Prelude to Foundation

Raych knew the tricks, apparently, and they wandered deeper into the complex. Hanging over it all was an air of total decay: disregarded debris, inhabitants slinking past in clear resentment of the outsiders’ invasion. Unruly youngsters ran along the alleys in pursuit of some game or other. Some of them yelled, "Hey, get out o’ the way!" when their levitating ball narrowly missed Dors. And finally, Raych stopped before a dark scarred door on which the number 2782 glowed feebly.

"This is it," he said and held out his hand.

"First let’s see who’s inside," said Seldon softly. He pushed the signal button and nothing happened.

"It don’t work," said Raych. "Ya gotta bang. Loud. She don’t hear too good."

Seldon pounded his fist on the door and was rewarded with the sound of movement inside. A shrill voice called out, "Who wants Mother Rittah?"

Seldon shouted, "Two scholars!"

He tossed the small computer, with its small package of software attached, to Raych, who snatched it, grinned, and took off at a rapid run.

Seldon then turned to face the opening door and Mother Rittah.

70.

Mother Rittah was well into her seventies, perhaps, but had the kind of face that, at first sight, seemed to belie that. Plump cheeks, a little mouth, a small round chin slightly doubled. She was very short-not quite 1.5 meters tall-and had a thick body.

But there were fine wrinkles about her eyes and when she smiled, as she smiled at the sight of them, others broke out over her face. And she moved with difficulty.

"Come in, come in," she said in a soft high-pitched voice and peered at them as though her eyesight was beginning to fail. "Outsiders… Outworlders even. Am I right? You don’t seem to have the Trantor smell about you."

Seldon wished she hadn’t mentioned smell. The apartment, overcrowded and littered with small possessions that seemed dim and dusty, reeked with food odors that were on the edge of rancidity. The air was so thick and clinging that he was sure his clothes would smell strongly of it when they left.

He said, "You are right, Mother Rittah. I am Hari Seldon of Helicon. My friend is Dors Venabili of Cinna."

"So," she said, looking about for an unoccupied spot on the floor where she could invite them to sit, but finding none suitable.

Dors said, "We are willing to stand, Mother."

"What?" she looked up at Dors. "You must speak briskly, my child. My hearing is not what it was when I was your age."

"Why don’t you get a hearing device?" said Seldon, raising his voice.

"It wouldn’t help, Master Seldon. Something seems to be wrong with the nerve and I have no money for nerve rebuilding.-You have come to learn the future from old Mother Rittah?"

"Not quite," said Seldon. "I have come to learn the past."

"Excellent. It is such a strain to decide what people want to hear."

"It must be quite an art," said Dors, smiling.

"It seems easy, but one has to he properly convincing. I earn my fees."

"If you have a credit outlet," said Seldon. "We will pay any reasonable fees if you tell us about Earth-without cleverly designing what you tell us to suit what we want to hear. We wish to hear the truth."

The old woman, who had been shuffling about the room, making adjustments here and there, as though to make it all prettier and more suitable for important visitors, stopped short. "What do you want to know about Earth?"

"What is it, to begin with?"

The old woman turned and seemed to gaze off into space. When she spoke, her voice was low and steady.

"It is a world, a very old planet. It is forgotten and lost."

Dors said, "It is not part of history. We know that much."

"It comes before history, child," said Mother Rittah solemnly. "It existed in the dawn of the Galaxy and before the dawn. It was the only world with humanity." She nodded firmly.

Seldon said, "Was another name for Earth… Aurora?"

And now Mother Rittah’s face misted into a frown. "Where did you hear that?"

"In my wanderings. I have heard of an old forgotten world named Aurora on which humanity lived in primordial peace."

"It’s a lie." She wiped her mouth as though to get the taste of what she had just heard out of it. "That name you mention must never be mentioned except as the place of Evil. It was the beginning of Evil. Earth was alone till Evil came, along with its sister worlds. Evil nearly destroyed Earth, but Earth rallied and destroyed Evil-with the help of heroes."

"Earth was before this Evil. Are you sure of that?"

"Long before. Earth was alone in the Galaxy for thousands of years-millions of years."

"Millions of years? Humanity existed on it for millions of years with no other people on any other world?"

"That’s true. That’s true. That’s true."

"But how do you know all this? Is it all in a computer program? Or a printout? Do you have anything I can read?"

Mother Rittah shook her head. "I heard the old stories from my mother, who heard it from hers, and so on far back. I have no children, so I tell the stories to others, but it may come to an end. This is a time of disbelief."

Dors said, "Not really, Mother. There are people who speculate about prehistoric times and who study some of the tales of lost worlds."

Mother Rittah made a motion of her arm as though to wipe it away. "They look at it with cold eyes. Scholarly. They try to fit it in with their notions. I could tell you stories for a year of the great hero Ba-Lee, but you would have no time to listen and I have lost the strength to tell."