Foundation and Chaos

76.

Hari faced Vara Liso across the Hall of Dispensation. She stood for a moment with hands held out, fingers wriggling, as if she fought to keep her balance. Her head swayed from side to side. The woman who had entered before her-who had reminded him so much of Dors-lay in a heap, rolled up against the door, still, as if dead.

Hari did not feel afraid; things had happened too quickly for that emotion to take hold. Everything seemed out of place, most of all himself; he did not belong there, and they did not belong there.

The hall had been peaceful-now it smelled of electricity, of urine leaking from the pants of the three men supine on the floor around him.

“I’m saving you…” Vara Liso said from across the hall. She took a step toward him, lowering her arms. “For last.”

“Who are you?” Hari asked. He was concerned about the woman on the floor. He wanted above all else to make sure she was all right; tremors spread in his mind, memories, triggered responses, confusing and rich and evoking a sense both of intense promise and of horror, for he was sure that this woman was Dors. She’s come back. She wanted to protect me. The way she moved…like a springing tiger!

And now she’s down like a squashed insect.

This small, thin woman…an aberration. A monster!

Hari then knew who the woman was. Wanda had mentioned her weeks ago, the woman who had not agreed to join the mentalics, who had allied instead with Farad Sinter.

“You’re Vara Liso,” he said, and started to move toward her.

“Good,” the woman said, her voice trembling. “I want you to know who I am. You’re the one to blame.”

“Blame for what?” Hari asked.

“You work with the robots.” Her expression twisted until it seemed her face might become a knot. “You’re their lackey, and they think they’ve won!”