"Mule..."
Summary: My AU version of the Asimov tale from his collection of Foundation and Second Foundation tales.
Even as civil war threatens the mighty but flawed Foundation, the Galaxy's greatest power since the Fall of the great Galactic Empire, its road to eventual triumph as the reuniting force in the Galaxy yet (supposedly) guaranteed by the quasi-mystical Seldon Plan, a mysterious warlord of a new and rapidly rising power is maneuvering to seize domination of the Galaxy in defiance of Seldon.
Part XXI...
"Bay? Are we sure about this?" Toran in Ebling Mis' living room eyed Bayta. "The kid seems petrified to me."
Bayta sighed, trying to shift to a more comfortable position on the sofa...I love you lil' Torie but you're making it hard. "She was a little nervous when we told her, but she'll be fine. Torie, she needs this chance. After all, she's a grown woman, not a child...Sooner or later, even if the Foundation would take care of her basic needs, she's going to have to try to stand on her own to some extent."
He plopped beside her on the couch... "I think we're pushing her. She's been through so much in the past weeks. And Lords know how much time she may have."
"Torie..." Bayta smiled. "Has Daddy found his little girl? I thought, within my independent limits, naturally, that was me. Should I start getting jealous?"
"Bay..."
"I'm teasing...Mostly. But you are treating her like your daughter."
"And you like your baby sis..."
"May be just a little...If you admit the daughter thing?"
"May be just a little." Sigh. "But Bay..."
"I don't think she wants to sit and wait to die, Torie. She ought to have a life, however short it must be. And it might last a reasonable while. Besides we're just seeing how things go today."
"Sure, but this is Holis Morti, the man who runs the Mallow Hall and a lot of the venues large and small all over Terminus. I get it was grand of Mis to call in old favors, pull strings, the friend of a friend thing, and I'm amazed he knows the man, but..."
"She'll be no worse off...And Eb heard her. I heard her. She's truly gifted, Torie. This isn't an indulgence."
"She could be worse off and you know it...May she is gifted ...I'll reserve judgment on the indulgence. But she's never faced big crowds. And you've seen how some act around her..."
"All the more reason to make them shut up and listen. Once they listen, they'll forget about what she looks like." Bayta insisted, shifting again on the sofa.
"Can't we try small and intimate, at least the first couple of times, say a family party or a slot at a coffee house? This is a big jump in one stroke. A lot of pressure."
"It probably would be small and intimate, at first... But Mr. Morti only has a short time to see her while he's in town. It was good of Eb to set this up. It's only one man and us, after all, here. She'll be fine. And I've promised her we'll keep close."
"And suppose she does all right and he puts her out there? She trying to perform for hundreds in halls, who knows how many by holovision?"
"We'll keep around. She wouldn't do anything without us being close anyway. Give her this chance, Torie. You know she was performing for a crowd when we met her."
"Antics for some tourists after she ran from the Mule..." he shook his head at her set face. "You're really sure about this, Bay? Suppose Morti takes one look at her and..."
"Torie!"
"Bay, I'm fond of her. We're both fond of her. But other folks, well...Even here, on Terminus...Some of them see her and act like she's cursed or something. Even here people have their superstitions...And the most common is that ...Deformed means evil..."
"She's dealt with idiots like that before."
"And been hidden or run from them most of her life."
"She's plenty tough beneath her flowery words in that spindly little body, Torie. She can handle it, with a little support from us, I'm sure."
"Bay...?" He eyed her carefully. "You aren't trying to unload her? You aren't actually jealous of the kid, are you? Bay, I've never even..."
"Torie!" she glared at him. "I'm not trying to get rid of her. I just want her to have her chance at a life."
"Ok, sorry..."
She grinned at him. "That's some ego you've got. No girl can resist my husband?"
"Bay...Ok, but why not a slower start? Like I keep saying, family then friends, then maybe a small spot in some quiet venue."
"She's excited about this Torie, I think she wants to try. Heck, she's been up half the night, practicing. Even if she fails, why not let her try?"
"I just hate to see the kid hurt. It's easy to see she's been hurt, a lot."
"You're a good dad, no question." She grinned, patting his shoulder. "But even the best dad has to let go sometime."
"Maybe." Toran sighed.
"My lady!" call from the living room. "Not wishing to bring you troubles..." anxious tone.
"We're having a little wardrobe problem here." Mylin called.
"Lets go." Toran, to Bayta's look.
"You're gonna make a terrific dad." She grinned.
...
"All right, Sessons." Mis nodded as the two faced each other in one of the storage rooms of the Administrative Offices. "I'll give your people what I've come up with to date. More than one person should have the project at hand anyway. I can tell you this much...I'm certain the Second Foundation does exist. But I've only scratched the surface of Seldon's work."
"That alone is valuable, Mis." Sessons noted. "If a bit terrifying. You know..." he paused, eyeing the scientist. "Perhaps because I'm not truly a member of either the intellectual or the mentalic elite, I've sometimes wondered if Seldon cared for Humanity at all...Perhaps his real goal was simply to keep most of us from bothering people like him in their work and life."
"You sound almost as if you'd like to see the Plan fall..." Mis regarded him.
"If we lose all our autonomy to give Seldon his pretty, elitest Empire, I do." Sessons, solemnly. "I do not like the idea of humans living like cogs in a great machine so a privileged few can be more comfortable. That surprises you, I see." Smile.
"I'd never viewed you as a radical." Mis grinned.
"More a lap dog. And so I will be again, when we leave here. Mis? I have tried to keep the woman off Indbur's sensor grid...I'll continue to try...But she is a Devers despite your and her efforts to hide her past. Sooner or later, Mora and Ota, or one of their people, will dig that past up and try to use it to score points with Indbur, or to blackmail you."
"I've known that for some time...As has she."
"You can't persuade her to leave Terminus?"
"I've tried many times...And I thought, rather cleverly." Mis smiled. "But she's seen through the deceptions and refused my orders and my pleas. I was hoping keeping the records of the Psychohistory project safe would do the trick but..." shrug.
"You're lucky...Though I'm sorry for you...It's both a blessing and a curse to have someone care so much for you. I've never had that."
"Lucky only to the extent I happened to be Elbing Mis. Though I truly believe she's come to care for me." Mis shrugged. "She was very deliberate in her choice. None but a Mis would do. Given she was an academic, no one else could help her avenge her grandfather Latham by proving him right..." he explained.
"Does she want that...Vengeance?" Sessons, worried look.
"On the Indburs...Certainly. And not merely intellectually. But she's a Devers which means she's a patriot first, to the death."
"Well, lets pray it doesn't come to that. For little Indbur's sake..." smile.
"I wonder really if I don't like the fellow more than you." Mis, wryly. "But I've been paired with him for decades, since his father thought I might pull him together...Perhaps I feel responsible for him, or, for letting him live." Shrewd look.
"We'd best part now, Mis. And as I say..."
"You'll be back to being the lackey bastard political hack impersonating a scientist I've loathed..." Mis smiled.
"Oh, certainly...Who'll go running to Indbur to suggest you be kept under even stricter surveillance...Though spared as a critical asset. Mis, tell the Dartells to be careful. I can't protect them without risking exposure, and their baby and that odd woman friend of theirs makes them vulnerable. I've tried to avoid it but I may have to sacrifice them to keep Indbur content."
"Leave that to me..." Mis shook head. "I think I can get Indbur to believe they could be essential. In fact, they are...At least indirectly and unconsciously."
...
"A thousand, thousand apologies, my Lady..." Magnifica, sheepishly. "I have never tried to dress so finely before. My lady Mylin has tried to help but...The one's pitiable form does not suit."
"Nonsense, Magnifica..." Bayta frowned at the tangle of akimbo limbs protruding from the outfit. "We'll sort this out."
"Perhaps I would be best in my old costume..." the girl noted. "It was made for me if but to mock my form."
"No, we'll get this to work. Just a minute...Mylin? Can you help guide her arm here?" she turned to Mylin who gave a careful pull.
"Think I'll just provide direction here." Toran eyed the group.
After a bit of fussing and a degree of tearing... "There...Lets get you settled on the sofa here...Just pull the thing up to give yourself a little..."
"Anything...?" Mylin grinned. Toran restraining a smile...
"Forget the razzing section, Magnifica. Just want to make you look a bit more full here...There." Bayta eyed the now seated, or given her long awkward limbs, sprawled girl on the sofa.
"The one is grateful for your efforts, my Lady." Magnifica nodded. "But she is not sure she can play in this position."
"Hmmn...Well. Just lets pull a bit..." Bayta frowned. "Mylin?"
A bit of pulling and some tearing later...
"There...And there's your Visi-Sonar. Well?" Bayta turned to Mylin and Toran.
"Not bad..." considered nod. "No, not bad." Toran agreed.
"Here..." Bayta took image with her compad unit...Displaying a hologram of Magnifica, sprawled in elegant red and white tunic with plastic flounces concealing some of her deficiencies. However, nothing could quite prevent her limbs from sticking out at odd angles, giving her the appearance of a dressed stick figure.
"Oh...My lady..." Magnifica stared. "Be that the one...Me?"
"It is. And you look lovely." Bayta beamed.
"I think not, my lady." shrug. "But the one do look better."
"Magnifica..."
"My Lady...'Lovely' is a word for things which are so. I am not. The one is well aware of this." Careful look. "It be deception to claim else. But, in my heart...You have made me beautiful. Thank you, my Lady." Smile.
"Magnifica...You make me cry." Bayta sighed.
"That is never what I would wish, my Lady. You have made the one so happy, blessed in the company of such friends as you and my Lord Toran...And the great professor and his Lady, my Lady Mylin." nods to Toran and Mylin.
"Magnifica, you look very fine. And thanks to you for making Bay so happy." Toran noted.
"Well...Don't know as to being Eb's 'lady'...But thanks, kiddo." Mylin smiled.
"The great professor loves you, my Lady. As you do him." Magnifica insisted.
"That's what I say." Bayta grinned.
"Enough...Eb hears this and he'll run for Trantor or any hole he can work in, in peace." Mylin frowned.
A buzz... "You have a visitor. Ok to let him in?" a guard's hologram appeared.
"Sure...Just one sec." Mylin told him.
"Suddenly they're our protectors..." wry smile.
Toran rolling eyes. Still, they're not arresting us, again...Yet.
"Showtime, Magnifica." Bayta smiled to the girl who gulped a bit.
"What will you play for him?"
"I'd thought to begin with an old, old tune, my Lady...One I learned traveling with Lord Vargos from his collection of old works of the ancients. I've adapted it for VisiSonar from the audio." Magnifica, tensing a bit. "It be a child's tune, but the one has been told she plays it well."
...