CHAPTER 15: THE VAULT

"Has the whole city gone mad?"

The streets were filled with shouting mobs. Gillam cursed as he drove through side streets and crashed a few barriers. He finally reached a quiet alley and pulled over near a recycling plant. "Everyone's gone crazy," he muttered, reading his news pad. "Kyrin's little incident with the test...it set him back some. Apparently he hasn't been seen for a few hours. But he'll be back for sure. You were right, Ma'am...it's a Seldon Crisis. How did you know?"

"Psychohistory, Mr. Gillam. Please, what does the news say...did they execute my Colleagues yet?" Minna tried to keep her voice level.

"I don't think so. Listen, Ma'am." He ran a hand through his hair. "We're only a few miles from the Spaceport. I've got friends there. They've been hiding me from Kyrin's thugs. I've been thinking...the head of Shipping says they can get me off-planet. Maybe you should consider coming too?"

"Thank you, no." Minna shook her head. "The maniacs won't stop when they've killed my Colleagues," she added. "It will just get worse. It's all been predicted."

"What does psychohistory say about how to stop this?"

"A countervailing force." She wrapped her shawl around herself. "I once told my son that 'Psychohistory and electronics are both about directing a flow of energy'. Kyrin pushed the flow in a certain direction. So perhaps I can push it into a different path."

"How?"

"By making an appearance at the Seldon Vault."

"What! You're insane. The Freeps have the place watched."

"That's why."

"But...the reports say it's chaos over there. People keep coming, they arrest them, more keep showing up. You want to fall into that madman's hands?"

Minna's lips moved as she calculated the variables. Including the damage to the mind-static transmitter, back at the Navy base. There was another tower here, near the Vault, but it wasn't as powerful. She could already feel the difference. Her head didn't hurt nearly as much as before. Did that mean...

"If I don't provide the counterweight...then no one will be able to stop Kyrin. And that will be the end of the Plan." She made the broken V sign.

"Stars above!" Gillam rolled his eyes. "Has the mental static damaged your brain? Oh, very well. Let's see if my Spaceport friends can help. Maybe one of their Quarantine vans could get us through."

By now it was late evening and the street lights illuminated the huge crowds. Gillam tried to maneuver the Medi-van through the crowds surrounding the Vault. People avoided a Quarantine van, but still it was like trying to walk upstream against a strong current. "It's going to be your death sentence, ma'am—oh wait, that doesn't bother you, does it. It's what you want." He muttered a few curses under his breath.

He rolled the vehicle to a stop, as the street had become impassable. "Seems to be two factions fighting over the Vault."

"Hands off Seldon's Vault," people yelled.

"Mental Freedom," the Freeps shouted.

As Gillam considered their next movie, they heard an explosion. A street light blew and the street was left in darkness. "Damn! Someone's cut the power! Now what!" He rummaged for a light stick in the emergency kit.

At the same time, Minna felt a huge sense of relief; the constant head pain had vanished. "Oh glory! They've destroyed the Mind-Static transmitter too!" It was as if a blindfold had been removed: Minna could now sense mentalic presences. And one familiar mental signature rose above the chaos..."there's someone coming! Could it be..."

A moment later she spotted a young man pushing his way through the crowd as if a demon was after him.

"Joram! Oh, Joram!" She seized him and embraced him fiercely. "What in Seldon's name-"

"Mom! Holy Nova! I thought you were shot!"

Gillam grabbed her arm. "Come on folks—let's make a run for the Vault. There's a private entrance around back of the stage."

She pulled Joram along with her. "How'd you get loose?"

"That crazy Lanell lady brought me..." He panted for breath, sharing a quick narrative as they followed Gillam toward the Vault entrance. "She thought I'd help her...take control of...Vault. We got surrounded...and I just ran."

"Joram. It was you, back there, wasn't it? You destroyed Kyrin's test machine. What did you do?"

"I guess found my gift."

"You can Persuade objects?"

"Just small ones. Like electrons."

"Well, by Seldon's beard." What had someone said? The wild card. "But Joram-how'd you do it? The Mind Static generators cancel our mentalic frequency."

"Hell if I know. Different kind of force...it must be a different frequency. But don't ask me to do it ever again. It would probably kill me. Mom..." His face twisted in grief. "I tried to do more. They started shooting... I tried to jam the guns! Couldn't make it work. I think a bunch of our people were killed."

"You did your best." Anyway, all of us are supposed to die.

"But at least I found you. I knew you'd come here, Mom."

"How did you know?"

"Psychohistory." He smiled, tapping his forehead.

"Good boy."

"Come on." Gillam dodged behind a wall and led them to a concealed door at the back of the Vault pavilion. "City officials used this entrance. I know the code." He tapped the numbers, turned on his light, led them up some stairs. They emerged just behind the place where Seldon's hologram had appeared.

She stepped into the circle of broken plexiglass and held up the light stick. At the sudden appearance of the strange woman and her light, the crowd fell silent.

"Who is it?" someone gasped. "Is it for real?"

Her heart pounded; her hand shook. She stood, holding the light, looking like a Galactic Church postulant with her shawl concealing her face. For one moment, terror paralyzed her. She had never experienced such a maelstrom of crowd emotions: anger, hatred, terror. Even the Kyrin-ites were afraid. This has gone too far, she could feel them thinking. Killing the Seconds was one thing. Destroying the Seldon Vault was another. It had deeply shaken people of all political persuasions. A civil war was happening right here.

She called up the psychohistorical calculations: how to direct the flow of human energy. Speeches, rituals, beliefs. A lifetime of study had prepared her for this moment.

"Lady, who are you?" someone called. "Is this a new Seldon Message?"

This is it. Mother Wanda, guide me.

She wrapped her shawl around herself. 'My name is unimportant," she began. "Call me a Guardian."

Someone rushed up with a bullhorn to amplify her speech.

"Call me a Guardian," she repeated, finding inspiration and a strong sure voice. "I belong to an order called...the Temple of Serene Hope. A fellowship dedicated to the study of Seldon."

Not a lie at all! Just after Seldon's death, his granddaughter Wanda had created the Temple of Serene Hope as a cover for her mentalic ministry.

"Three hundred seventy years ago, Seldon foresaw all the problems the Foundation would face. Everything that's happening now was part of his predictions. And the problem you face now is worse than any military threat: Terminus is in danger of losing its soul."

Her sweeping gesture indicated the destroyed vault. "People feared control by an outsider, so they let themselves be controlled by something much worse...hatred of that outsider. This is threatening to destroy the Plan that you all believe in."

The Kyrinites in the audience grumbled, stirring uneasily. "She's lying," someone cried.

But no one else picked up the cry. What if someone had fixed the holographic projector, and this apparition really was a Seldon hologram?

"I have spent my life studying Seldon's writings, It's all here in my memory, word for word..." She touched her forehead. "...all 15 volumes of it."

None of this was a lie. Seldon's volumes had been preserved at the Imperial Library and a Speaker was required to memorize large portions. But what she didn't tell them was that some of these writings were from a different Seldon: Hari's granddaughter Wanda, the guiding founder of the Second Foundation.

"Listen to what our Founder says: A society built on hate soon loses everything else. Science, learning, morality and all civilized norms soon disappear. The projected outcome is an exponential downward curve, resulting in barbarism and collapse." Her hands moved in a jagged pattern, emphasizing her words.

"Seldon created his Plan to make sure that this would never happen. You may not know that he grew up during the Red Generals' Coup and the Empire's brutal reprisals. He witnessed bloodshed and social disorder. Probably quite a few mass executions. That is why his life mission was to rid the Galaxy of barbarism."

Even the Freeps had gone mostly quiet, as if under the spell of her words.

She was only using enough Persuasive power to keep from being attacked. The change was going to have to come from the individuals themselves, not from outside influence.

"Here is what Seldon says: After charting the course of human history for 15,000 years I find the same pattern repeats forever: The human race learns technical miracles, but then their civilizations collapse because of greed and hatred of the Other. How can we stop this deadly cycle? Until humans overcome the ape instincts of rampant ego and megalomania,no empire can survive long. Entropy will keep pulling humanity back toward the abyss of darkness."

Her gestures depicted the peaks and valleys of the endless chaos cycle. The listeners stared in awe, mesmerized by the Speaker's force of conviction.

"'Humanity must be taught to moderate aggression, greed, hate...all the evils that cause so much suffering for mankind...over the next thousand years our plan is to steer humanity past its ravening predator instincts. The change,' says Seldon, 'must be in the human mind. Humans must learn to truly communicate. I have put guides in place to teach humans how to listen to each other."

Of course, Seldon was referring to the Second Foundation. Unfortunately there was no word in vocal speech to describe what Seldon and his granddaughter Wanda envisioned: but the closest word was mentalic empathy. A level of group feeling, so that one person could not harm another without equal harm to themselves.

"Only then,' says Seldon, 'could any galactic society last. This is the Second Empire that we dream of and work toward. Not an empire of force and tyranny, but of human unity and understanding-"

"That's a bunch of bullcrap," one of the Kyrinites yelled. "She's one of Them."

Several others turned on him. "Shut the hell up!"

A sudden commotion cut them off. "Hold it right there!" Several men had burst in from the back entrance, bearing blaster cannons. At their center...

Kyrin!

The crowd gasped in horror. The Admiral's face was flushed, his hair in disarray. His eyebrows pointed down like two lightning bolts. His men flanked him with blasters ready.

"Admiral." Minna faced him with a smile. "I knew you would come for me."

The men pointed their weapons. In one second there would be a massacre. She could feel it in his thoughts: he'd lift his finger and everyone in this place would die.

Kyrin strode up. He grabbed her shawl. His blazing eyes locked with hers. "And so we meet again... Miss Minna of the-"

He was about to say the words Second Foundation. But he never got the chance, because Minna moved into his mind with surgical swiftness, and rearranged just a few fibers.

He blinked. "What was I saying?" the angle of his eyebrows had relaxed. He turned to his men. "I was saying...get this place cleaned up. Everyone out!"

Minna stood there, drained. Clumsy Persuasion...no time for finesse. And it had taken every ounce of energy. Exhausted, she collapsed into the arms of Gillam and Joram, and they quickly carried her to safety.

The crowd stood silent. And then they began to move. Minna had started them in motion, like shoving a boulder down hill. Now they began to roll toward City Hall.

"They can't shoot all of us."

"If they shoot me...then I'll die for the Seldon Plan."

CHAPTER 16: STANDOFF

Commander Valez and the 13th Division watched the speech on a news screen, their eyes practically bulging out of their heads. "It's her. The leader of the Seconders!"

"She called herself a Guardian. What does she mean?"

"She's no mutant. She's a saint of the Prophet, that's what. We've got to act, or lose our souls," Valez cried. "Quick...mobilize the armored vehicles."

A few of the troops hesitated.

"What are you waiting for, dungheads?"

"This is treason. The Admiral is the highest authority."

'To the Black Hole with the Admiral. Our souls are in danger! Assemble riot gear," Valez ordered. "We roll in fifteen!"

Just then her Secure Line bleeped. "This is Mayoral Deputy Mirvin Thane. You're to see that the Seconders are disposed of."

"'Disposed of'?"

"They're a political liability. Do it quietly. Those are my orders."

"Yes sir." She tapped out a message to an offworld Trader she had done business with. From Cmdr Valez of the 13th to Captain Tencel of the Trader ship Starflower. Captain, I need a favor. Quiet relocation mission, whatever you can do. "All right Troops. Let's move!"

An angry crowd had marched from the Seldon Vault to surround City Hall. Too many for Kyrin's men to shoot. It got worse for them when the 13th Division rolled up in armored vehicles.

A tense standoff continued all that night till the next morning. People fully expected to be massacred, and that might have been the result yesterday...but today the Grand High Mayor didn't seem inclined to mass murder. The Freeps merely remained holed up in the sanctum.

The Subcommander of the 13th studied the situation and scowled. "We have superior firepower. But I don't want to trigger a bloodbath. They're Terminus citizens."

That morning another crowd gathered near the Navy base to watch a small shuttle land. A line of prisoners were led out and brought on board. "What's going on?"

"It's the Seconders. They're being taken away."

The Army offered a truce. "Admiral Kyrin, come out and negotiate!" For awhile the Grand High Mayor refused to come out, and the tense crowds waited in the hot sun. He finally appeared amidst several flag-toting supporters.

"Free the Second Foundationers, and we'll give you amnesty," said a spokesperson for the Seldon Defenders.

The Freep faction shook their banners and filled the air with cries of "mental freedom!" and "traitors!"

An agreement couldn't be reached, and the standoff continued.

The Admiral finally made an appearance and stepped up to the microphone. His eyebrows were less arrow-like than before. "The Second Foundation menace has been taken care of."

"What have you done with them?"

Kyrin hesitated until Thane handed him a paper. He scanned it before announcing, "Uh...their sentence of execution was not carried out, because of...traitors at the base. Who will be caught and punished, of course," he mumbled, not too enthusiastically.

"But don't worry. We won't be plagued by the Second Foundation any more. They have been placed on an exile ship. They are being deported to the prison planet Zoranel. It is located in an isolated sector surrounded by deadly ion storms. The planet will be ringed with Mental Static so they can't escape. They are sentenced for life...which probably won't be very long, in that hellish climate. The Second Foundation will soon be a thing of the past," he concluded with a bland smile and stepped away from the microphone, to scattered applause.

After a few more negotiations, he signed a paper and faced the reporters again. "I wish to announce that I'm resigning my position as Grand High Mayor because of my medical condition. I've suffered... a slight stroke. But I want to thank all of my supporters in the FFP. Due to your heroic efforts, the First Foundation is now the only Foundation, undisputed master of the galaxy, free to pursue its destiny without outside mental interference."

His remaining supporters whooped and cheered, fired a few rounds, and left to celebrate their victory at the bars. They held a big parade the next day, which they declared Mental Freedom Day.

Later that day, Kyrin was quietly arrested on grounds of sedition.

CHAPTER 17: GUARDIAN

Despite the show of celebration, not everyone was overjoyed about Mental Freedom and the demise of Foundation Two.

The former mayor, Vandikoff, emerged from hiding, but he was an emotional wreck. He sat there in the remains of the Council chamber and talked to himself. "I didn't do enough to stop that scow scraper Kyrin. We can't go forward...it's true what Seldon said. We destroyed our brother Foundation and now we're doomed."

Offworld news outlets were highly critical. The Galactic Church issued a condemnation and the Korell Times said that the Foundation was losing respect. Maybe it's time Seldon chose some other world. Like ours!

Gillam was elected Mayor, but with the mood in Terminus so dispirited, not much got done. Nobody felt like rebuilding City Hall and somehow nobody had money to repair the Mind-static transmitters either. Covering a whole planet with Mind Static required a big energy expenditure, and now that the mind-masters had been defeated, nobody really needed the towers anymore, did they? Nobody wanted to look at the ugly things, a reminder of an increasingly painful episode.

"Did those generals really wipe out the Second Foundation? What if it was a big mistake," people began to say. Even some of the former Freeps were having second thoughts. "Why did we listen to that Mule's ass Kyrin? What's going to happen now? What if Kalgan attacks again?"

Crowds gathered in vigils at the shattered Seldon Vault. Minna and Joram had been staying in a corner of the building, mostly keeping out of sight, while watching and listening to the people as they wandered past.

"We failed to solve the crisis," they said. "We destroyed innocent people...our own guardians. And now Seldon has deserted us."

"The Vault should stay ruined forever," people argued. "I don't know if the Foundation can live with the shame."

One of the visitors was Dr. Toran Darell, who had invented Mental Static. A teenage girl accompanied him, and both of them looked terrible. "All of this is my fault," he muttered to himself. "What have I done? How can I atone for my monstrous crime?

Minna stepped out of the shadows. 'You can atone," she said, "by becoming your own guides."

He turned, and there they stood: the Guardian and her son.

"What do you mean?"

What do I mean? It's time.

Wanda Seldon's equations predicted a branching point in the Plan: a time when all of humanity would begin to learn mentalic awareness. This time would have come centuries later—but Minna saw no choice. It would have to start now.

"Remember when I told you Seldon's words? 'The change must be in the human mind'."

These people were receptive now, as never before.

"Seldon created the Second Foundation to teach and guide the change. But they have been...wiped out." Minna forced herself to say these words. "Now you are on your own."

These words on your own had a profound effect. She could feel their weight upon the listeners.

"You will have to guide yourselves. If you want to get back on track with the Plan, you must purge the poison—the selfish ego, the hatred, the ravening predator instincts. You must control your own minds. Preserving the Seldon plan is now up to you."

The girl moved closer. "My name is Arkady Darell. I'm...I'm responsible for this mess too. What can we do?"

Minna held out her hands. "Our Temple teaches a form of meditation called Listening. Here, if anyone is ready, let me show you how to tune your mind to the frequency called 'empathy'. When you know how to Listen to each other, you'll never be able to persecute, or conquer, or harm anyone else."

She joined hands with Arkady.

And so, Minna used her powers of Persuasion to teach and guide, and heal what was broken. Almost everyone in Terminus came to learn from her and be changed. Politicians, planetary ambassadors, even the rulers of surrounding planets visited the spiritual leader. No one would remember or question her identity: All they would remember was, they had seen a monster who almost destroyed the Foundation, and a spiritual teacher who taught them how to save it.

Joram, meanwhile, was building sculptures with the shattered fragments of Seldon's enclosure. "Come on Mom, enough preaching already. Can we start rebuilding this Vault? I'd like to build it better than before."

As for Kyrin's statement about the grim prison planet, it wasn't quite true.

Kyrin had been led to believe that the Second Foundation martyrs were sent away to a life sentence of harsh exile. But the ship never made it to Zoranel. Once it left the Terminus system, it veered in a different direction. Several parsecs beyond Terminus, the ship Starflower met with a 'Quarantine ship' which planetary inspectors tended to avoid. The exiles were taken aboard.

"Will it be the lethal injection?" Sharl said, noting the medical equipment. "Or shoved out the airlock?"

"No," said a man in doctors' garb. "Sorry, ma'am, you're not getting your martyrdom. My name's Dr. Abek. I've been monitoring the reports from Terminus. I believe you've succeeded in your mission. Nobody is going to be looking for the Second Foundation for 100 years. Your people are safe, and so is the Seldon Plan. Of course you don't remember me."

"No. Who are you?"

"I'm the guy who blocked your memories. And I'm the guy who can bring them back. Remember Scholars' Village on Trantor? You soon will. I'm taking you home."