Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov Read Free Book Online

soundproofing.”
    “What you are trying to say, Trevize,” said Bliss, “is that you will hear, quite clearly, any conversation we may have, and any sounds we may make in the course of sex.”
    “Yes, that is what I am trying to say. With that in mind, I expect you may find you will have to limit your activities here. This may discommode you, and I’m sorry, but that’s the situation as it is.”
    Pelorat cleared his throat, and said gently, “Actually, Golan, this is a problem I’ve already had to face. You realize that any sensation Bliss experiences, when together with me, is experienced by all of Gaia.”
    “I have thought of that, Janov,” said Trevize, looking as though he were repressing a wince. “I didn’t intend to mention it—just in case the thought had not occurred to you.”
    “But it did, I’m afraid,” said Pelorat.
    Bliss said, “Don’t make too much of that, Trevize. At any given moment, there may be thousands of human beings on Gaia who are engaged in sex; millions who are eating, drinking, or engaged in other pleasure-giving activities. This gives rise to a general aura of delight that Gaia feels, every part of it. The lower animals, the plants, the minerals have their progressively milder pleasures that also contribute to a generalized joy of consciousness that Gaia feels in all its parts always, and that is unfelt in any other world.”
    “We have our own particular joys,” said Trevize, “which we can share after a fashion, if we wish; or keep private, if we wish.”
    “If you could feel ours, you would know how poverty-stricken you Isolates are in that respect.”
    “How can you know what we feel?”
    “Without knowing how you feel, it is still reasonable to suppose that a world of common pleasures must be more intense than those available to a single isolated individual.”
    “Perhaps, but even if my pleasures were poverty-stricken, I would keep my own joys and sorrows and be satisfied with them, thin as they are, and be
me
and not blood brother to the nearest rock.”
    “Don’t sneer,” said Bliss. “You value every mineral crystal in your bones and teeth and would not have one of them damaged, though they have no more consciousness than the average rock crystal of the same size.”
    “That’s true enough,” said Trevize reluctantly, “but we’ve managed to get off the subject. I don’t care if all Gaia shares your joy, Bliss, but
I
don’t want to share it. We’re living here in close quarters and I do not wish to be forced to participate in your activities even indirectly.”
    Pelorat said, “This is an argument over nothing, my dear chap. I am no more anxious than you to have your privacy violated. Nor mine, for that matter. Bliss and I will be discreet; won’t we, Bliss?”
    “It will be as you wish, Pel.”
    “After all,” said Pelorat, “we are quite likely to be planet-bound for considerably longer periods than we will space-borne, and on planets, the opportunities for true privacy—”
    “I don’t care what you do on planets,” interrupted Trevize, “but on this ship, I am master.”
    “Exactly,” said Pelorat.
    “Then, with that straightened out, it is time to take off.”
    “But wait.” Pelorat reached out to tug at Trevize’s sleeve. “Take off for where? You don’t know where Earth is, nor do I, nor does Bliss. Nor does your computer, for you told me long ago that it lacks any information on Earth. What do you intend doing, then? You can’t simply drift through space at random, my dear chap.”
    At that, Trevize smiled with what was almost joy. For the first time since he had fallen into the grip of Gaia, he felt master of his own fate.
    “I assure you,” he said, “that it is not my intention to drift, Janov. I know exactly where I am going.”
7.
    PELORAT WALKED QUIETLY INTO THE PILOT-ROOM after he had waited long moments while his small tap on the door had gone unanswered. He found Trevize looking with keen absorption at the