519 F.E.
The words were faint, almost a whisper in his mind as he lay comfortably upon the self-warming bed. His lips moved with the recalled dialogue, a hint of his voice breaking through the whispered tones uttered.
"I do not believe that what we call Seldon's Plan has the significance we usually apply to it."
The sentence stoked fire upon a memory that seemed very distant. A memory where he was trying to explain something important, as if the fate of the galaxy hinged on his being completely understood.
"..and they are based on the unspoken axiom that human beings are the only intelligent species in the Galaxy, and therefore the only organisms whose actions are significant in the development of society and history."
"Golan?" came a voice penetrating his thoughts and the voices vanished. A moment under the sheets and sudden burst of cold air invaded what had once been comfortable warmth.
Golan Trevize, former Councilman of Terminus, rolled over letting out a groan. Mornings on Comporellon were things to be avoided at his age, or at least postponed until such a time as the people figured out a way to better heat their homes or water.
Actually, it was the water.
In the nearly twenty years he had resided on Comporellon, he had yet to get used to the frigid showers trying to put off their cold barrage for as long as possible.
"Golan?" came the voice again laced with more authority this time. His eyes snapped open and he sat up so quickly that the voice let out a startled laugh.
"I hear and obey Madam Minister of Transportation," he droned through the haze of sleep that still permeated but was slowly retreating the more active he was becoming.
Mitza Lizalor-Trevize, former Minister of Transportation, walked over and kissed Golan gently and began to resume her duties of getting ready for the day's activities.
"We have to attend the Hall of Science today for the NuGen Conference as the guests of honor." she said reminding him that there was a reason to face the cold water shower. Shivering in anticipation, he slipped up from the bed and as he began to make his own preparations asked after a very male fashion, "Do we have to attend?"
As she dressed, he heard the smile in her voice, "I would say, since this is more a celebration of the ideas and creativity that stemming from your donation of the gravitic Far Star, that this is your fault."
Golan grunted again. "I knew I'd suffer for that sooner or later."
"I would hardly call it suffering! Especially since you are being credited with single handedly helping us experience our first technological renaissance. You'll be the man of the hour and have the attentions of many young women in attendance."
Even though they joked about it, he heard the warning in her voice even if it was now delivered unconsciously.
Even then he growled out, "I didn't come back for that." The silence that followed told Trevize that he had earned points off of that statement and relished the thought of cashing in later.
Then he stepped into the fresher and pushed the hated button enveloping his positive thoughts with the screams of torture as his aging body felt the shock of the cold water strike.
"I am going to have a heart attack one of these days!" he shouted over the spray of water to an ever amused partner.
And as he lathered blissfully, his mind bit down on the term 'renaissance' and thought absently, "Where have I hear that word before?"