At least there were few chaos outbreaks during the following five thousand years of vigorous expansion. People were too busy building and conquering new worlds to spare much attention for decadent pursuits. The curse did not return until long after the establishment of the Galactic Empire.

According to my equations, we won’t have to worry about chaos during the Interregnum, either.

Soon, when the Old empire collapsed, there would be wars, rebellions, and mass suffering. But such near-term worries would protect people from falling into the kind of egomadness that erupted on Santanni. Or on Sark. Or Lingane, Zenda, Madder Loss…

A holo projection of the galaxy shimmered across the yacht’s observation deck. Antic’s crude map overlay the finely textured Prime Radiant, again showing correlations. Sweeping out from Santanni, a reddish arc linked several notorious chaos worlds, plus others Hari knew were ripe for social disaster in coming decades.The arc passes near Siwenna, where the ship carrying Raych’s wife and son vanished.

He could never forget his personal hope of finding them. And yet, one factor led Hari forward, above all others.

The equations.

Perhaps I’ll find the clues I’ve sought for so long. The at tractor states. The damping mechanisms. Hidden parts of the story that psychohistory can model, but can’t explain.

He fiddled with the Prime Radiant, tracing future history, starting with a tiny speck at the very rim of the galactic wheel.

There,a faint little star glimmered, a mote whose sole habitable planet-Terminus-would become the stage for a great drama. Soon the Foundation would grow and burgeon, expressing a dynamism that was anything but decadent. He could envision the first few hundred years, the way a father might picture a young daughter winning academic honors or achieving glorious feats. Only Hari’s prescience was no mere daydream. It was confident, assured.

That is, for the first few centuries.

As for the rest of the Plan…my successors, the Fifty who make up the Second Foundation, feel completely sanguine. Our math predicts that a fantastic New Empire of Humanity will emerge in less than a thousand years, far greater than its predecessor. An empire that will forever after be guided by the gentle-wise heirs of Gaal and Wanda and the others.

Alone among those who intimately knew the Plan, Hari saw past its elegance to a heartrending truth.

It’s not going to happen that way.

A hundred parsecs beyond Santanni, Horis Antic began probing a patch of seemingly empty space with instruments, explaining as he worked.

“My astrophysicist friend-the one who couldn’t get a sabbatical to accompany us on this trip-told me all about thecurrents of space. Nearly invisible flows of gas and dust that swirl around the galaxy, sometimes spewed by supernovas or young stars. These streams form shock waves, brightening the forward edges of spiral arms. They also subtly affect the evolution of suns.

“Now at first I had trouble relating this to my own interest…thetilling question. In order to see a connection, we’ll need to start with some basic biology.”

Antic’s audience consisted of Hari, Kers Kantun, and Biron Maserd. The nobleman’s two crewmen were busy piloting the yacht, but Maserd left a door open to listen to the engines each time they made a hyperspace jump.

Antic’s holo projector showed the image of a planet. Their view plunged toward seas that shimmered a rich, soupy green. But the stone continents lay barren and empty. “A great many watery worlds are like this,” he explained. “Life gets started pretty easily-basic colloido-organic chemistry happens under a wide range of conditions. So does the next stage, developing photosynthesis and a partial oxygen atmosphere. But then evolution hits a snag. Countless worlds get stuck at the level you see here, never making a leap to multicellular organisms and bigger things.

“Some biologists think further progress requires a highmutation rate to put diversity in the genetic pool. Without variance to work with, a life-world may remain stuck at the level of bacteria and amoebas.”

Hari objected. “But you said fossils occur on many worlds.”

“Indeed, Professor! It turns out there are many ways to get high mutation rates. One is if a planet has a large moon, stirring radioactive elements into the crust. Or its sun may have a big ultraviolet output. Or perhaps it orbits near a supernova remnant. There are zones where magnetic fields channel high fluxes of cosmic rays, and others…well, you get the idea. Wherever any of those conditions occur, we tend to find fossils on human-colonized worlds.”

Horis summoned a new image, depicting numerous samples of sedimentary stone-his personal collection, lovingly gathered from dozens of worlds. Each lay sliced open to reveal eerie shapes within. Symmetrical ridges or regular bumps. One rippled form hinted at a backbone. Others suggested jointed legs, a curved tail, or a bony brow. Captain Maserd walked around the display, working his jaw thoughtfully. He finally settled at the back of the room, near the door, taking in the entire scene.

“You think there’s an underlying pattern,” Hari prompted. “A galactic distribution, predicting where fossils occur?”

Antic demurred. “I’m less interested in explaining where fossil creaturesexisted than learning why the much latertilling effect buried so many under-”

Angry shouts erupted suddenly behind Hari. He turned, but was blinded by the darkness and could only sense two vague figures, locked in furious struggle. There were highpitched cries, and a lower voice, recognizably Maserd’s.

“Lights!” the captain ordered.

Hari blinked. Sudden illumination revealed the pair, engaged in uneven struggle near the door. Maserd had a smaller person by the arm, apparently one of his liveried crewmen, who cursed and kicked in vain.

“Well well,” the nobleman murmured. “What have we here?”

The cowl of a silvery ship uniform fell away, revealing that the wearer wasnot one of Maserd’s crew, after all. Hari glimpsed a young face, framed by tousled platinum hair.

Horis Antic yelped. “It’s the porter! The talkative one from Orion Elevator. But…what’sshe doing here?”

Kers Kantun stepped forward with taut fists, clearly disliking surprises. “A spy,” he muttered. “Or worse.”

Hari moved to restrain his servant, who thought everyone was a potential Seldon assassin, until proved otherwise.

“More of a stowaway, I reckon,” Maserd commented, lifting the girl to her tiptoes. At last she slumped, giving a conceding nod. The captain let her down.

“Well, youngster? Is that it? Were you trying to hitch a ride to somewhere?”

She glowered…and finally answered in a low mutter, “The idea was more like to getaway.”

Hari mused aloud, “Interesting. You had an enviable job, on the capital planet of the human universe. Back on Helicon, kids would dream of someday getting to visit Trantor. Few dared hope to win a residence or work permit. Yet you seek to escape from there?”

“I liked Trantor just fine!” she replied, unkempt hair covering her eyes. “I just had to break away from someone in particular.”

“Really? Who made you fearful enough to throwaway so much, in order to escape him? Tell me what he did, child. I’m not without influence. Perhaps I can help.”

The girl repaid Hari’s kindly offer with a glare that struck his eyes straight-on.

“You want to know my enemy? Well it’syou, O great Professor Seldon. I was running away from you!”