"I know that, Dr. Darell," said Author. "I also know you once worked with Dr. Kleise. I would like to know why you stopped." There wasn"t actually hostility in his question. Perhaps nothing more than caution; but, at any rate, it resulted in a long pause. Darell looked from one to another of his guests, then said brusquely, "Because there was no point to Kleise"s battle. He was competing with an adversary too strong for him. He was detecting what we ?he and I ?knew he would detect ?that we were not our own masters. And I didn"t want to know! I had my self-respect. I liked to think that our Foundation was captain of its collective soul; that our forefathers had not quite fought and died for nothing. I thought it would be most simple to turn my face away as long as I was not quite sure. I didn"t need my position since the Government pension awarded to my mother"s family in perpetuity would take care of my uncomplicated needs. My home laboratory would suffice to keep boredom away, and life would some day end?Then Kleise died? Semic showed his teeth and said: "This fellow Kleise; I don"t know him. How did he die?" Anthor cut in: "He died. He thought he would. He told me half a year before that he was getting too close--" "Now we"re too c ... close, too, aren"t we?" suggested Munn, dry-mouthed, as his Adam"s apple jiggled. "Yes," said Anthor, flatly, "but we were, anyway ?all of us. It"s why you"ve all been chosen. I"m Kleise"s student. Dr. Darell was his colleague. Jole Turbor has been denouncing our blind faith in the saving hand of the Second Foundation on the air, until the government shut him off ?through the agency, I might mention, of a powerful financier whose brain shows what Kleise used to call the Tamper Plateau. Homir Munn has the largest home collection of Muliana ?if I may use the phrase to signify collected data concerning the Mule ?in existence, and has published some papers containing speculation on the nature and function of the Second Foundation. Dr. Semic has contributed as much as anyone to the mathematics of encephalographic analysis, though I don"t believe he realized that his mathematics could be so applied." Semic opened his eyes wide and chuckled gaspingly, "No, young fellow. I was analyzing intranuclear motions ?the n-body problem, you know. I"m lost in encephalography." "Then we know where we stand. The government can, of course, do nothing about the matter. Whether the mayor or anyone in his administration is aware of the seriousness of the situation, I don"t know. But this I do know ?we five have nothing to lose and stand to gain much. With every increase in our knowledge, we can widen ourselves in safe directions. We are but a beginning, you understand." "How widespread," put in Turbor, "is this Second Foundation infiltration?" "I don"t know. There"s a flat answer. All the infiltrations we have discovered were on the outer fringes of the nation. The capital world may yet be clean, though even that is not certain ?else I would not have tested you. You were particularly suspicious, Dr. Darell, since you abandoned research with Kleise. Kleise never forgave you, you know. I thought that perhaps the Second Foundation had corrupted you, but Kleise always insisted that you were a coward. You"ll forgive me, Dr. Darell, if I explain this to make my own position clear. I, personally, think I understand your attitude, and, if it was cowardice, I consider it venial." Darell drew a breath before replying. "I ran away!