[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
greatness in him, it comes to light not in a flamboyant hour but in the ledger
of his daily work. " This was usually intoned when Hari had neglected his
daily chores in favor of a math book.
Now he saw the reverse: greatness imposed from without.
In the grand reception rooms he felt himself whisked from knot to knot of
sharp-eyed delegates, each with a question.
All assumed that he would parley with them for their votes.
He deliberately did not. Instead, he spoke of the tiktoks, of Sark. And
waited.
Cleon had departed, as custom required. The factions gathered eagerly around
Hari.
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"What policy for Sark?"
"Quarantine. "
"But chaos reigns there now!"
"It must burn out. "
"That is merciless! You pessimistically assume "
"Sir, 'pessimist' is a term invented by optimists to describe realists. "
"You're avoiding our Imperial duty, letting riot "
"/ have just come from Sark. Have you?"
By such flourishes he avoided most of the grubby business of soliciting votes.
He continued to trail Lamurk. of course. Still, the High Council seemed to
like his somewhat dispassionate Dahlite proposal more than Lamurk's bombast.
And his hard line on Sark provoked respect. This surprised some, who had taken
him for a soft academic. Yet his voice carried real emotion about Sark; Hari
hated disorder, and he knew what Sark would bring to the Galaxy.
Of course, he was not so naive as to believe that a new system of
representation could alter the fate of the Empire. But it could alter his
fate....
Hari had assumed, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, that hard work
and punishingly high standards are demanded of all grown men, that life is
tough and unforgiving, that error and disgrace were irreparable. Imperial
politics had seemed to be a counterexample, but he was beginning, as talk
swirled all around him
Word came by Imperial messenger that Lamurk wished to speak with him. "Where?"
Hari whispered. "Away, outside the palace. "
"Fine by me. "
And exactly what Daneel had predicted. Even Lamurk would not attempt a move
again inside the palace, after the last one.
12.
On his way, he caught a comm-squirt.
A wall decoration near the palace sent a blip of compressed data into his
wrist-sponder. As Hari waited in a vestibule for Lamurk he opened it.
Fifteen Lamurk aides and allies had been injured or killed. The images were
immediate: a fall here, a lift crash there. All accumulated over the last few
hours, when the confluence of the High Council made their probable locations
known.
Hari thought about the lives lost. His responsibility, for he had assembled
the components. The robots had targeted the victims without knowing what would
follow. The moral weight fell... where?
The "accidents" were spread all over Trantor. Few would immediately notice the
connections... except for
"Academician! Happy to see you, " Lamurk said, settling into place opposite
Hari. Without so much as a nod they let slip the formality of a handshake.
"We seem at odds, " Hari said.
A pleasant, empty comment. He had several more in store and used them, eating
up time. Apparently Lamurk had not yet heard that his allies were gone.
Daneel had said he needed five minutes to "bring off the effect, " whatever
that meant.
He parried with Lamurk as more moments slipped by. He carefully used a
nonaggressive body posture and mild tones to calm Lamurk; such skills he now
understood, after the pans.
They were in a Council House near the palace, ringed by their guard parties.
Lamurk had selected the room and its elaborate floral decorations. Usually it
served as a lounge for representatives of rural-style Zones and so was lush
with greenery. Unusually for Trantor, insects buzzed about, servicing the
plants.
Daneel had something planned. But how could he possibly get anything in place
at an arbitrary point? And elude the myriad sensors and snoopers?
Lamurk's ostensible purpose was to confer on the tiktok crisis. Beneath this
Page 233
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
lurked the subtext of their rivalry for the
First Ministership. Everyone knew that Lamurk would force a vote within days.
"We have evidence that something's propagating viruses in the tiktoks, "
Lamurk said.
"Undoubtedly, " Hari said. He waved away a buzzing insect.
"But it's a funny one. My tech people say it's like a little submind, not just
a virus. "
"A whole disease. "
"Uh, yes. Mighty close to what they call 'sentient sickness. '"
"I believe it to be a self-organized set of beliefs, not a simple digital
disease. "
Lamurk looked surprised. "All this tiktok talk about the 'moral imperative' of
not eating anything living, not even plants or yeasts "
"Is sincerely felt. "
"Pretty damn strange. "
"You have no idea. Unless we stop it, we will have to convert Trantor to a
wholly artificial diet. "
Lamurk frowned. "No grains, no faux-flesh?"
"And it will soon spread throughout the Empire. "
"You're sure?" Lamurk looked genuinely concerned.
Hari hesitated. He had to remember that others had ideals, quite lofty ones.
Perhaps Lamurk did...
Then he remembered hanging by his fingernails under the e-lift. "Quite sure. "
"Do you think this is just a sign, a symptom? Of the Empire... coming apart?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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greatness in him, it comes to light not in a flamboyant hour but in the ledger
of his daily work. " This was usually intoned when Hari had neglected his
daily chores in favor of a math book.
Now he saw the reverse: greatness imposed from without.
In the grand reception rooms he felt himself whisked from knot to knot of
sharp-eyed delegates, each with a question.
All assumed that he would parley with them for their votes.
He deliberately did not. Instead, he spoke of the tiktoks, of Sark. And
waited.
Cleon had departed, as custom required. The factions gathered eagerly around
Hari.
Page 232
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"What policy for Sark?"
"Quarantine. "
"But chaos reigns there now!"
"It must burn out. "
"That is merciless! You pessimistically assume "
"Sir, 'pessimist' is a term invented by optimists to describe realists. "
"You're avoiding our Imperial duty, letting riot "
"/ have just come from Sark. Have you?"
By such flourishes he avoided most of the grubby business of soliciting votes.
He continued to trail Lamurk. of course. Still, the High Council seemed to
like his somewhat dispassionate Dahlite proposal more than Lamurk's bombast.
And his hard line on Sark provoked respect. This surprised some, who had taken
him for a soft academic. Yet his voice carried real emotion about Sark; Hari
hated disorder, and he knew what Sark would bring to the Galaxy.
Of course, he was not so naive as to believe that a new system of
representation could alter the fate of the Empire. But it could alter his
fate....
Hari had assumed, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, that hard work
and punishingly high standards are demanded of all grown men, that life is
tough and unforgiving, that error and disgrace were irreparable. Imperial
politics had seemed to be a counterexample, but he was beginning, as talk
swirled all around him
Word came by Imperial messenger that Lamurk wished to speak with him. "Where?"
Hari whispered. "Away, outside the palace. "
"Fine by me. "
And exactly what Daneel had predicted. Even Lamurk would not attempt a move
again inside the palace, after the last one.
12.
On his way, he caught a comm-squirt.
A wall decoration near the palace sent a blip of compressed data into his
wrist-sponder. As Hari waited in a vestibule for Lamurk he opened it.
Fifteen Lamurk aides and allies had been injured or killed. The images were
immediate: a fall here, a lift crash there. All accumulated over the last few
hours, when the confluence of the High Council made their probable locations
known.
Hari thought about the lives lost. His responsibility, for he had assembled
the components. The robots had targeted the victims without knowing what would
follow. The moral weight fell... where?
The "accidents" were spread all over Trantor. Few would immediately notice the
connections... except for
"Academician! Happy to see you, " Lamurk said, settling into place opposite
Hari. Without so much as a nod they let slip the formality of a handshake.
"We seem at odds, " Hari said.
A pleasant, empty comment. He had several more in store and used them, eating
up time. Apparently Lamurk had not yet heard that his allies were gone.
Daneel had said he needed five minutes to "bring off the effect, " whatever
that meant.
He parried with Lamurk as more moments slipped by. He carefully used a
nonaggressive body posture and mild tones to calm Lamurk; such skills he now
understood, after the pans.
They were in a Council House near the palace, ringed by their guard parties.
Lamurk had selected the room and its elaborate floral decorations. Usually it
served as a lounge for representatives of rural-style Zones and so was lush
with greenery. Unusually for Trantor, insects buzzed about, servicing the
plants.
Daneel had something planned. But how could he possibly get anything in place
at an arbitrary point? And elude the myriad sensors and snoopers?
Lamurk's ostensible purpose was to confer on the tiktok crisis. Beneath this
Page 233
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
lurked the subtext of their rivalry for the
First Ministership. Everyone knew that Lamurk would force a vote within days.
"We have evidence that something's propagating viruses in the tiktoks, "
Lamurk said.
"Undoubtedly, " Hari said. He waved away a buzzing insect.
"But it's a funny one. My tech people say it's like a little submind, not just
a virus. "
"A whole disease. "
"Uh, yes. Mighty close to what they call 'sentient sickness. '"
"I believe it to be a self-organized set of beliefs, not a simple digital
disease. "
Lamurk looked surprised. "All this tiktok talk about the 'moral imperative' of
not eating anything living, not even plants or yeasts "
"Is sincerely felt. "
"Pretty damn strange. "
"You have no idea. Unless we stop it, we will have to convert Trantor to a
wholly artificial diet. "
Lamurk frowned. "No grains, no faux-flesh?"
"And it will soon spread throughout the Empire. "
"You're sure?" Lamurk looked genuinely concerned.
Hari hesitated. He had to remember that others had ideals, quite lofty ones.
Perhaps Lamurk did...
Then he remembered hanging by his fingernails under the e-lift. "Quite sure. "
"Do you think this is just a sign, a symptom? Of the Empire... coming apart?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]