Foundation Fear by Gregory Benford Read Free Book Online Page A

been our eternal companions,” Dors said somberly. “No world is free of
     them.”
    “In these tunnels, the long-distance pods fly so fast that occasionally rats get sucked
     into the air-breathing engines.”
    Dors said uneasily, “That could damage the engines, even crash the pods.”
    “No holiday for the rat, either.”
    They passed through a Sector whose citizens abhorred sunlight, even the wan splashes which
     came down through the layers by radiance tubes. Historically, Dors told him, this had
     arisen from fears of its ultraviolet component, but the phobia seemed to go deeper than a
     mere health issue.
    Their pod slowed and passed along a high ramp above open, swarming vaults. No natural
     light shafts brought illumination, only artificial phosphor glows. The Sector was
     officially named Kalanstromonia, but its citizens were known worldwide as Spooks. They
     seldom traveled, and their bleached faces stood out in crowds. Gazing down at them, they
     looked to Hari like swarms of grubs feeding on shadowy decay.
    The Imperial Zonal Reception was inside a dome in the Julieen Sector. He and Dors entered
     with the Specials, who then gave way to five men and women wearing utterly inconspicuous
     business dress. These nodded to Hari and then appeared to forget him, moving down a broad
     rampway and chatting with each other.
    A woman at the grand doorway made too much of his entrance. Music descended around him in
     a sound cloud, an arrangement of the Streeling Anthem blended subtly with the Helicon
     Symphony. This attracted attention from the crowds below -- exactly what he did not want.
     A protocol team smoothly took the handoff from the door attendants, escorting him and Dors
     to a balcony. He was happy for the chance to look at the view.
    From the peak of the dome the vistas were startling. Spirals descended to plateaus so
     distant he could barely make out a forest and paths. The ramparts and gardens there had
     drawn millennia of spectators, including, a guide told him, 999,987 suicides, all
     carefully tabulated through many centuries.
    Now that the number approached a million, the guide went on with relish, attempts occurred
     nearly every hour. A man had been stopped just short of leaping that very day, wearing a
     gaudy holosuit programmed to flash I MADE THE MILLION after he struck.
    “They seem so eager,” the guide concluded with what seemed to Hari a kind of pride.
    “Well,” Hari remarked, trying to get rid of the man, “suicide is the most sincere form of
     self-criticism.”
    The guide nodded wisely, unperturbed, and added, “Also, it does give them something to
     contribute to. That must be a consolation.”
    5.
    The protocol team had, all planned out for him, an orbit through the vast reception. Meet
     X, greet Y, bow to Z.
    “Say nothing about the Judena Zone crisis,” an aide insisted. This was easy, since he had
     never heard of it.
    The appetite-enhancers were excellent, the food that followed even better (or seemed so,
     which was the point of the enhancers), and he took a stim offered by a gorgeous woman.
    “You could get through this entire evening just nodding and smiling and agreeing with
     people,” Dors said after the first half hour.
    “It's tempting to do just that,” Hari whispered as they followed the protocol lieutenant
     to the next bunch of Zonal figures. The air in the vast, foggy dome was freighted with
     negotiations advanced and bargains struck.
    The Emperor arrived with full pomp. He would pay the traditional hour's tribute, then by
     ancient custom leave before anyone else was permitted to. Hari wondered if the Emperor
     ever wanted to linger in the middle of an interesting conversation. Cleon was well
     schooled in emperorhood, though, so the issue probably never came up. Cleon greeted Hari
     effusively, kissed Dors' hand, and then seemed to lose interest in them within two
     minutes, moving on with his entourage to another