Foundation's Edge Read Free

and take up the role of elder statesperson, rather than risk the dubious results of further political wars.
    No one had really believed her. She was at home in the political wars to an extent few before her had been, and now that Seldon’s image had come and gone there was no hint of retirement about her.
    She spoke in a perfectly clear voice with an unashamed Foundation accent (she had once served as Ambassador to Mandrels, but had not adopted the old Imperial style of speech that was so fashionable now-and was part of what had been a quasi-Imperial drive to the Inner Provinces).
    She said, “The Seldon Crisis is over and it is a tradition, and a wise one, that no reprisals of any kind-either in deed or in speech -be taken against those who supported the wrong side. Many honest people believed they had good reason for wanting that which Seldon did not want. There is no point in humiliating them to the point where they can retrieve their self-respect only by denouncing the Seldon Plan itself. In turn, it is a strong and desirable custom that those who supported the lost side accept the loss cheerfully and without further discussion. The issue is behind us, on both sides, forever.”
    She paused, gazed levelly at the assembled faces for a moment, then went on, “Half the time has passed, people of the Council- half the thousand-year stretch between Empires. It has been a time of difficulties, but we have come a fang way. We are, indeed, almost a Galactic Empire already and there remain no external enemies of consequence.
    “The Interregnum would have endured thirty thousand years, were it not for the Seldon Plan. After thirty thousand years of disintegration, it might be there would be no strength left with which to form an Empire again. There might be left only isolated and probably dying worlds.
    “What we have today we owe to Hari Seldom and it is upon his long-dead mind that we must rely far the rest. The danger henceforward, Councillors, is ourselves, and from this point on there must be no official doubt of the value of the Flan. Let us agree nosy, quietly and firmly, that there are to be no official doubts, criticisms, or condemnations of the Plan. We must support it completely. It has proved itself over five centuries. It is the security o€ humanity and it must not be tampered with. Is it agreed?”
    There was a quiet murmur. The Mayor hardly looked up to seek visual proof of agreement. She knew every member of the Council and how each would react. In the wake of the victory, there would be no objection now. Next year perhaps. Not now. She would tackle the problems of next year next year.
    Always except for-
    “Thought control, Mayor Branno?” asked Golan Trevize, striding down the aisle and speaking loudly, as though to make up for the silence of the rest. He did not bother to take his seat which, since he was a new member, was in fine back row.
    Branno still did not look up. She said, “Your views, Councilman Trevize?”
    “That the government cannot impose a ban on free speech; that all individuals-most certainly including Councilmen and Councilwomen who have been elected for the purpose-have a right to discuss the political issues of the day; and that no political issue can possibly be divorced from the Seldon Plan:”
    Branno folded her hands and looked up. Her face was expressionless. She said, “Councilman Trevize, you have entered this debate irregularly and were out of order in doing so. However, I asked you to state your views and I will now answer you.
    “There is no limit to free speech within the context of the Seldon Plan. It is only the Plan itself that limits us by its very nature. There can be many ways of interpreting events before the image makes the final decision, but once he makes that decision it can be questioned no further in Council. Nor may it be questioned in advance as though one were to say, `If Hari Seldon were to state thus-and-so, he would be wrong.”‘
    “And yet if one