Seldon skittered backward and out of reach. As he did so, the side of his right palm came down on the sergeant's right upper arm where the muscles were thinnest, so that he struck the bone.
The sergeant drew a sudden deep breath and seemed to shake himself a bit, but turned, face expressionless, and advanced again. Davan, watching, remained where he was, motionless, but Raych moved behind the sergeant.
Seldon repeated his palm stroke a second time, then a third, but now Sergeant Thalus, anticipating the blow, lowered his shoulder to catch it on hard muscle. Dors had drawn her knives.
"Sergeant," she said forcefully. "Turn in this direction, I want you to understand I may be forced to hurt you severely if you persist in attempting to carry Dr. Seldon off against his will."
The sergeant paused, seemed to take in the slowly waving knives solemnly, then said, "It is not in my instructions to refrain from harming anyone but Dr. Seldon."
His right hand moved with surprising speed toward the neuronic whip in the holster at his hip. Dors moved as quickly forward, knives flashing. Neither completed the movement.
Dashing forward, Raych had pushed at the sergeant's back with his left hand and withdrew the sergeant's weapon from its holster with his right. He moved away quickly, holding the neuronic whip in both hands now and shouting, "Hands up, Sergeant, or you're gonna get it!"
The sergeant whirled and a nervous look crossed his reddening face. It was the only moment that its stolidity had weakened. "Put that down, sonny," he growled. "You don't know how it works."
Raych howled, "I know about the safety. It's off and this thing can fire. And it will if you try to rush me."
The sergeant froze. He clearly knew how dangerous it was to have an excited twelve-year-old handling a powerful weapon.
Nor did Seldon feel much better. He said, "Careful, Raych. Don't shoot. Keep your finger off the contact."
"I ain't gonna let him rush me."
"He won't.-Sergeant, please don't move. Let's get something straight. You were told to take me away from here. Is that right?"
"That's right," said the sergeant, eyes somewhat protruding and firmly fixed on Raych (whose eyes were as firmly fixed on the sergeant). "But you were not told to take anyone else. Is that right?"
"No, I was not, Doctor," said the sergeant firmly. Not even the threat of a neuronic whip was going to make him weasel. One could see that.
"Very well, but listen to me, Sergeant. Were you told not to take anyone else?"
"I just said-"
"No, no. Listen, Sergeant. There's a difference. Were your instructions simply 'Take Dr. Seldon!'? Was that the entire order, with no mention of anyone else, or were the orders more specific? Were your orders as follows: 'Take Dr. Seldon and don't take anyone else'?"
The sergeant turned that over in his head, then he said, "I was told to take you, Dr. Seldon."
"Then there was no mention of anyone else, one way or the other, was there?"
Pause. "No."
"You were not told to take Dr. Venabili, but you were not told not to take Dr. Venabili either. Is that right?"
Pause. "Yes."
"So you can either take her or not take her, whichever you please?"
Long pause. "I suppose so."
"Now then, here's Raych, the young fellow who's got a neuronic whip pointing at you-your neuronic whip, remember-and he is anxious to use it."
"Yay!" shouted Raych.
"Not yet, Raych," said Seldon. "And here is Dr. Venabili with two knives that she can use very expertly and there's myself, who can, if I get the chance, break your Adam's apple with one hand so that you'll never speak above a whisper again. Now then, do you want to take Dr. Venabili or don't you want to? Your orders allow you to do either."
And finally the sergeant said in a beaten voice, "I will take the woman."
"And the boy, Raych."
"And the boy."
"Good. Have I your word of honor-your word of honor as a soldier-that you will do as you have just said... honestly?"
"You have my word of honor as a soldier," said the sergeant.
"Good. Raych, give back the whip.-Now.-Don't make me wait."
Raych, his face twisted into an unhappy grimace, looked at Dors, who hesitated and then slowly nodded her head. Her face was as unhappy as Raych's. Raych held out the neuronic whip to the sergeant and said, "They're makin' me, ya big-" His last words were unintelligible.
Seldon said, "Put away your knives, Dors."
Dors shook her head, but put them away.
"Now, Sergeant?" said Seldon.
The sergeant looked at the neuronic whip, then at Seldon. He said, "You are an honorable man, Dr. Seldon, and my word of honor holds." With a military snap, he placed his neuronic whip in his holster.
Seldon turned to Davan and said, "Davan, please forget what you have seen here. We three are going voluntarily with Sergeant Thalus. You tell Yugo Amaryl when you see him that I will not forget him and that, once this is over and I am free to act, I will see that he gets into a University. And if there's anything reasonable I can ever do for your cause, Davan, I will.-Now, Sergeant, let's go."
83.
"Have you ever been in an air-jet before, Raych?" asked Hari Seldon.
Raych shook his head speechlessly. He was looking down at Upperside rushing beneath them with a mixture of fright and awe.
It struck Seldon again how much Trantor was a world of Expressways and tunnels. Even long trips were made underground by the general population. Air travel, however common it might be on the Outworlds, was a luxury on Trantor and an air-jet like this- How had Hummin managed it? Seldon wondered.