Chapter 34 Chapter Twenty-Five

By the time Dors Venabili found Janelle Regan, daytime fashion was completely over.He responded with a snort and a casual nod to her anxious greeting. "Well," she said impatiently, "how is he?" As Reagan entered the data into the computer, he said, "What happened to who?" "My library student Hari, Dr. Hari Seldon. You took him up there today. Did he do you any good?" Reagan took his hands off the computer keyboard and turned around again. "That Helicon guy? He's useless and doesn't show any interest. He's been looking at the view, and there's no view at all. What a queer man, why did you let him up?"

"It wasn't my idea, he wanted to go. I don't know, but he was interested—where is he now?" Reagan shrugged: "How would I know? Somewhere nearby." "Where did he go after coming down with you? Did he say anything?" "He didn't come down with us. I told you he wasn't interested." "So when did he come down?" "I don't know, I'm not looking at him, I've got a ton of stuff to do. There must have been a storm or some sort of heavy rain about two days ago, both unexpected. We're expecting today The sunshine, but refuses to show your face. The data displayed by our instruments can't give a good explanation. Now I'm trying to figure it out, and you are bothering me."

"You mean you didn't see him come down?" "Listen. I didn't think about him at all. The idiot wasn't dressed right, I could tell he couldn't stand the cold up there in half an hour. I gave him a sweater, but it was too much for his legs and feet It didn't help. So I left the lift on and showed him how to use it; I explained to him that the lift would take him down and then come back up. The whole process was so easy, I'm sure he couldn't stand the cold, If we left early, then the elevator went back up, and we all got down in the end." "But, you don't know when he came down?"

"No, I don't know. I told you I was very busy. He wasn't there when we left, though. And, as twilight was about to fall, it looked as if the ice would be falling, so he must have left." "Did anyone see him come down?" "I don't know. Crowzia may have seen it. She was with him. Why don't you ask her?" Dors found Crowzia in her bedroom, fresh from a hot bath. "It's so cold up there," she said. Dors said, "Were you with Hari Seldon in the Dome?" Crowzia raised her eyebrows and replied, "Yes, for a while. He wanted to walk around, and asked questions about the plants in the place. He's a sharp mind, Dors. Everything seemed He was interested, so I told him all I knew until Reagan called me back. He had a murderous temper, the weather wasn't ideal, and he..."

Dors interrupted, "So, you didn't see Harry get down the lift?" "After Reagan called me back, I didn't see him again—but he must have come down, and he wasn't up there when we left." "But I can't find him anywhere." Crowzia also seemed panicked: "Really? But he must be somewhere down there." "No, he doesn't necessarily have to be somewhere down there." Dors became more and more anxious, "What if he's still up there?" "That was impossible, he wasn't up there. Naturally we looked around before we left. Reagan had taught him how to get down, he didn't have enough clothes, and the weather was bad. Reagan told him he didn't have to if he was cold. Wait for us. He's starting to get cold by then, I know! So what's he going to do but get down?"

"But no one saw him come down—did anything happen to him up there?" "Absolutely not, at least not when I was with him. He's very well—except, of course, that he must be cold." Dors, distraught now, added, "Since no one saw him come down, he's probably still up there. Shouldn't we go up and see?" Crowzia said nervously, "I told you, we searched everywhere before we came down. It was still quite light, and no one saw him." "Let's go and see." "But I can't take you up. I'm just a trainee, and I don't have the password to open the exit of the dome. You have to ask Dr. Reagan."