"I think I can manage to endure it for the time we'll be up there."
When they were ready, the group filed into an elevator that was marked: OFFICIAL USE ONLY.
"That's because it goes Upperside," said one of the young women, "and people aren't supposed to be up there without good reason." Seldon had not met the young woman before, but he had heard her addressed as Clowzia. He didn't know if that was a first name, a last name, or a nickname. The elevator seemed no different from others that Seldon had been on, either here on Trantor or at home in Helicon (barring, of course, the gravitic lift he and Hummin had used), but there was something about knowing that it was going to take him out of the confines of the planet and into emptiness above that made it feel like a spaceship.
Seldon smiled internally. A foolish fantasy.
The elevator quivered slightly, which remind Seldon of Hummin's forebodings of Galactic decay. Leggen, along with the other men and one of the women, seemed frozen and waiting, as though they had suspended thought as well as activity until they could get out, but Clowzia kept glancing at him as though she found him terribly impressive.
Seldon leaned close and whispered to her (he hesitated to disturb the others), "Are we going up very high?"
"High?" she repeated. She spoke in a normal voice, apparently not feeling that the others required silence. She seemed very young and it occurred to Seldon that she was probably an undergraduate. An apprentice, perhaps.
"We're taking a long time. Upperside must be many stories high in the air."
For a moment, she looked puzzled. Then, "Oh no. Not high at all. We started very deep. The University is at a low level. We use a great deal of energy and if we're quite deep, the energy costs are lower."
Leggen said, "All right. We're here. Let's get the equipment out."
The elevator stopped with a small shudder and the wide door slid open rapidly. The temperature dropped at once and Seldon thrust his hands into his pockets and was very glad he had a sweater on. A cold wind stirred his hair and it occurred to him that he would have found a hat useful and, even as he thought that, Leggen pulled something out of a fold in his sweater, snapped it open, and put it on his head. The others did the same.
Only Clowzia hesitated. She paused just before she put hers on, then offered it to Seldon.
Seldon shook his head. "I can't take your hat, Clowzia."
"Go ahead. I have long hair and it's pretty thick. Yours is short and a little... thin."
Seldon would have liked to deny that firmly and at another time he would have. Now, however, he took the hat and mumbled, "Thank you. If your head gets cold, I'll give it back."
Maybe she wasn't so young. It was her round face, almost a baby face. And now that she had called attention to her hair, he could see that it was a charming russet shade. He had never seen hair quite like that on Helicon.
Outside it was cloudy, as it had been the time he was taken across open country to the Palace. It was considerably colder than it had been then, but he assumed that was because they were six weeks farther into winter. The clouds were thicker than they had been on the earlier occasion and the day was distinctly darker and threatening-or was it just closer to night? Surely, they wouldn't come up to do important work without leaving themselves an ample period of daylight to do it in. Or did they expect to take very little time? He would have liked to have asked, but it occurred to him that they might not like questions at this time. All of them seemed to be in states varying from excitement to anger.
Seldon inspected his surroundings.
He was standing on something that he thought might be dull metal from the sound it made when he surreptitiously thumped his foot down on it. It was not bare metal, however. When he walked, he left footprints. The surface was clearly covered by dust or fine sand or clay. Well, why not? There could scarcely be anyone coming up here to dust the place. He bent down to pinch up some of the matter out of curiosity.
Clowzia had come up to him. She noticed what he was doing and said, with the air of a housewife caught at an embarrassing negligence, "We do sweep hereabouts for the sake of the instruments. It's much worse most places Upperside, but it really doesn't matter. It makes for insulation, you know."
Seldon grunted and continued to look about. There was no chance of understanding the instruments that looked as though they were growing out of the thin soil (if one could call it that). He hadn't the faintest idea of what they were or what they measured.
Leggen was walking toward him. He was picking up his feet and putting them down gingerly and it occurred to Seldon that he was doing so to avoid jarring the instruments. He made a mental note to walk that way himself.
"You! Seldon!"
Seldon didn't quite like the tone of voice. He replied coolly, "Yes, Dr. Leggen?"
"Well, Dr. Seldon, then." He said it impatiently. "That little fellow Randa told me you are a mathematician."
"That's right."
"A good one?"
"I'd like to think so, but it's a hard thing to guarantee."
"And you're interested in intractable problems?"
Seldon said feelingly, "I'm stuck with one."
"I'm stuck with another. You're free to look about. If you have any questions, our intern, Clowzia, will help out. You might be able to help us."
"I would be delighted to, but I know nothing about meteorology."
"That's all right, Seldon. I just want you to get a feel for this thing and then I'd like to discuss my mathematics, such as it is."
"I'm at your service."
Leggen turned away, his long scowling face looking grim. Then he turned back. "If you get cold-too cold-the elevator door is open. You just step in and touch the spot marked; UNIVERSITY BASE. It will take you down and the elevator will then return to us automatically. Clowzia will show you-if you forget."