hari seldon knocked gently with an old-fashioned code and yugo amaryl looked up. "hari, how nice of you to drop around."

"i should do it more often. in the old days we were together all the time. now there are hundreds of people to worry about-here, there, and everywhere-and they get between us. have you heard the news?"

"what news?"

"the junta is going to set up a poll tax-a nice substantial one. it will be announced on trantorvision tomorrow. it will be just trantor for now and the outer worlds will have to wait. that's a little disappointing. i had hoped it would be empire-wide all at once, but apparently i didn't give the general enough credit for caution."

amaryl said, "trantor will be enough. the outer worlds will know that their turn will follow in not too long a time."

"now we'll have to see what happens."

"what will happen is that the shouting will start the instant the announcement is out and the riots will begin, even before the new tax goes into effect."

"are you sure of it?"

amaryl put his prime radiant into action at once and expanded the appropriate section. "see for yourself, hari. i don't see how that can be misinterpreted and that's the prediction under the particular circumstances that now exist. if it doesn't happen, it means that everything we've worked out in psychohistory is wrong and i refuse to believe that."

"i'll try to have courage," said seldon, smiling. then "how do you feel lately, yugo?"

"well enough. reasonably well. -and how are you, by the way? i've heard rumors that you're thinking of resigning. even dors said something about that."

"pay no attention to dors. these days she's saying all sorts of things.

she has a bug in her head about some sort of danger permeating the project."

"what kind of danger?"

"it's better not to ask. she's just gone off on one of her tangents and, as always, that makes her uncontrollable."

amaryl said, "see the advantage i have in being single?" then, in a lower voice, "if you do resign, hari, what are your plans for the future?"

seldon said, "you'll take over. what other plans can i possibly have?"

and amaryl smiled.