"professor seldon come in," said chief librarian tryma acarnio in an icy tone of voice. hari seldon accompanied by wanda and palver, entered the chief librarian's imposing office.

"thank you, chief librarian," said seldon as he settled into a chair and faced acarnio across the vast desk. "may i introduce my granddaughter wanda and my friend stettin palver. wanda is a most valuable member of the psychohistory project, her specialty being in the field of mathematics. and stettin, well, stettin is turning into a first-rate general psychohistorian-when he's not performing his duties as my bodyguard, that is." seldon chuckled amiably.

"yes, well, that's all well and good, professor," said acarnio, baffled by seldon's good humor. he had expected the professor to come in groveling, begging for another chance at special library privileges.

"but i don't understand what it is you wanted to see me about. i assume you realize that our position is firm: we cannot allow a library association with someone so extremely unpopular with the general population. we are, after all, a public library and we must keep the public's sentiments in mind." acarnio settled back-perhaps now the groveling would begin.

"i realize that i have not been able to sway you. however, i thought that if you heard from a couple of the project's younger members-the psychohistorians of tomorrow, as it were-that perhaps you'd get a better feel about what a vital role the project-and the encyclopedia, in particular-will play in our future. please hear wanda and stettin out."

acarnio cast a cold eye toward the two young people flanking seldon. "very well, then," he said, pointedly eyeing the timestrip on the wall. "five minutes and no more. i have a library to run."

"chief librarian," began wanda, "as my grandfather has undoubtedly explained to you, psychohistory is a most valuable tool to be used for the preservation of our culture. yes, preservation, " she repeated, upon seeing acarnio's eyes widen at the word. "undue emphasis has been placed on the destruction of the empire. by doing so, the true value of psychohistory has been overlooked. for, with psychohistory, as we are able to predict the inevitable decline of our civilization, so are we able to take steps toward its preservation. that is what the encyclopedia galactica is all about. and that is why we need your help, and the help of your great library."

acarnio could not resist smiling. the young lady had an undeniable charm. she was so earnest, so well spoken. he gazed at her sitting in front of him, her blond hair pulled back in a rather severe scholarly style, one which could not hide her attractive features but, rather, showed them off. what she was saying was starting to make sense. maybe wanda seldon was right-maybe he had been looking at this problem from the wrong angle. if it were actually a matter of preservation, rather than destruction .

"chief librarian," began stettin palver, "this great library has stood for millennia. it, perhaps even more than the imperial palace, represents the vast power of the empire. for, the palace houses only the empire's leader, while the library is home to the sum total of imperial knowledge, culture, and history. its value is incalculable

"does it not make sense to prepare a tribute to this great repository? the encyclopedia galactica will be just that-a giant summary of all the knowledge contained within these very walls. think of it!"

all of a sudden it seemed so very clear to acarnio. how could he have let the board (especially that sourpuss gennaro mummery) convince him to rescind seldon's privileges? las zenow, a person whose judgment he greatly esteemed, had been a wholehearted supporter of seldon's encyclopedia.

he glanced again at the three in front of him, waiting for his decision. the board would be hard-pressed to find anything to complain about with the project members-if the young people now in his office were a representative sample of the kind of persons involved with seldon

acarnio rose and walked across his office, his brow furrowed, as if framing his thoughts. he picked up a milky crystal sphere from a table and hefted it in his palm

"trantor," acarnio began thoughtfully, "seat of the empire, center of all the galaxy. quite amazing, when you think of it. -we have, perhaps, been too quick to judge professor seldon now that your project, this encyclopedia galactica, has been presented to me in such a light"-he gave a brief nod to wanda and palver-"i realize how important it would be to allow you to continue your work here. and, of course, to grant access to a number of your colleagues."

seldon smiled gratefully and squeezed wanda's hand

"it is not only for the greater glory of the empire that i am recommending this," continued acarnio, apparently warming to the idea (and the sound of his own voice). "you are famous, professor seldon whether people think of you as a crackpot or a genius, everyone seems to have an opinion. if an academic of your stature is allied with the galactic library, it can only increase our prestige as a bastion of intellectual pursuit of the highest order. why, the luster of your presence can be used to raise much-needed funds to update our collections, increase our staff, keep our doors open to the public longer .

"and the prospect of the encyclopedia galactica itself-what a monumental project! imagine the reaction when the public learns that the galactic library is involved with such an undertaking designed to highlight the splendor of our civilization-our glorious history, our brilliant achievements, our magnificent cultures. and to think that i, chief librarian tryma acarnio, is responsible for making sure that this great project gets its start-" acarnio gazed intently into the crystal sphere, lost in reverie

"yes, professor seldon," acarnio pulled himself back to the here and now. "you and your colleagues will be granted full insiders' privileges-and a suite of offices in which to work." he placed the crystal sphere back on its table and, with a swish of robes, moved back to his desk

"it might take a little doing, of course, to persuade the board-but i am confident that i can handle them. just leave it to me."

seldon, wanda, and palver looked at each other in triumph, with small smiles playing at the corner of their mouths. tryma acarnio gestured that they could go and so they did, leaving the chief librarian settled in his chair, dreaming of the glory and honor that would come to the library under his aegis

"amazing," said seldon when the three were safely ensconced in their ground-car. "if you could have seen him at our last meeting. he said i was `threatening the essential fabric of our empire' or some such rot. and today, after just a few minutes with you two-"

"it wasn't too hard, grandpa," wanda said as she pressed a contact, moving the ground-car out into traffic. she sat back as the auto-propel took over; wanda had punched their destination coordinates into the control panel. "he is a man with a strong sense of self-importance. all we had to do was play up the positive aspects of the encyclopedia and his ego took over from there."

"he was a goner the minute wanda and i walked in," palver said from the back. "with both of us pushing him, it was a piece of cake." palver reached forward and squeezed wanda's shoulder affectionately. she smiled, reached up, and patted his hand

"i must alert the encyclopedists as soon as possible," seldon said. "although there are only thirty-two left, they are good and dedicated workers. i'll get them installed at the library and then i'll tackle the next hurdle-credits. perhaps this alliance with the library is what i need to convince people to give us funding. let's see- i'll call upon terep bindris again and i'll take you two with me. he was kindly disposed toward me, at least at first. but how will he be able to resist us now?"

the ground-car eventually came to a halt outside the psychohistory building at streeling. the side panels slid open, but seldon did not immediately move to disembark. he turned to face wanda

"wanda, you know what you and stettin were able to accomplish with acarnio; i'm sure you both can push some credits out of a few financial benefactors as well

"i know how you hate to leave your beloved prime radiant, but these visits will give you two a chance to practice, to hone your skills, to get an idea of just what you can do."

"all right, grandpa, although i'm sure that, now that you have the library's imprimatur, you will find that resistance to your requests has lessened."

"there's another reason i think it's important for the two of you to get out and around together. -stettin, i believe you said that on certain occasions you've `felt' another mind like yours but haven't been able to identify it."

"yes," answered palver, "i've had flashes, but each time i was in a crowd. and, in my twenty-four years, i can remember feeling such a flash just four or five times."

"but, stettin," said seldon, his voice low with intensity, "each flash was, potentially, the mind of another person like you and wanda-another mentalic. wanda's never felt these flashes because, frankly, she's been sheltered all her life. the few times she's been out in a crowd there must not have been any other mentalics around.

"that's one reason-perhaps the most important reason-for you two to get out-with me or without me. we must find other mentalics. the two of you alone are strong enough to push a single person. a large group of you, all pushing together, will have the power to move an empire!"

with that. hari seldon swung his legs around and hoisted himself out of the ground-car. as wanda and palver watched him limp up the pathway to the psychohistory building, they were only dimly aware of the enormous responsibility seldon had just placed on their young shoulders.