"Mule..."
Summary: My AU version of the Asimov tale from his collection of Foundation and Second Foundation tales.
As she consolidates her new Empire, the First Citizen, Magnifica Gigantica, i.e. Bobo the Clown/Musician is one step away from Galactic conquest. But that step requires the locating and defeat of Seldon's hidden Second Foundation.
Book III: "Foundation and Union..."
Part I…
"Only 300 years after the start of the collapse of the Galactic Empire, the chaos and darkness have abated." The holographic announcer, a proud-looking, attractive thirty-ish woman in the black with space and starts emblem of the Galactic Union Forces, formerly the Kalganian Navy, pronounced. "The Emperor Dagobert IX, sole heir to the ancient throne, today reascends his throne, our own noble sovereign, the First Citizen of the Union, at his side, relinquishing her power to the rightful heir, to be his faithful aide and chief minister." Beam.
"All Kalganians feel a special pride today knowing it is their hard service that has brought about the reunification of the Galaxy under its restored Emperor in a freer, better Union, hundreds of years ahead of the so-called Seldon Plan of the old Foundation state. And how glorious it is that our world of Kalgan will now take the reins, after this rededication on Trantor, as the new Imperial Capital World. We salute the First Citizen of the Union for her own efforts in bringing about this great day and for her sacrifice. All hail the restored Union! All hail the Emperor, symbol of the Union, His Majesty Dagobert IX!" she slapped clenched fist to chest and extended her arm in salute as the scene moved and expanded to show a huge room in which the Emperor sat, in imperial era-style regalia, on a glowing throne in a restored hall of the old Imperial Palace, soldiers, guards, ministers, and celebrities from across the Galaxy in attendance about him. And to his side, dressed simply, in plain white robe…The oddly incongruous figure of Magnifica Gigantica, a simple chain of office about her throat. She leaning to the Emperor as he turned to her, a question on his lips.
"No, Majesty…" she replied gently. "Your son is not here. He died on NeoTrantor, weeks ago. He assaulted an innocent young woman, a friend of mine, and you handed him over for punishment."
"Did I?" Dagobert, a bit disconcerted. "I don't seem to recall. How did he die?"
"I had to punish him, Majesty. I'm sorry." She said, simply. "He was guilty, but I take full responsibility."
"Yes, yes…Most unfortunate." Dagobert nodded, waving a hand. "Poor boy, he was very headstrong and even cruel at times." Sighing.
"Again, I am sorry, Majesty. I have asked pardon and I crave it again." She said, quietly.
"Granted, granted. I know the boy did wrong." Dagobert sighed, with slight wave of hand. "He was very cruel, but I am to blame, I raised him poorly. Hard times then, after Gelmer the Usurper drove us from Trantor. But now we have returned to our throne, bless the Powers That Govern All. Gelmer is crushed and the Empire restored."
"Yes, Majesty." Nod. "If your Majesty would…We should finish the ceremony. The people are waiting for your benediction."
"Yes, yes…My benediction. My throne is restored and the people of the Galaxy rejoice." Dagobert beamed.
"Ay, Majesty." She agreed kindly, waving for a holograph press team to move in.
"All due to you, my dear girl…" He noted, rather kindly now, with smile. "My truest supporter. The one who restored me to my rightful throne when all others abandoned me."
"I hope I am, Sire." Nod.
"Are you well, little one? You should sit." The Emperor, concerned as Magnifica indeed seemed to sway a bit.
"It's the robes, your Majesty…I'm not used to wearing them." She noted, putting up a hand.
"A seat for my friend…!" Dagobert called.
"A seat for the First Citizen!" several officers immediately called. All hurrying to secure it.
"No, that's very kind, Majesty but…"
"I insist, my dear." Dagobert, firmly.
"Very well, Sire." She, smiling gently, taking the first seat brought forward.
"Are you well, ma'am?" a worried General Han Pritcher, resplendent in his formal dress uniform, had hurriedly approached her, as had several ministers and aides, all looking sincerely distressed…
"I'm fine, General." Waving him off. "Please…This is the Emperor's moment." Indicating the holograph team.
"Of course, ma'am." Pritcher bowed and led the others off.
The holoannouncer eagerly summing up the ceremony for the Galaxy-straddling audience…The Emperor and the few surviving Imperial relations in their restored regalia, modeled after the First Empire's, with the newly re-coronated Emperor accepting the well-wishes of his ministers and generals…
A celebration for the Galaxy…The restoration of over a third of the Old Galactic Empire into the Union of Worlds, presided over by the last official and true Galactic Emperor, Dagobert IX, now formally restored and re-coronated. Indeed, as the announcers eagerly noted, given the continued colonization during and since Imperial days, the Union contained over fifty-nine percent of the number of Imperial Worlds and over fifty percent of the Empire's population at its height.
In addition, with the Foundation no more, there was no serious known challenger left, though it would take some time and effort to subjugate the remaining volume of the Galaxy. But between the "natural gifts of the First Citizen" and the enormous industrial output of the Union since conquest of the Foundation Federation, it was merely a question of time and effort.
Dagobert rising from his shining, laser-lit, polychrome throne in his formal robes…All the ministers and generals lined up down the aisles of the restored Great Hall of the Imperial Palace of Trantor coming to attention.
"My people! My ministers! Generals and heroic soldiers! I thank you all!" Dagobert called, his voice now strong, his bearing, erect and dignified. "The Empire of the Galaxy is restored and may my people know peace and prosperity throughout my reign and the reigns of my successors!"
Cheers erupting…
"I thank the people of Kalgan for their noble efforts and for their faith and loyalty to the notion of a united Galaxy and am pleased to ordain the planet Kalgan and its solar system as the new Capital of the Galactic Empire." Dagobert, reading with only minor hesitation from the holographic note before his eyes. "May the final completion of Reunification be quick and bloodless! May all the Galaxy reunite in brother- and sisterhood." He paused to allow more cheers, turning to whisper a question to a military officer at attention by the throne. The officer, a bit nonplused, replying quickly in whisper, Dagobert nodding and turning to the crowd before him.
"And before We close, I must give personal thanks to the one most responsible for this glorious day…My most faithful advisor and Our beloved First Citizen…!" he indicated Magnifica in her seat.
She nervously squinting, waving the holocam off.
"The One truly responsible for it all…" the officer just addressed by Dagobert hissed to Pritcher. "If only the ole fool knew…I can't believe the First is letting him take the throne. Do you know he just asked me if this was Kalgan?"
"Quiet…" Pritcher, firmly. "The First knows what she's doing. And you have your orders."
"She's not ill, is she?" a minister next to Pritcher, anxious. "We should get her to the medical facility…"
"She's just tired…It's been a long day and she's been busy all week." Pritcher, silencing her. "We'll see she gets rest as soon as this show is over."
"And there you have it…" The announcer noted. "We have brought you the restoration and coronation ceremony of Dagobert IX, Emperor of the Union of Worlds, former Emperor of the Old Galactic Empire. Hail the Union! Hail the Emperor! And may the Galaxy soon know peace and unity once again."
…
In a small room aboard a small, well-masked starship, two hundred parsecs from Trantor in the relatively prosperous Koydle system, a former Imperial estate, long independent, the broadcast was ended by touch of a power pad…
"So, it's done." A small, close to middle age by current Galactic standards, man standing eyed several others seated. "The Mule has re-established the Empire in her Union of Worlds, under the last of the Emperors. And the Plan is in ruins."
"Are we sure? Seldon did in fact allow for this…He offered a 21% probability that a foreign warlord might intervene in the Traders' Civil War." a tall woman, dark-haired, relatively youthful, seated, attempting to speak hopefully.
"No, the Plan never allowed for an individual like her. Lets not deceive ourselves, the Mule lies outside Seldon's calculations." The man shook head.
"Surely the reunification could be adapted to the Plan…?" another spoke up, a large man of apparently bland and complacent face...One who'd go unnoticed in any crowd. "Not in that woman's grip, of course…" he noted. "But Galactic reunification is the key component of Seldon's theories, surely we could adjust the course of events to restore the Plan…Perhaps we could even make use of this event, over time?"
"Our job is not to take advantage of events to speed the Plan but to follow the Plan." The small man frowned, the woman who'd spoke, nodding in agreement.
"We might just as well have helped Bel Riose conquer the Foundation and let Cleon II secure his throne, a century ago. Any change like this is dangerous…And likely to plunge the Galaxy into chaos, especially when the Mule dies."
"Are we sure of this?" the second man to speak eyed the standing speaker. "All our information about her is second-hand at best, from those operatives of hers we've probed as best we could and the Dartells. Some of it could be faked, especially what we've learned from that girl and her husband though our people."
"She was sincere and I believe the Mule spoke the truth to her." The standing speaker, firmly.
"Well, if it is true that the Mule is incapable of bearing offspring…?" the second man noted.
"This Union of hers remains a danger, backed by Foundation technology. We know she's already pressing Foundation scientists to improve upon means of detecting and shielding against mentalic activity. She knows of us, even if she doesn't know of our location. And she is actively seeking us."
"Even so, shouldn't we attack now? While she's on Trantor, and less defended? After all, once she returns to Kalgan, in the midst of her defenses…Not to mention the danger of her learning what and who we are…"
"With her fleet, soldiers, and her mentalic powers, we wouldn't stand a chance in a direct attack." The standing speaker frowned. "As for your assassination proposal, she'd detect any mentalic activity on Trantor and she screens even her converted followers when they approach. She's her own best, all-hearing, all-seeing, guard." The man sighed.
"Are we certain of her powers being so superior to ours?" the second man persisted
"I had to have two of our people on Kalgan killed, Bryans, simply because she'd sensed their mental communication. Despite letting themselves be known as performers of unusual ESP ability, performing in an act, and staging their accidental deaths, she immediately scoured Kalgan for us mentalically. She makes periodic sweeps of any place she occupies, summoning and converting anyone who shows the slightest indication of telepathic or mentalic ability. We've monitored her mentalic output from a distance, it's phenomenal, and we know she could detect any of us in action, even in resting state without careful masking. We can't begin to match her, individually, and it's difficult to pool our powers, especially without attracting her attention."
"What does the First Speaker say?" the tall woman who'd spoken asked now…
"Nothing new. He confirms his last orders to avoid any direct confrontation. Pull anyone on Trantor sector and Kalgan who can't mask their resting mentalic abilities out and have those remaining make no use of their ability and stand ready to commit suicide if there's the slightest hint of her detecting them. If we lost one of our people to her, it could mean disaster."
"If we could get to her people, turn one…One she trusts."
"She would sense anyone not skilled enough in mentalics to mask themselves. And masking doesn't prevent such ability sticking out like a sore thumb whenever she conducts one of her mentalic sweeps. The only agent we could slip in would have to completely conceal their abilities, leave themselves wide open to attack…And she'd probe anyone coming close."
"Of course, we could ram this very ship into the Palace…" the tall woman, wryly smiling.
"With little or no effect, given their shields and weapons…No, any attack must come from the periphery, against her people beyond her mentalic range. And we can only guess at her range…"
"There's the other danger…" the last seated person, a large woman, grey-haired, a bit past middle-age noted, quietly. "She's gathering those we would have recruited. And while we don't have much information, the First suspects she's using them to find us."
"Untrained people with limited ability…" Bryans noted.
"But they can listen for us…" the older woman, firmly. "If the First is right and I agree with him, she's creating a network of listeners, probing for us. And she need only find one of us to confirm the Second Foundation…And if they know our location…"
"Which is why no one will make use of mentalics without the First Speaker's consent, on pain of death." The standing man insisted.
"Leaving us defenseless." The tall woman sighed.
"No, but forced to rely on more traditional means…Such as good ole intelligence work." the man shrugged.
…