarcely painful of late, but, on the other hand, he had a new cane, one in which the head had been filled with lead. It was both heavier and stronger than his old cane and, if he was going to have none other than Wanda as a bodyguard, he thought he had better bring his new cane.