Chapter 80 Chapter 64

Cacilia Tishaffer's eyes widened. "A hot worker? Don't come into my apartment." "Why not? Besides, he will come straight into my room," said Seldon. "At one four o'clock." "I just don't want it," said Mrs. Tishaffer. "That's the trouble you're going to get into. Girard is a fool." "Not at all, Madame Tishaffer. We went at my request, and I was amazed. I must see this young man, it is necessary for my academic work." "I'm sorry if that's the case, but I just don't want to." Dors Venabili held up a hand. "Harry, let me handle it. Mrs. Tishaffer, if Dr. Seldon has to see someone in his room this afternoon, one more person would mean a lot." Rent is paid, we understand that. So Dr. Seldon's rent will be doubled today."

Mrs. Tishaffer thought for a while: "Well, you are really magnanimous, but it's not just a question of credit, I also have to consider what the neighbors think. A sweaty, stinking hot worker..." "I don't believe he'll be sweating and reeking at 1400, Lady Tishaffer, but let me go on. Since Dr. Seldon must see him, if he can't be here , they have to find somewhere else to meet. But we can't run around, that would be too inconvenient. So what we have to do is find a room somewhere else. It won't be easy and we don't want to do that , but we have no choice. So we will pay the rent until today and get out of here. Of course, we must explain to Master Hummin why we have to temporarily change the arrangements he has kindly made for us."

"Wait a minute," Mrs. Tishaffer's face changed into a calculating look, "We don't want to offend Master Hummin—or you two. How long will that thing stay?" "He'll be here at fourteen o'clock, and he'll have to be at work at sixteen o'clock. He'll be here for less than two hours, maybe much less. We'll meet him outside, the two of us together." , and took him to Dr. Seldon's room. Any neighbor who saw us would think he was our alien friend." Mrs. Tishaffer nodded: "Then do as you said. Master Seldon's rent will be doubled today. The hot worker is only allowed to come once."

"Not as an example," said Dors. But a moment later, when Seldon and Dors were sitting in her room, Dors asked, "Why did you have to meet him, Harry? Is meeting a hot worker that important to psychohistory?" Seldon thought there was a tinge of sarcasm in her words, and he said sharply, "I don't need everything to be branded my grand plan, I don't have much confidence in it anyway. I'm a human being with a human curiosity. Heart. We went down to Relu for a few hours and you saw for yourself what the workers looked like. They were clearly uneducated, they were the lower class of the masses - I'm not going to play with words, yet this man recognized me Come on. He must have seen me on the holographic TV when I was at the decadal meeting, and he remembered the name psychohistory. He strikes me as unusual, out of place anyway, and I wish I could be with him Let's talk."

"Because even Dahl's thermal workers know you, satisfying your vanity?" "That...maybe. But it piqued my curiosity, too." "How do you know that he didn't come here by order, intending to lure you into a trap, like the previous two times." Seldon was taken aback for a moment: "I won't let him touch half of my hair. Anyway, we are almost fully prepared this time, aren't we? And I can be sure that you will stay by my side this time. I mean, you let me go to the dome by myself, and you let me go to the micro-farm with Raindrop Four-Three alone, but you're never going to do that again, are you?"

"You can be absolutely sure I never will," Dors said. "Okay, then let me talk to this young man, and it's up to you to watch out for suspicious traps. I have one hundred percent confidence in you."