Valuing a Website Before You Sell :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

Valuing a Website Before You Sell Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com There is probably no part of the buying process that worries a potential buyer more than overpaying for a website. While this is understandable (who wants to pay more than something is worth), it has more to do with misinformation and one's total approach to buying a website than it does to being an expert at appraisals. The truth is, value is completely subjective. After all, what one website may be worth to you is entirely different from what it is worth to the next person. While there are cases where people may not negotiate the best price possible for a good website you must know that no price is cheap enough if you buy the wrong website. In time, a good website will always justify the purchase price whereas a bad one may not ever allow you to recover financially. What is Value? In a nutshell, value must be measured by what you are getting in return for your money. You have to equate the purchase price against the benefits you will derive over the term in which you can realistically expect to own the website. As an example, you cannot simply measure the purchase price against the income that you will derive from a specific website. What about the daily enjoyments you will get from being your own boss? Or, the sense of accomplishment you will feel from building something? Maybe, it's the gratification that you will get from contributing to the lives of others (i.e. employees). Perhaps it will come from knowing that from the toils of your labor you have been able to provide certain things for your family that you could never even consider if you were working for somebody else. A good website will provide abundant rewards for you so in order for you to truly measure a website’s value you have to consider all of the benefits that you stand to gain. Also, you must factor in what you could never have achieved if you don't go into business for yourself. Think of it this way: the average person takes 30 years to payoff a mortgage and 4 years to pay off a car. Neither one of these will pay you a salary. While they both have their benefits, neither one comes close to what you can derive from a good website as far as overall benefits are concerned.

Edmund Kemper:Co-ed Killer :: essays research papers fc

The TV program â€Å"MUGSHOTS† uses the testimony of authorities that worked the case along with interviews with Kemper himself as to what was happening throughout the case from both sides of the story. The product of a broken and abusive home, Edmund Kemper grew up timid and resentful, with a perception of his own inadequacy. Before the age of ten, Kemper graduated to living targets, burying the family cat alive and subsequently cutting off its head, returning with the gruesome trophy to his room, where it was placed on proud display despite his tender age, he brooded over fantasies of love and sex, with violence playing an inevitable role. One afternoon, discussing Edmund's childish crush upon a grade-school teacher, Kemper's sister asked him why he did not simply kiss the woman. Kemper answered, deadpan, "If I kiss her, I would have to kill her first." A second family cat fell victim to his urges; this one hacked with a machete, pieces of the carcass hidden in his closet until his mother accidentally discovered them. Kemper's mother first packed him off to live with her estranged husband, and then - after running away - the boy was delivered to his paternal grandparents , residing on a remote California ranch. There, in August 1963, fourteen-year-old Kemper shot his grandmother with a .22-caliber rifle, afterward stabbing her body repeatedly with a kitchen knife. When his grandfather came home, Kemper shot the old man as well, leaving him dead in the yard. Interrogated by authorities, Kemper could only say "I just wondered how it would feel to shoot Grandma." Motiveless violence displayed in his actions got Kemper committed to the state's maximum-security hospital in Atascadero. In 1969, a 21-year-old behemoth grown to six-foot-nine and some 300 pounds, Kemper was paroled to his mother's custody over the objections of the state psychiatrists. During Kemper's enforced absence, his mother had settled in Santa Cruz, a college town whose population boasted thousands of attractive co-eds. For the next two years, through 1970 and '71, Kemper bided his time, holding odd jobs and cruising the highways in his leisure time, picking up dozens of you ng female hitchhikers, refining his approach, his "line," until, he knew that he could put them totally at ease. Some evenings, he would frequent a saloon patronized by off-duty policemen, rubbing shoulders with the law and soaking up their tales of crime, becoming friendly with a number of detectives who would later be assigned to track him down.

Charitable Organization and British Way

The article â€Å"The advert that beggars belief† by Alexander Chancellor is about beggars in India and Great Britain, they talk about how many beggars there are and what they are using their money on when they get some. Many people try to convince themselves that it's a stupid idea to give beggars money because they use them quite often on many stupid things. Westminster Council making a campaign there says if you give beggars money you â€Å"actually' are guilty in cause of theirs death.It is a bad campaign because they give a wakeup call to people and says it is a bad thing to give money to beggars and you should not do it, because you don't know what they are going to use their money on and if you do It you can cause their deaths. They call you to stop giving them money. 2. Give an outline of the carious attitudes to charity as expressed In texts. The four texts show the different views of giving charity, there are many ways to donate money today, from when you give a coi n to a beggar you see at the streets to end a text on your mobile phone to a charitable organization.The article â€Å"the advert that beggars belief' has a negative attitude to beggars, In Britain they don't want to give beggars money because they says It can cause their lives because they use the money on drugs or something like that. In the article â€Å"Charity never dies, It only sleeps† we hear about the British way of thinking to Improve our own and our families lives, It Is best also to Improve the lives of those around us. It Is a conservative way to think everyone has to be equal.In the article â€Å"the year of charltalnment† they talked about that there are so many charity organizations and you have to focus on one and that helps the famous people with, Angelina Jolle helps to focus on Sierra Leone. 3. Comment on the following statement â€Å"to Improve our own and our families' lives, It Is best also to Improve the lives of those around us. † In th e text â€Å"Charity never dies, It only sleeps† It Is the Brltlsh way of thinking: to Improve our own and our families' lives, It Is best also to Improve the lives of those round us.It Is on way out of many to think that everyone has to be equal, there are many people there think of this, and many people think that you have to be selfish about this, and don't give money to beggars. 4. Write a reply to the article The advert that beggars belief In the form of a letter to the edloter. Summary: Charitable Organization and British Way By Namer going to use their money on and if you do it you can cause their deaths. They call you 2. Give an outline of the carious attitudes to charity as expressed in texts. at beggars belief† has a negative attitude to beggars, in Britain they don't want to give beggars money because they says it can cause their lives because they use the money on drugs or something like that. In the article â€Å"Charity never dies, it only sleeps† w e hear about the British way of thinking to improve our own and our families lives, it is best also to improve the lives of those around us. It is a charitainment† they talked about that there are so many charity organizations and you have to focus on one and that helps the famous people with, Angelina Jolie helps .Comment on the following statement â€Å"to improve our own and our families' lives, it is best also to improve the lives of those around us. † In the text â€Å"Charity never dies, it only sleeps† it is the British way of thinking: to improve our own and our families' lives, it is best also to improve the lives of those around us. It is on way out of many to think that everyone has to be equal, there are 4. Write a reply to the article The advert that beggars belief in the form of a letter to the edioter.

Success Through a Foreign Language

SUCCESS THROUGH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE These are a couple of readings that I have been asked to do for our friends from Russia who visited with us as a part of the Children of Chernobyl Program. I'm going to read a short selection from a motivational book called â€Å"Insight†. This particular reading has to do with the importance of understanding and using foreign languages that might be appropriate to the Russian students, because, certainly, we're living in a world that is getting smaller and smaller and we're going to have to be able to communicate in more than one language if we are going to be successful.The second reading is from †¦ it's the first chapter of a book by Jane Carlson who is the President of Scandinavian Airlines. It's called â€Å"Moments of Truth† and it is a handbook, or manual, for people who are interested in doing a better job of customer service. Scandinavian Airlines has a great reputation for wonderful customer service. Those are the two re adings. The first one is called â€Å"Success through a Foreign Language†. Every year an industrial manufacturer in Virginia grudgingly shells out the cash to send two employees to a language school to learn French.The employees have the technical and managerial abilities for the job but they lack the necessary foreign language skills. The practice of paying for the foreign language training of otherwise qualified employees is common among many employers. Increasingly, however, employers are avoiding this extra expense by emphasizing the requirement for foreign language skills during the hiring process. Richard Moore, Vice-President of the Arlington-Virginia Branch of John and Snow Incorporated, a public health consulting firm, admits that he gives preference to people who know a foreign language, even if the language isn't required for their job.This new trend toward emphasizing foreign language skills is opening doors for many individuals who have risen to the challenge. Wh en they are seeking a new job or advancement at their current company, bilingual and multilingual individuals often have the competitive edge. In fact, in some cases, the need for foreign language speakers is so great that companies go to the language departments, rather than the business departments, of universities, to recruit upcoming graduates.For example, recently 30 Boston University students from the Schools Spanish Program were recruited for jobs in Venezuela. This doesn't mean that you must have a foreign language major to benefit professionally. In fact, despite popular belief, in a business situation, you don't even have to be fluent in a foreign language. According to Lorraine Smith, President of the Language Exchange in Washington, D. C, even knowing a little of a foreign language puts a foreign individual at ease, and consequently, increases the communication and negotiation potential of the situation.Smith points out that from both the foreigner's and your supervisor' s prospective any level of a foreign language proficiency shows a bit more of a commitment to the client and to your business. More than 50 % of the students at the Language Exchange are learning a foreign language for their careers. More than 75 % of the students studying Russian, Spanish or French cite â€Å"career success† as their language learning incentive. However, at the University level, the number of individuals learning a language for career success is much smaller.According to Professor Jeff Delusio this is because younger students expect others will know English. But the Survey Business Person knows that this isn't always true and even when it is the case, by relying on another's language abilities you are abdicating control of the situation. Robert Taylor, President and Co-Founder of Taylor Associates International, Washington, D. C, based Health-care management consulting firm that operates primarily in foreign countries, finds that in his dealings in countries in the Middle East and the South Pacific relying on the natives' English is problematic for other reasons as well.We are unable to ask questions in the way we truly intend, he says. In addition, it's difficult to pick up subtleties of communication. Taylor hasn't found the use of interpreters to be the answer in these situations either. In fact, most linguists and business people agree with him that the potential for miscommunication is great when using interpreters. Not only have most foreign interpreters learnt British English, but also they are often faced with time constraints in order to keep the conversation flowing.As a result, they tend to encapsulate their translations opening the door for more errors. Having an edge in the international market place means meeting its language needs and staying current with the global changes. Currently, Taylor Associates lacks French and Spanish speakers – a fact that has lost it valuable business opportunities in several rapidly d eveloping foreign markets. For example, without French-speaking employees the doors have been closed to the company in the countries of North Africa where there's a strong market for health systems analysts.Similarly, lacking Spanish-speaking employees, Taylor Associates has lost out in Latin America where public health systems are developing at a swift rate. John Snow, on the other hand, owes much of its success to a ready supply of foreign language speakers. The company's combination of expertise in the growing field of public health and the Spanish and French-speaking employees has allowed it to bring its business to approximately 30 countries. Some professional areas have stronger language needs than others, and for certain languages all of the others.For instance, Japanese, Chinese and other Asian languages are in high demand in sales, marketing and trade specialties. And Spanish speakers are needed in development agencies, health-care professions and environmental organization s. With the end of the cold war, Russian and German have become the two fastest-growing foreign languages studied in America. Generally, Russian and German, along with other languages spoken in Eastern European countries, are in great demand in areas of economics and policy consulting by governments, research institutions and large American corporations eager to enter this new market.The Eurasia Foundation in Washington, D. C, a newly-established and independent Government-supported organization, arranges grants for economic and democratic reform in the former Soviet Union. Russian and other Newly Independent State Languages are in demand both for employees of the organization and for recipients of its grants, including the United States and other Western non-profit organizations and businesses. Jim Casual, program officer at Eurasia Foundation, sees a dramatic growth in private industry in these countries and predicts it will only get better.With this upswing in private industry is the need for the Western know-how and assistance, and he says, people who know Russian and N. I. S. Languages have a huge advantage. Foreign language abilities can turn into professional growth in the European Community as well. Currently, French is most commonly used among policy-makers, since the organization is headquartered in Brussels. However, French is not the official language of the European Community. Actually, according to Allan Cuckoff, Spokesman for the European Community delegation in Washington D. C. , there are nine official languages.As a result, the European Community relies heavily on translators. In fact, language translation itself has become a large-growth industry there. Because there is little incentive for policy-makers to learn English, the English speaker who knows another language has an edge. In addition to career success, there are numerous personal benefits in learning a foreign language. For example, the process of learning a foreign language flexes your creative muscle. As you know, the more you exercise your creativity, the more creative you become. Your memory, particularly long-term memory, gets a good workout.In language learning we discover a combination of memory training techniques suitable to your needs, such as word association and rhyming patterns. These techniques can be applied successfully to other situations as well, such as remembering people's names and memorizing vital business statistics. You'll feel more confident when communicating because your interpersonal skills will grow no matter which language is used to converse. You become more open to new cultures and places. Language and culture are inseparable, leading many to see language learning as a form of diversity training.Within the United States, Spanish is the fastest-growing language, and speaking Spanish is a great way to demonstrate your awareness of and sensitivity to the diversities in your nation's population. Before you begin to study a foreign l anguage, develop a successful attitude. Exorcise those ghosts from embarrassing high-school language classes. Many modern language classes are small and interactive, allowing little room for inhibitions. Whether you're in a classroom or teaching yourself, self-confidence is a key. And remember: foreign language learning, especially your first one, is work.Success at it requires practice and patience, in addition to the constant reminders that you CAN do it. Before tackling a foreign language, also ask yourself the following four questions: 1. How will this help me in my career? 2. How will this help me in my personal development? 3. How much of this language do I really need to know? 4. How much of this language do I already know? Your answers to the first two questions should be your goals and your incentives. Don't forget them. The third question is crucial to setting a realistic language goal.If you need to learn Russian or Spanish only for business meetings, focus your attention on the spoken language and steer clear of unnecessary areas, such as historical verb tenses found only in literature. You won't need to know them, and consequently, you won't enjoy learning them. The last question, that is â€Å"How much of this language do I already know? â€Å", will help you realize that you probably already have some of the language under your belt, even if it's just a little bit. Knowing â€Å"uno, due, tres† and the names of your favorite Mexican foods is a warm-up for Spanish.Next recall how Spanish speakers pronounce these common words. For languages such as Japanese, the search for words might be a little more difficult. Instead, start with names, such as â€Å"Kawasaki† or â€Å"Mitsubishi†. Do you hear a pattern? Yes, they are all four-syllable names. Now that you are in the right frame of mind, here are some tips for learning process. Avoid crash courses. Crash courses often teach too much, too quickly not allowing the brain to ab sorb the beginning lessons before the later ones are taught. Language learning is incremental.You have to understand the beginning before going on to the middle. Listen to audio cassettes for pronunciation and cadence, but be warned, some audio cassettes merely have you repeat phrases. This method does not help you retain what you've learned. Look for interactive audio programs that encourage you to answer questions and think in the language. Listen to foreign radio. In most areas there are radio programs and some times entire stations in a foreign language. If you have difficulty finding one of these, inquire at your local public radio station. Watch videos in a foreign language.Whether they are for learning or for pleasure, videos provide a great way to hear the language in the context of natural conversation. Full-length films are loaded with idioms, hand gestures and other cultural and language specific characteristics. When you read in a language, don't try to understand everyt hing. You ought to avoid dictionary dependence. Certainly, you didn't use a dictionary to learn your native language. Instead, skim and read what you can. By going for the gist of the piece you'll enjoy reading more and progress faster. Newspapers and magazines are fantastic vocabulary builders, because you will find plenty of ontextual clues in the pictures and the topics will probably be ones you've already read about in English. Seek out native speakers. If you are unable to visit the country where the language is spoken, find native speakers in your area with whom you can converse. You can get in touch with them through colleges, consulates and cultural centres. Mimic foreigners speaking English as well as their native language. Some teachers start their beginner foreign language classes by having the students imitate foreigners speaking English. It helps the students in their pronunciation of the foreign language.Don't get bored down analyzing the language. Practice is the key to learning a foreign language rather than spending weeks memorizing every form of every verb tense. Practise with the vocabulary you have. The more you converse, the quicker the missing pieces of your vocabulary will fall into place. And, finally, write new vocabulary words and phrases on index cards with the English translation on the back. Index cards easily fit it the coat pockets and handbags and can be pulled out and studied just about anywhere. A few tips on the importance of how you go about learning a little bit about a foreign language.

History of Mexican Revolution Essay

The novel transports readers to a ghost town on the desert plains in Mexico, and there it weaves together tales of passion, loss, and revenge. The village of Comala is populated by the wandering souls of former inhabitants, individuals not yet pure enough to enter heaven. Like the character Juan Preciado, who travels to Comala and suddenly finds himself confused, as readers we are not sure about what we see, hear, or understand. But the novel is enigmatic for other reasons. Since publication in 1955, the novel has come to define a style of writing in Mexico. Sparse language, echoes of orality, details heavy with meaning, and a fragmentary structure transformed the literary representation of rural life; instead of the social realism that had dominated in earlier decades, Rulfo created a quintessentially Mexican, modernist gothic.. The haunting effect of Pedro Paramo derives from the fitful story of Mexican modernity, a story that the novel tells in a way that more â€Å"objective† historical and sociological analyses cannot. As an aesthetic expression characterized by imaginative understanding, the novel explores Mexican social history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The decadent remnants of a quasi-feudal social order, violent revolutions, and a dramatic exodus from the countryside to the city all gave rise to ghost towns across Mexico. Pedro Paramo tells the stories of three main characters: Juan Preciado, Pedro Paramo, and Susana San Juan. From the point of view of Juan Preciado, the novel is the story of a son’s search for identity and retribution. Juan’s mother, Dolores Preciado, was Pedro Paramo’s wife. Although he does not bear his father’s name, Juan is Pedro’s only legitimate son. Juan has returned to Comala to claim â€Å"[j]ust what’s ours,† as he had earlier promised his dying mother. Juan Preciado guides readers into the ghost story as he encounters the lost souls of Comala, sees apparitions, hears voices, and eventually suspects that he too is dead. We see through Juan’s eyes and hear with his ears the voices of those buried in the cemetery, a reading experience that evokes the poetic obituaries of Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology (1915). Along with Juan Preciado, readers piece together these fragments of lives to construct an image of Comala and its demise. Interspersed among the fragments recounting Juan’s story are flashbacks to the biography of Pedro Paramo. Pedro is the son of landowners who have seen better days. He also loves a young girl, Susana San Juan, with a desire that consumes his life into adulthood. â€Å"I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Paramo, lived there. † —page 3 Although the story line in these biographical fragments follows a generally chronological order, the duration of time is strangely distorted; brief textual passages that may read like conversational exchanges sometimes condense large historical periods. Moreover, the third-person narrative voice oscillates between two discursive registers. On the one hand, poetic passages of interior monologue capture Pedro’s love for Susana and his sensuality; on the other, more exterior descriptions and dialogues represent a domineering rancher determined to amass wealth and possessions. Within this alternation between the first- and third-person narrative voices, readers must listen for another voice and reconstruct a third story, that of Susana San Juan. We overhear bits of her tale through the ears of Juan Preciado, listening with him to the complaints that Susana—in her restless death—gives forth in the cemetery of Comala. â€Å"I was thinking of you, Susana. Of the green hills. Of when we used to fly kits in the windy season. We could hear the sounds of life from the town below; we were high above on the hill, playing out string to the wind. ‘Help me Susana. ‘ And soft hands would tighten on mine. ‘Let out more string. ‘† —page 12 Poetic sections evoke her passion for another man, Florencio, and Pedro never becomes the object of Susana’s affection. Juan Preciado, Pedro Paramo, and Susana San Juan are all haunted by ghosts; in turn, they become ghosts who haunt the realities of others. â€Å"They say that when people from there die and go to hell, they come back for a blanket. † —page 6 Although as readers we have the sense of lives once lived by these characters, they emerge for us as phantasms, as partially known presences who are not immediately intelligible and who linger with inexplicable tenacity. Reading Pedro Paramo creates a transformative recognition of Mexico’s move toward modernity in the early twentieth century; more than the objective lessons learned from social and cultural history, as a novel, Pedro Paramo produces a structure of feeling for readers that immerses us through the experience of haunting. As ghosts, Pedro, Susana, and Juan point outward to the social context of Mexico in the difficult movement toward modernization, toward social arrangements that never completely die as a newer social order is established. Pedro’s accumulation of land as a rancher harks back to the trends of capital accumulation during the benign dictatorship of President Porfirio Diaz (1876-1911). The Porfiriato strove to modernize the nation through the development of infrastructure and investment; it allowed for anomalies such as the creation of the Media Luna ranch and strong local power brokers such as Pedro Paramo who shared the interests of the elite and helped maintain a thinly veiled feudal social order. Within this context, Susana San Juan and other individuals murmur their complaints in ghostly whispers. Indeed, at one point, Rulfo planned to call the novel Los murmullos—the murmurs. Speaking in the streets of Comala, overheard in dreams, and groaning in the cemetery, these spectral murmurs bespeak a reality hidden beneath the facade of Porfirian progress. The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 gave expression to repressed peasants—the campesinos of rural Mexico—and put an end to the Porfiriato. Susana San Juan, in turn, reveals the repressed role of women in a patriarchal order. In this world women are chattel and ranch-owners can forcibly populate the countryside with bastard children by asserting feudal rights to the bodies of peasant women living on their lands. Peasant revolutionaries and Susana San Juan as well are all manipulated by Pedro Paramo. He can force events to keep them all in the places where he would have them, but he cannot control their desires and their pleasures. The peasants celebrate festivals, and after the revolution they eventually rebel again by participating in the Cristero Revolt of 1926-1929. Susana suffers guilt and remembers pleasure in evocative passages that underscore her erotic ties to Florencio, a man unknown to others in the novel, perhaps a dead soldier from the revolution, the man Pedro would have had to be in order to have Susana’s love. â€Å"The sky was crowded with fat, swollen stars. The moon had come out for a little while and then vanished. It was one of those sad moons that nobody looks at or even notices. It hung there for a little while, pale and disfigured, and then hid itself behind the mountains. † -Juan Rulfo References Carol Clark D’Lugo, The Fragmented Novel in Mexico: The Politics of Form (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997), 70-81. Patrick Dove, â€Å"‘Exigele lo nuestro’: Deconstruction, Restitution and the Demand of Speech in Pedro Paramo,† Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 10. 1 (2001): 25-44,

Elements of Art in the Reproduction of the “Blue Bird” Essay

Reproduction of the â€Å"Blue Bird† fresco, ca. 1700-1525 B.C. Watercolor on paper. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Line: For this assignment, I chose the Reproduction of the â€Å"Blue Bird† fresco. This is a very interesting piece. The very light, almost fragile lines, combined with the watercolor medium, give this piece a very delicate appearance. The watercolor medium allows much of the lightness of the paper underneath to reflect through the colors to give the painting an overall lustrous appearance. Most of these lines seem to bend and sway, creating movement toward the blue bird, making the bird itself the focal point of this piece. Color: While the painter did not seem interested in using a lot of different hues in this painting, it was painted with values ranging from pure white to medium values of grey. If you notice, the red hue used is much less saturated, making it a darker tone than the more saturated, more pure blue hue of the bird and the nearby f lowers. Texture: The overall physical texture of the painting, I imagine, is very smooth to the touch because it is a watercolor painting. However, texture can be simulated through the use of line as it was done here. The stylized, curving lines near the bottom of the painting indicate a rocky coastline. They imply texture. Texture doesn’t seem to be something that the painter was overly concerned with making part of their work. Shape: Many of the shapes surrounding the focal point are left implied. The painter seemed to want to keep the attention focused on the blue bird and thus, did not fill these shapes with color or detail. The shapes that were given full form were done so with curved, more organic lines rather than sharp, angular lines associated with more geometric shapes. Form: This painting takes the form of a fresco, as it was originally part of a large series of panels that covered a large wall. Since this is a watercolor painting rather than a sculpture, the forms are illusionistic. They cannot be viewed from all angles and have no actual measurable depth and volume. Space: Much like texture, Space does not appear to have been a major concern to the painter. The overlapping forms do indicate a progression of space; however, there is little else to create the illusion of depth.

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER TWENTY CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION Mayor Harla Branno had every reason for satisfaction. The state visit had not lasted long, but it had been thoroughly productive. She said, as though in deliberate attempt to avoid hubris, â€Å"We can't, of course, trust them completely.† She was watching the screen. The ships of the Fleet were, one by one, entering hyperspace and returning to their normal stations. There was no question but that Sayshell had been impressed by their presence, but they could not have failed to notice two things: one, that the ships had remained in Foundation space at all times; two, that once Branno had indicated they would leave, they were indeed leaving with celerity. On the other hand, Sayshell would not forget either that those ships could be recalled to the border at a day's notice – or less. It was a maneuver that had combined both a demonstration of power and a demonstration of goodwill. Kodell said, â€Å"Quite right, we can't trust them completely, but then no one in the Galaxy can be trusted completely and it is in the self-interest of Sayshell to observe the terms of the agreement. We have been generous.† Branno said, â€Å"A lot will depend on working out the details and I predict that will take months. The general brushstrokes can be accepted in a moment, but then come the shadings: just how we arrange for quarantine of imports and exports, how we weigh the value of their grain and cattle compared to ours, and so on.† â€Å"I know, but it will be done eventually and the credit will be yours, Mayor. It was a bold stroke and one, I admit, whose wisdom I doubted.† â€Å"Come, Liono. It was just a matter of the Foundation recognizing Sayshellian pride. They've retained a certain independence since early Imperial times. It's to be admired, actually.† â€Å"Yes, now that it will no longer inconvenience us.† â€Å"Exactly, so it was only necessary to bend our own pride to the point of making some sort of gesture to theirs. I admit it took an effort to decide that I, as Mayor of a Galaxy-straddling Federation, should condescend to visit a provincial star-grouping, but once the decision was made it didn't hurt too much. And it pleased them. We had to gamble that they would agree to the visit once we moved our ships to the border, but it meant being humble and smiling very broadly.† Kodell nodded. â€Å"We abandoned the appearance of power to preserve the essence of it.† â€Å"Exactly. – Who first said that?† â€Å"I believe it was in one of Eriden's plays, but I'm not sure. We can ask one of our literary lights back home.† â€Å"If I remember. We must speed the return visit of Sayshellians to Terminus and see to it that they are given the full treatment as equals. And I'm afraid, Liono, you will have to organize tight security for them. There is bound to be some indignation among our hotheads and it would not be wise to subject them to even slight and transient humiliation through protest demonstrations.† â€Å"Absolutely,† said Kodell. â€Å"It was a clever stroke, by the way, sending out Trevize.† â€Å"My lightning rod? He worked better than I thought he would, to be honest. He blundered his way into Sayshell and drew their lightning in the form of protests with a speed I could not have believed. Space! What an excellent excuse that made for my visit – concern lest a Foundation national in any way disturbed then and gratitude for their forbearance.† â€Å"Shrewd! – You don't think it would have been better, though, to have brought Trevize back with us?† â€Å"No. On the whole, I prefer him anywhere but at home. He would be a disturbing factor on Terminus. His nonsense about the Second Foundation served as the perfect excuse for sending him out and, of course, we counted on Pelorat to lead him to Sayshell, but I don't want him back, continuing to spread the nonsense. We can never tell what that might lead to.† Kodell chuckled. â€Å"I doubt that we can ever find anyone more gullible than an intellectual academic. I wonder how much Pelorat would have swallowed if we had encouraged him.† â€Å"Belief in the literal existence of the mythical Sayshellian Gaia was quite enough – but forget it. We will have to face the Council when we return and we will need their votes for the Sayshellian treaty. Fortunately we have Trevize's statement – voiceprint and all – to the effect that he left Terminus voluntarily. I will offer official regrets as to Trevize's brief arrest and that will satisfy the Council.† â€Å"I can rely on you for the soft soap, Mayor,† said Kodell dryly. â€Å"Have you considered, though, that Trevize may continue to search for the Second Foundation?† â€Å"Let him,† said Branno, shrugging, â€Å"as long as he doesn't do it on Terminus. It will keep him busy and get him nowhere. The Second Foundation's continued existence is our myth of the century, as Gaia is Sayshell's myth.† She leaned back and looked positively genial. â€Å"And now we have Sayshell in our grip – and by the time they see that, it will be too late for them to break the grip. So the Foundation's growth continues and will continue, smoothly and regularly.† â€Å"And the credit will be entirely yours, Mayor.† â€Å"That has not escaped my notice,† said Branno, and their ship slipped into hyperspace and reappeared in the neighborhood space of Terminus. Speaker Stor Gendibal, on his own ship again, had every reason for satisfaction. The encounter with the First Foundation had not lasted long, but it had been thoroughly productive. He had sent back his message of carefully muted triumph. It was only necessary – for the moment – to let the First Speaker know that all had gone well (as, indeed, he might guess from the fact that the general force of the Second Foundation had never had to be used after all). The details could come later on. He would describe how a careful – and very minor – adjustment to Mayor Branno's mind had turned her thoughts from imperialistic grandiosity to the practicality of commercial treaty; how a careful and rather long-distance – adjustment of the leader of the Sayshell Union had led to an invitation to the Mayor of a parley and how, thereafter, a rapprochement had been reached with no further adjustments at all with Compor returning to Terminus on his own ship, to see that the agreement would be kept. It had been, Gendibal thought complacently, almost a storybook example of large results brought about by minutely crafted mentalics. It would, he was sure, squash Speaker Delarmi flat and bring about his own elevation to First Speaker very soon after the presentation of the details at a formal meeting of the Table. And he did not deny to himself the importance of Sum Novi's presence, though that would not need to be stressed to the Speakers generally. Not only had she been essential to his victory, but she gave him the excuse he now needed for indulging his childish (and very human, for even Speakers are very human) need to exult before what he knew to be a guaranteed admiration. She did not understand anything that had happened, he knew, but she was aware that he had arranged matters to his liking and she was bursting with pride over that. He caressed the smoothness of her mind and felt the warmth of that pride. He said, â€Å"I could not have done it without you, Novi. It was because of you I could tell that the First Foundation – the people on the large ship†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes, Master, I know whom you mean.† â€Å"I could tell, because of you, that they had a shield, together with weak powers of the mind. From the effect on your mind, I could tell, exactly, the characteristics of both. I could tell how most efficiently to penetrate the one and deflect the other.† Novi said tentatively, â€Å"I do not understand exactly what it is you say, Master, but I would have done much more to help, if I could.† â€Å"I know that, Novi. But what you did was enough. It is amazing how dangerous they might have been. But caught now, before either their shield or their field had been developed more strongly, they could be stopped. The Mayor goes back now, the shield and the field forgotten, satisfied over the fact that she has obtained a commercial treaty with Sayshell that will make it a working part of the Federation. I don't deny that there is much more to do to dismantle the work they have done on shield and field – it is something concerning which we have been remiss – but it will be done.† He brooded about the matter and went on in a lower voice, â€Å"We took far too much for granted with the First Foundation. We must place them under closer supervision. We must knit the Galaxy closer together somehow. We must make use of mentalics to build a closer co-operation of consciousness. That would fit the Plan. I'm convinced of that and I'll see to it.† Novi said anxiously, â€Å"Master?† Gendibal smiled suddenly. â€Å"I'm sorry. I'm talking to myself. – Novi, do you remember Rufirant?† â€Å"That bone-skulled farmer who attacked you? I should say I do.† â€Å"I'm convinced that First Foundation agents, armed with personal shields, arranged that, together with all the other anomalies that have plagued us. Imagine being blind to a thing like that. But then, I was bemused into overlooking the First Foundation altogether by this myth of a mysterious world, this Sayshellian superstition concerning Gaia. There, too, your mind came in handy. It helped me determine that the source of that mentalic field was the warship and nothing else.† He rubbed his hands. Novi said timidly, â€Å"Master?† â€Å"Yes, Novi?† â€Å"Will you not be rewarded for what you have done?† â€Å"Indeed I will. Shandess will retire and I will be First Speaker. Then will come my chance to make us an active factor in revolutionizing the Galaxy.† â€Å"First Speaker?† â€Å"Yes, Novi. I will be the most important and the most powerful scholar of them all.† â€Å"The most important?† She looked woebegone. â€Å"Why do you make a face, Novi? Don't you want me to be rewarded?† â€Å"Yes, Master, I do. – But if you are the most important scholar of them all, you will not want a Hamishwoman near you. It would not be fitting.† â€Å"Won't I, though? Who will stop me?† He felt a gush of affection for her. â€Å"Novi, you'll stay with me wherever I go and whatever I am. Do you think I would risk dealing with some of the wolves we occasionally have at the Table without your mind always there to tell me, even before they know themselves, what their emotions might be – your own innocent, absolutely smooth mind. Besides†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He seemed startled by a sudden revelation, â€Å"Even aside from that, I – I like having you with me and I intend having you with me. – That is, if you are willing.† â€Å"Oh, Master,† whispered Novi and, as his arm moved around her waist, her head sank to his shoulder. Deep within, where the enveloping mind of Novi could scarcely be aware of it, the essence of Gaia remained and guided events, but it was that impenetrable mask that made the continuance of the great task possible. And that mask – the one that belonged to a Hamishwoman – was completely happy. It was so happy that Novi was almost reconciled for the distance she was from herself/them/all, and she was content to be, for the indefinite future, what she seemed to be. Pelorat rubbed his hands and said, with carefully controlled enthusiasm, â€Å"How glad I am to be back on Gaia.† â€Å"Umm,† said Trevize abstractedly. â€Å"You know what Bliss has told me? The Mayor is going back to Terminus with a commercial treaty with Sayshell. The Speaker from the Second Foundation is going back to Trantor convinced that he has arranged it – and that woman, Novi, is going with him to see to it that the changes that will bring about Galaxia are initiated. And neither Foundation is in the least aware that Gaia exists. It's absolutely amazing.† â€Å"I know,† said Trevize. â€Å"I was told all this, too. But we know that Gaia exists and we can talk.† â€Å"Bliss doesn't think so. She says no one would believe us, and we would know that. Besides, I, for one, have no intention of ever leaving Gaia.† Trevize was pulled out of his inner musing. He looked up and said, â€Å"What?† â€Å"I'm going to stay here. – You know, I can't believe it. Just weeks ago, I was living a lonely life on Terminus, the same life I had lived for decades, immersed in my records and my thoughts and never dreaming anything but that I would go to my death, whenever it might be, still immersed in my records and my thoughts and still living my lonely life – contentedly vegetating. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, I became a Galactic traveler; I was involved with a Galactic crisis; and – do not laugh, Golan – I have found Bliss.† â€Å"I'm not laughing, Janov,† said Trevize, â€Å"but are you sure you know what you're doing?† â€Å"Oh yes. This matter of Earth is no longer important to me. The fact that it was the only world with a diverse ecology and with intelligent life has been adequately explained. The Eternals, you know.† â€Å"Yes, I know. And you're going to stay on Gaia?† â€Å"Absolutely. Earth is the past and I'm tired of the past. Gaia is the future.† â€Å"You're not part of Gaia, Janov. Or do you think you can become part of it?† â€Å"Bliss says that I can become somewhat a part of it – intellectually if not biologically. She'll help, of course.† â€Å"But since she is part of it, how can you two find a common life, a common point of view, a common interest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They were in the open and Trevize looked gravely at the quiet, fruitful island, and beyond it the sea, and on the horizon, purpled by distance, another island – all of it peaceful, civilized, alive, and a unit. He said, â€Å"Janov, she is a world; you are a tiny individual. What if she gets tired of you? She is young†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Golan, I've thought of that. I've thought of nothing but that for days. I expect her to grow tired of me; I'm no romantic idiot. But whatever she gives me till then will be enough. She has already given me enough. I have received more from her than I dreamed existed in life. If I saw her no more from this moment on, I have ended the winner.† â€Å"I don't believe it,† said Trevize gently. â€Å"I think you are a romantic idiot and, mind you, I wouldn't want you any other way. Janov, we haven't known each other for long, but we've been together every moment for weeks and – I'm sorry if it sounds silly – I like you a great deal.† â€Å"And I, you, Golan,† said Pelorat. â€Å"And I don't want you hurt. I must talk to Bliss.† â€Å"No no. Please don't. You'll lecture her.† â€Å"I won't lecture her. It's not entirely to do with you – and I want to talk to her privately. Please, Janov, I don't want to do it behind your back, so grant me your willingness to have me talk to her and get a few things straight. If I am satisfied, I will give you my heartiest congratulations and goodwill – and I will forever hold my peace, whatever happens.† Pelorat shook his head. â€Å"You'll ruin things.† â€Å"I promise I won't I beg you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Well, But do be careful, my dear fellow, won't you?† â€Å"You have my solemn word.† Bliss said, â€Å"Pel says you want to see me.† Trevize said, â€Å"Yes.† They were indoors, in the small apartment allotted to him. She sat down gracefully, crossed her legs, and looked up at him shrewdly, her beautiful brown eyes luminous and her long, dark hair glistening. She said, â€Å"You disapprove of me, don't you? You have disapproved of me from the start.† Trevize remained standing. He said, â€Å"You are aware of minds and of their contents. You know what I think of you and why.† Slowly Bliss shook her head. â€Å"Your mind is out of bounds to Gaia. You know that. Your decision was needed and it had to be the decision of a clear and untouched mind. When your ship was first taken, I placed you and Pel within a soothing field, but that was essential. You would have been damaged – and perhaps rendered useless for a crucial time – by panic or rage. And that was all. I could never go beyond that and I haven't – so I don't know what you're thinking.† Trevize said, â€Å"The decision I had to make has been made. I decided in favor of Gaia and Galaxia. Why, then, all this talk of a clear and untouched mind? You have what you want and you can do with me now as you wish.† â€Å"Not at all, Trev. There are other decisions that may be needed in the future. You remain what you are and, while you are alive, you are a rare natural resource of the Galaxy. Undoubtedly there are others like you in the Galaxy and others like you will appear in the future, but for now we know of you – and only you. We still cannot touch you.† Trevize considered. â€Å"You are Gaia and I don't want to talk to Gaia. I want to talk to you as an individual, if that has any meaning at all.† â€Å"It has meaning. We are far from existing in a common melt. I can block off Gaia for a period of time.† â€Å"Yes,† said Trevize. â€Å"I think you can. Have you now done so?† â€Å"I have now done so.† â€Å"Then, first, let me tell you that you have played games. You did not enter my mind to influence my decision, perhaps, but you certainly entered Janov's mind to do so, didn't you?† â€Å"Do you think I did?† â€Å"I think you did. At the crucial moment, Pelorat reminded me of his own vision of the Galaxy as alive and the thought drove me on to make my decision at that moment. The thought may have been his, but yours was the mind that triggered it, was it not?† Bliss said, â€Å"The thought was in his mind, but there were many thoughts there. I smoothed the path before that reminiscence of his about the living Galaxy – and not before any other thought of his. That particular thought, therefore, slipped easily out of his consciousness and into words. Mind you, I did not create the thought. It was there.† â€Å"Nevertheless, that amounted to an indirect tampering with the perfect independence of my decision, did it not?† â€Å"Gaia felt it necessary.† â€Å"Did it? – Well, it may make you feel better – or nobler – to know that although Janov's remark persuaded me to make the decision at that moment, it was the decision I think I would have made even if he had said nothing or if he had tried to argue me into a decision of a different kind. I want you to know that.† â€Å"I am relieved,† said Bliss coolly. â€Å"Is that what you wanted to tell me when you asked to see me?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"What else is there?† Now Trevize sat down in a chair he had drawn opposite her so that their knees nearly touched. He leaned toward her. â€Å"When we approached Gaia, it was you on the space station. It was you who trapped us; you who came out to get us; you who have remained with us ever since – except for the meal with Dom, which you did not share with us. In particular, it was you on the Far Star with us, when the decision was made. Always you.† â€Å"I am Gaia.† â€Å"That does not explain it. A rabbit is Gaia. A pebble is Gaia. Everything on the planet is Gaia, but they are not all equally Gaia. Some are more equal than others. Why you?† â€Å"Why do you think?† Trevize made the plunge. He said, â€Å"Because I don't think you're Gaia. I think you're more than Gaia.† Bliss made a derisive sound with her lips. Trevize kept to his course. â€Å"At the time I was making the decision, the woman with the Speaker†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He called her Novi.† â€Å"This Novi, then, said that Gaia was set on its course by the robots that no longer exist and that Gaia was taught to follow a version of the Three Laws of Robotics.† â€Å"That is quite true.† â€Å"And the robots no longer exist?† â€Å"So Novi said.† â€Å"So Novi did not say. I remember her exact words. She said: ‘Gaia was formed thousands of years ago with the help of robots that once, for a brief time, served The human species and now serve them no more.† â€Å"Well, Trev, doesn't that mean they exist no more?† â€Å"No, it means they serve no more. Might they not rule instead?† â€Å"Ridiculous!† â€Å"Or supervise? Why were you there at the time of the decision? You did not seem to be essential. It was Novi who conducted matters and she was Gaia. What need of you? Unless†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Well? Unless?† â€Å"Unless you are the supervisor whose role it is to make certain that Gaia does not forget the Three Laws. Unless you are a robot, so cleverly made that you cannot be told from a human being.† â€Å"If I cannot be told from a human being, how is it you think that you can tell?† asked Bliss with a trace of sarcasm. Trevize sat back. â€Å"Do you not all assure me I have the faculty of being sure; of making decisions, seeing solutions, drawing correct conclusions. I don't claim this; it is what you say of me. Well, from the moment I saw you I felt uneasy. There was something wrong with you. I am certainly as susceptible to feminine allure as Pelorat is – more so, I should think – and you are an attractive woman in appearance. Yet not for one moment did I feel the slightest attraction.† â€Å"You devastate me.† Trevize ignored that. He said, â€Å"When you first appeared on our ship, Janov and I had been discussing the possibility of a nonhuman civilization on Gaia, and when Janov saw you, he asked, in his innocence, ‘Are you human?' Perhaps a robot must answer the truth, but I suppose it can be evasive. You merely said, ‘Don't I look human?' Yes, you look human, Bliss, but let me ask you again. Are you human?† Bliss said nothing and Trevize continued. â€Å"I think that even at that first moment, I felt you were not a woman. You are a robot and I could somehow tell. And because of my feeling, all the events that followed had meaning for me – particularly your absence from the dinner.† Bliss said, â€Å"Do you think I cannot eat, Trev? Have you forgotten I nibbled a shrimp dish on your ship? I assure you that I am able to eat and perform any of the other biological functions. – Including, before you ask, sex. And yet that in itself, I might as well tell you, does not prove that I am not a robot. Robots had reached the pitch of perfection, even thousands of years ago, where only by their brains were they distinguishable from human beings, and then only by those able to handle mentalic fields. Speaker Gendibal might have been able to tell whether I were robot or human, if he had bothered even once to consider me. Of course, he did not.† â€Å"Yet, though I am without mentalics, I am nevertheless convinced you are a robot† Bliss said, â€Å"But what if I am? I admit nothing, but I am curious. What if I am?† â€Å"You have no need to admit anything. I know you are a robot If I needed a last bit of evidence, it was your calm assurance that you could block off Gaia and speak to me as an individual. I don't think you could do that if you were part of Gaia – but you are not You are a robot supervisor and, therefore, outside of Gaia. I wonder, come to think of it, how many robot supervisors Gaia requires and possesses?† â€Å"I repeat: I admit nothing, but I am curious. What if I am a robot?† â€Å"In that case, what I want to know is: What do you want of Janov Pelorat? He is my friend and he is, in some ways, a child. He thinks he loves you; he thinks he wants only what you are willing to give and that you have already given him enough. He doesn't know – and cannot conceive – the pain of the loss of love or, for that matter, the peculiar pain of knowing that you are not human†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Do you know the pain of lost love?† â€Å"I have had my moments. I have not led the sheltered life of Janov. I have not had my life consumed and anesthetized by an intellectual pursuit that swallowed up everything else, even wife and child. He has. Now suddenly, he gives it all up for you. I do not want him hurt. I will not have him hurt. If I have served Gaia, I deserve a reward – and my reward is your assurance that Janov Pelorat's well-being will be preserved.† â€Å"Shall I pretend I am a robot and answer you?† Trevize said, â€Å"Yes. And right now.† â€Å"Very well, then. Suppose I am a robot, Trev, and suppose I am in a position of supervision. Suppose there are a few, a very few, who have a similar role to myself and suppose we rarely meet. Suppose that our driving force is the need to care for human beings and suppose there are no true humans beings on Gaia, because all are part of an overall planetary being. â€Å"Suppose that it fulfills us to care for Gaia – but not entirely. Suppose there is something primitive in us that longs for a human being in the sense that existed when robots were first formed and designed. Don't mistake me; I do not claim to be age-old (assuming I am a robot). I am as old as I told you I was or, at least, (assuming I am a robot) that has been the term of my existence. Still, (assuming I am a robot) my fundamental design would be as it always was and I would long to care for a true human being. â€Å"Pel is a human being. He is not part of Gaia. He is too old to ever become a true part of Gaia. He wants to stay on Gaia with me, for he does not have the feelings about me that you have. He does not think that I am a robot. Well, I want him, too. If you assume that I am a robot, you see that I would. I am capable of all human reactions and I would love him. If you were to insist I was a robot, you might not consider me capable of love in some mystic human sense, but you would not be able to distinguish my reactions from that which you would call love – so what difference would it make?† She stopped and looked at him – intransigently proud. Trevize said, â€Å"You are telling me that you would not abandon him?† â€Å"If you assume that I am a robot, then you can see for yourself that by First Law I could never abandon him, unless he ordered me to do so and I were, in addition, convinced that he meant it and that I would be hurting him more by staying than by leaving.† â€Å"Would not a younger man†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What younger man? You are a younger man, but I do not conceive you as needing me in the same sense that Pel does, and, in fact, you do not want me, so that the First Law would prevent me from attempting to cling to you.† â€Å"Not me. Another younger man†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"There is no other. Who is there on Gaia other than Pel and yourself that would qualify as human beings in the non-Gaian sense?† Trevize said, more softly, â€Å"And if you are not a robot?† â€Å"Make up your mind,† said Bliss. â€Å"I say, if you are not a robot?† â€Å"Then I say that, in that case, you have no right to say anything at all. It is for myself and for Pel to decide.† Trev said, â€Å"Then I return to my first point. I want my reward and that reward is that you will treat him well. I won't press the point of your identity. Simply assure me, as one intelligence to another, that you will treat him well.† And Bliss said softly, â€Å"I will treat him well – not as a reward to you, but because I wish to. It is my earnest desire. I will treat him well.† She called â€Å"Pel!† And again, â€Å"Pel!† Pelorat entered from outside, â€Å"Yes, Bliss.† Bliss held out her hand to him. â€Å"I think Trev wants to say something.† Pelorat took her hand and Trevize then took the doubled hand in his two. â€Å"Janov,† he said, â€Å"I am happy for both of you.† Pelorat said, â€Å"Oh, my dear fellow.† Trevize said, â€Å"I will probably be leaving Gaia. I go now to speak to Dom about that. I don't know when or if we will meet again, Janov, but, in any case, we did well together.† â€Å"We did well,† said Pelorat, smiling. â€Å"Good-bye, Bliss, and, in advance, thank you.† â€Å"Good-bye, Trev.† And Trevize, with a wave of his hand, left the house. Dom said, â€Å"You did well, Trev. – But then, you did as I thought you would.† They were once more sitting over a meal, as unsatisfactory as the first had been, but Trevize did not mind. He might not be eating on Gaia again. He said, â€Å"I did as I thought you would, but not, perhaps, for the reason you thought I would.† â€Å"Surely you were sure of the correctness of your decision.† â€Å"Yes, I was, but not because of any mystic grip I have on certainty. If I chose Galaxia, it was through ordinary reasoning – the sort of reasoning that anyone else might have used to come to a decision. Would you care to have me explain?† â€Å"I most certainly would, Trev.† Trevize said, â€Å"There were three things I might have done. I might have joined the First Foundation, or joined the Second Foundation, or joined Gaia. â€Å"If I had joined the First Foundation, Mayor Branno would have taken immediate action to establish domination over the Second Foundation and over Gaia. If I had joined the Second Foundation, Speaker Gendibal would have taken immediate action to establish domination over the First Foundation and over Gaia. In either case, what would have taken place would have been irreversible – and if either were the wrong solution, it would have been irreversibly catastrophic. â€Å"If I joined with Gaia, however, then the First Foundation and the Second Foundation would each have been left with the conviction of having won a relatively minor victory. All would then have continued as before, since the building of Galaxia, I had already been told, would take generations, even centuries. â€Å"Joining with Gaia was my way of temporizing, then, and of making sure that there would remain time to modify matters – or even reverse them – if my decision were wrong.† Dom raised his eyebrows. His old, almost cadaverous face remained otherwise expressionless. He said in his piping voice, â€Å"And is it your opinion that your decision may turn out wrong?† Trevize shrugged. â€Å"I don't think so, but there is one thing I must do in order that I might know. It is my intention to visit Earth, if I can find that world.† â€Å"We will certainly not stop you if you wish to leave us, Trev†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I do not fit on your world.† â€Å"No more than Pel does, yet you are as welcome to remain as he is. Still, we will not hold you. – But tell me, why do you wish to visit Earth?† Trevize said, â€Å"I rather think you understand.† â€Å"I do not.† â€Å"There is a piece of information you withheld from me, Dom. Perhaps you had your reasons, but I wish you had not.† Dom said, â€Å"I do not follow you.† â€Å"Look, Dom, in order to make my decision, I used my computer and for a brief moment I found myself in touch with the minds of those about me – Mayor Branno, Speaker Gendibal, Novi. I caught glimpses of a number of matters that, in isolation, meant little to me, as, for example, the various effects Gaia, through Novi, had produced on Trantor – effects that were intended to maneuver the Speaker into going to Gaia.† â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"And one of those things was the clearing from Trantor's library of all references to Earth.† â€Å"The clearing of references to Earth?† â€Å"Exactly. So Earth must be important – and not only does it appear that the Second Foundation must know nothing about it, but that I must not, either. And if I am to take the responsibility for the direction of Galactic development, I do not willingly accept ignorance. Would you consider telling me why it was so important to keep knowledge of Earth hidden?† Dom said solemnly, â€Å"Trev, Gaia knows nothing about such clearance. Nothing!† â€Å"Are you telling me that Gaia is not responsible?† â€Å"It is not responsible.† Trevize thought for a while, the tip of his tongue moving slowly and meditatively over his lips. â€Å"Who was responsible, then?† â€Å"I don't know. I can see no purpose in it.† The two men stared at each other and then Dom said, â€Å"You are right. We had seemed to have reached a most satisfactory conclusion, but while this point remains unsettled, we dare not rest. – Stay a while with us and let us see what we can reason out. Then you can leave, with our full help.† â€Å"Thank you,† said Trevize. THE END