Foundation and Chaos

26.

Vara Liso could hardly contain her rage. She raised her fists to Farad Sinter, who backed off with a small, shocked grin, and circled him in the broad public-affairs office. A number of Greys, pushing carts or carrying valises, witnessed this confrontation from the adjoining hallway with wonder and concealed, colorless glee.

“That is idiotic! “ she hissed at him, then lowered her voice. “Take off the pressure…and they will regroup! Then they will come after me! “

The blond major, her constant and now intensely annoying shadow, danced ineffectually around, trying to interpose himself. But Vara just as deftly maneuvered around him. Sinter was left with the impression he was in a small and embarrassing riot. By walking crabwise toward the open door of his secondary office, Sinter managed this small squall into a less public container.

“You lost the trail!” he said, half bark, half sigh, as a Grey shut the door behind them. The Grey merely glanced at the trio, then went about her duties, nonplussed.

“I was pulled away!” Vara howled. Tears started from her eyes and poured down her cheeks. Abruptly, the major stopped his dance and stood in one spot, trembling allover, his limbs jerking. Then, he looked for a chair, saw one in a comer, and collapsed into it. Sinter witnessed this with wide eyes.

“Did you do that?” he asked Vara.

Vara shut her mouth with a small click of teeth, pulled back her head on its long, thin neck, and stared at the major. “Of course not. Though he has been abominable, and uncooperative.”

“The strain-” the major managed between clenched, clattering teeth.

Sinter stared at her for several seconds, until Vara realized she was arousing some very unhealthy suspicions. Major Namm shook himself, steadied, and managed to stand again, swallowing hard. He came to attention, rather ridiculously, and focused on a wall opposite.

“How did you lose her?” Farad Sinter asked softly, looking between them.

“It was not her fault,” the major said.

“I asked her,” Sinter said.

“She was very fast, and she sensed my presence,” Vara Liso began. “Your agents, your bumbling police, weren’t fast enough to catch her-and now she’s gone, and you won’t let me find her!”

Sinter’s lips protruded in thought, pressed together as if waiting for a kiss. It was a ludicrous expression, and suddenly, in Vara Liso’s heart, what had started out as admiration and love flip-flopped into bitterness and hatred.

She kept her feelings to herself, however. She had already said too much, gone too far. Did I whip that young officer? She glanced at the stiff, silent man with a small measure of guilt. She must keep her abilities in check.

“The Emperor has specifically forbidden me from conducting any more of our searches. He does not seem to share our interest in these…people. And for the moment, I’m not going to press my advantage and try to convince him to change his mind. The Emperor has his ways, and they must be observed.”

Vara stood with hands folded.

“He was convinced by Hari Seldon that this could look very bad, politically.”

Vara’s eyes widened. “But Seldon supports them!”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“But they were recruiting me! His granddaughter!”

Farad reached out and took her by the wrist, then tightened his grip ever so slightly. She winced. “That is a fact to be kept just between you and me. What Seldon’s granddaughter does mayor may not be connected to the ‘Raven’ himself. Perhaps the whole family is crazy, each in his unique way.”

“But we’ve discussed-”

“Seldon is done for. After his trial, we can pursue those intimately connected to him. Once Linge Chen has satisfied himself, the Emperor will likely not object to our cleaning up the scraps.” Sinter gave Vara Liso a pitying glare.

“What is it?” she asked, quivering.

“Don’t ever assume I am giving up. Ever. What I do is much too important.”

“Of course,” Vara Liso said, subdued. She stared down at the plush carpet under the desk, with its weave of huge brown and red flowers.

“We’ll have our time again, and soon. But for now, we simply constrain our enthusiasm and dedication, and wait.”

“Of course,” Vara Liso said.

“Are you all right?” Sinter asked the young major solicitously.

“Yes, sir,” the man said.

“Been ill recently?”

“No, sir.”

Sinter seemed to dismiss the problem, and the officer, with a wave. Major Namm retreated hastily, pulling the large door shut behind him without a sound.

“You’ve been under a strain,” Sinter said.

“Perhaps I have,” Vara said, her shoulders slumping. She smiled weakly at him.

“A little rest, some recreation.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a credit chit. “This will get you into the Imperial Sector retail emporium. A little discreet shopping, perhaps.”

Vara’s forehead furled. Then her face went smooth and she took the chit and smiled. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Come back in a few days. Things might have changed. I’ll assign a different officer to protect you.”

“Thank you,” Vara Liso said.

Sinter touched her chin with one finger. “You are valuable, you know,” he said, and was secretly disgusted by the look of sheer need on the woman’s exceedingly unattractive face.