SAYSHELL …After the recall of Riose and its subsequent defeat by the First Foundation, the Galactic Empire entered a state of turmoil and withdrew from many of its outlying territories. The planet Sayshell, and its corresponding Vice-Royalty, became independent at this time…
It survived this period of the Interregnum in peace and relative tranquility, nothing of note occurring until year 270 of the Foundational Era (12339 GE). In that year, so the stories go, a chance encounter happened that would change the fate of the Galaxy…
-ENCYLCOPEDIA GALACTICA[1]
1. FOUNDLING
"What an ugly child," remarked the doctor, and Jandro Lemelsk was forced to agree. The child was thin but abnormally long, as if stretch out on a rack. And that nose…
Lemelsk was the head of the Sayshell City State Orphanage. Foundlings from all over the planet were brought to the capitol, where the largest and only orphanage was run by the Sayshellian government. As head of it, and as a higher-up employee of the Ministry of Health and Education on Sayshell, Lemelsk encountered at one point or another most of the children of the planet.
He was also an agent of the Second Foundation.
The infant had been brought in several hours earlier, and Lemelsk had been aware of the child ever since. He was only a Second-Class Observer, but the infant had been in the back of his mind ever since. It was like a beacon, unlike anyone Lemelsk had ever encountered before. During his training on Trantor, he had rarely been able to sense the nearby presence of the Council, composed of the greatest mentalists in the Galaxy.
The doctor finished examining the infant, paid his respects to Lemelsk, and left the room. An orderly saw to the infant was placed in the child-care section, and Lemelsk retired to his utilitarian office. Once there, he locked the door, and, sitting at his desk, turned on his computer.
On the outside, no one would have been able to tell that there was anything special about it. But were it to be disassembled, no engineer in the Sayshell Union would have been able to discern how it worked; perhaps a scientist of the First Foundation, but that, too, was doubtful.
The computer required the presence of a mentalic to operate, and was keyed to that specific person's brainwave signature. It required the mentalic powers of a Second Foundationer to operate, and its imbedded hyperwave set could reach across the Galaxy. Lemelsk sent a brief message to the Galactic University on Trantor, waited for the confirmation, and then got to work adjusting the records of the Orphanage.
Two weeks later, a small trading ship from the Core Worlds landed at Sayshell City, with a hold full of titanium alloys harvested from Trantor's shattered crust. Several days later, it took off, its holds now full of farming equipment, seeds, fertilizer…and one infant.
The child was not missed.
Let us now shift our focus to that largest of enigmas, the Second Foundation itself. It is common knowledge that, when the Old Galactic Empire began to decay, the great psychohistorian Hari Seldon deduced that thirty thousand years of chaos would follow until the New Empire could be established. To lessen this amount of time to a single millennium, he established, at the opposite ends of the Galaxy, two Foundations to serve as repositories of culture and knowledge.
At one end of the Galaxy, on the distant, uninhabited planet Terminus, he sent the First Foundation: skilled in the arts of physical science, of nuclear physics, of space engineering and weapons. This would be the nucleus of the New Empire, and would have the task of expanding throughout the Galaxy, conquering the warrior-states, reuniting mankind.
At the opposite end, on the planet-spanning Imperial capitol city Trantor, he planted the Second Foundation: masters of the arts of psychohistory and mob psychology, aided by their mutant mentalic powers, they would be the guardians of the Plan, and ensure that the necessary events came to pass, the right decisions made, for Galactic consolidation.
Where the Terminus Foundation was known to all, the Trantor Foundation was a secret. It couldn't be anything but; the First Foundation must have its presence known to unite mankind, but the mentalic control of the Second Foundation would be worthless if it was widely known. Therefore, Terminus became the new capitol of the Galaxy, while Trantor decayed in seclusion, until even that last bastion of the Empire collapsed and was sacked.
Let us now shift our focus to the Second Foundation.
Two weeks after it left Sayshell, the merchant ship, with its mutant cargo, arrived at the Galactic University on Trantor. Waiting for it was Gaal Cantoro, First Speaker of the Second Foundation.
Cantoro was a stocky man, with bushy eyebrows and a slumped posture. But those who took his outwards appearance as a sign of his mental strength were dearly mistaken, although those few who did were of the native Trantorian populace and not of the Second Foundation…although, since the Great Sack and evacuation of the Imperial House a decade earlier, there were less and less Trantorians, their number decreasing annually. Their losses were felt deeply, both by Cantoro and by most of Second Foundation. The Great Sack was tragic, yet necessary for the survival of the Plan.
Cantoro watched as the ship landed at what once had been the University of Trantor. It was here that Seldon had fleshed out his theories of psychohistory, and it was here that the Second Foundation had made its headquarters. As the Empire declined, both politically as well as culturally and scientifically, the Second Foundationers were able to protect it and its hordes of useful information. During the Great Sack, they had been able to prevent the rebel fleet from damaging the University, and it was there that they had negotiated the peace treaty. Now, renamed the Galactic University, it was the de facto capitol of Trantor, and it was from its subterranean chambers that the Second Foundation coordinated its Galactic efforts.
Trantorian longshoremen unloaded the standard cargo of the 'merchant', while the pilot-another member of the Second Foundation-holding a small bundle, walked towards Cantoro. Before he had traversed even a fraction of the mile between the two, Cantoro felt the presence of the child. Lemelsk's report had been right; this infant had more mentalic potential than anyone else he knew of, himself included. By the time the pilot had reached the First Speaker, the child was a solid presence in his mind; not as strong as the report had stated, but that was only to be expected when comparing a Second-Class Member of the Observation Corps to the First Speaker of the Second Foundation.
Cantoro reflected for a time on the child's unique ugliness, then gave a single nod to the pilot. He walked away, bringing the infant to Processing.
If he had not nodded, the child would have been instantly destroyed.
The Executive Council of Speakers of the Second Foundation was in session, yet few outsiders would have realized it. The twenty Speakers sat in a circular table, yet there was little talk; the sensing of emotions, the knowledge of psychology and of each other, the extreme intelligence and observance made normal speech unnecessary. What might take two average humans several minutes to communicate, could be expressed in several seconds amongst a group of Second Foundations, even one as large as the Council. Perhaps especially in a group the size of the Council.
The current debate was over the inclusion of the child into the ranks of the Second Foundation. All present had observed the child and read the reports, and all were aware of his potential powers. As such, it was one of the more heated discussions the Council of Speakers had ever seen.
"I think we can all agree, his powers are far in advance of anyone else we have record of, when his age is taken into account, of course," the Third Speaker said. His main specialties lay in the physiological aspects of mentalic powers. "His power will only grow as he ages, especially when our training programs are taken into account. Even without our mentalic training, he would almost certainly grow to be more powerful than any of us here; with it, I cannot fathom how…talented he could become."
"And that is precisely why he is a threat to the Plan and to the Second Foundation, and should be destroyed immediately," replied the Seventh Speaker. His specialties lay in the defense of Trantor and the Foundation itself, and the various ways that emotional control could be utilized to that effect. "What is there to stop him from adjusting any of us to suit his control? You've all seen the way he looks; it'll only get worse with age. Imagine him as an acne-spotted teenager! And the report, his sterility-can you imagine the resentment that will build in him, that would consume him? I hardly doubt any of us would be able to contain ourselves, if placed in a similar circumstance."
"Nonsense," replied the Third Speaker. "The Second Foundation has always been a uniquely equalitarian society; we judge ourselves and our peers by the insides, by our feelings and personalities, not by our crude bodies. He shall get all of the complete respect that any of us receive. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually made it to the Council himself, although with his projected lifespan, he wouldn't have long to-"
He was interrupted by the Seventh Speaker. "That's precisely what I'm afraid of! With advanced mentalic powers, a knowledge of psychohistory and the Plan, and resentment fueling his megalomania, imagine what havoc he could cause as one of us! Imagine if he became the First Speaker himself!"
Bear in mind that all of the following took place in under two seconds, and mostly consisted of monosyllabic answers, slight hand gestures, the barest of facial movements. It continued on in like fashion for nearly five more minutes-an eternity in the meetings of Second Foundationers-before the First Speaker raised both his palms into the air.
The effect was instantaneous. The several Speakers who were communicating ended instantly. What the Third Speaker earlier said was true; the Second Foundation was an extremely equal, informal society. In theory, the only powers the First Speaker had was to be ornamental figurehead for the Executive Council of Speakers, plus the allowance of being able to speak first at meetings. However, in practice, as the most experienced and talented Second Foundationer, he commanded much more power than that.
He lowered his hands to the table, and began to talk. "Fellow Speakers, I have heard all of your complaints and arguments, and I find merit in everything said here. Some of you talk of the risk of allowing him into our Foundation; I ask you, what is the risk of not allowing him to join, of destroying him and finding that he is needed to correct an unforeseen flaw in the Plan? Of those who would have him join us, how do you know the reactions his body will have on him? How can you be certain that he will follow our rules?
"As I have stated, I find merit in both arguments, yet I feel that it is necessary for him to enter the Second Foundation. However, for such a momentous, partisan event as this, I shall allow a vote. Let all who support my decision state so."
By a vote of sixteen to four, with the Seventh Speaker and his allies holding out against the First Speaker, the child was voted to be allowed training and residency as a full-fledged member of the second Foundation. To comfort those who were afraid, it was agreed that he should be closely watched, although several thought it was a useless gesture.
Eventually the infant chose the name Seldon Galactus. Several wondered at his particular choice; but in a Galaxy as diverse as ours, his name was no stranger than others. However, rumors inevitably leaked, and before long he had acquired an informal nickname: the Mule.
His training, and his powers with it, progressed at an astronomical rate.
Twenty years passed.
[1] All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are taken from the 116th Edition published in 13089 GE by the Encyclopedia Galactica Publishing Co., Trantor, with permission of the publishers.