"But he didn't go to Trantor."
"No. Quite unexpectedly, he has gone to Sayshell. Why?"
"I don't know. But please forgive an old bloodhound whose duty it is to suspect everything and tell me how you know he and this Pelorat have gone to Sayshell. I know that Compor reports it, but how far can we trust Compor?"
"The hyper-relay tells us that Compor's ship has indeed landed on Sayshell Planet."
"Undoubtedly, but how do you know that Trevize and Pelorat have? Compor may have gone to Sayshell for his own reasons and may not know - or care - where the others are."
"The fact is, that our ambassador on Sayshell has informed us of the arrival of the ship on which we placed Trevize and Pelorat. I am not ready to believe the ship arrived at Sayshell without them. What is more, Compor reports having talked to them and, if he cannot be trusted, we have other reports placing them at Sayshell University, where they consulted with a historian of no particular note."
"None of this," said Kodell mildly, "has reached me."
Branno sniffed. "Do not feel stepped on. I am dealing with this personally and the information has now reached you - with not much in the way of delay, either. The latest news - just received - is from the ambassador. Our lightning rod is moving on. He stayed on Sayshell Planet two days, then left. He is heading for another planetary system, he says, some ten parsecs away. He gave the name and the Galactic co-ordinates of his destination to the ambassador, who passed them on to us."
"Is there anything corroborative from Compor?"
"Compor's message that Trevize and Pelorat have left Sayshell came even before the ambassador's message. Compor has not yet determined where Trevize is going. Presumably he will follow."
Kodell said, "We are missing the why's of the situation." He popped a pastille into his mouth and sucked at it meditatively. "Why did Trevize go to Sayshell? Why did he leave?"
"The question that intrigues me most is: Where? Where is Trevize going?"
"You did say, Mayor, did you not, that he gave the name and coordinates of his destination to the ambassador. Are you implying that he lied to the ambassador? Or that the ambassador is lying to us?"
"Even assuming everyone told the truth all round and that no one made any errors, there is a name that interests me. Trevize told the ambassador he was going to Gaia. That's G-A-I-A. Trevize was careful to spell it."
Kodell said, "Gaia? I never heard of it."
"Indeed? That's not strange." Branno pointed to the spot in the air where the map had been. "Upon the map in this room, I can set up, at a moment's notice, every star - supposedly - around which there circles an inhabited world and many prominent stars with uninhabited systems. Over thirty million stars can be marked out - if I handle the controls properly - in single units, in pairs, in clusters. I can mark them out in any of five different colors, one at a time, or all together. What I cannot do is locate Gaia on the map. As far as the map is concerned, Gaia does not exist."
Kodell said, "For every star the map shows, there are ten thousand it doesn't show."
"Granted, but the stars it doesn't show lack inhabited planets and why would Trevize want to go to an uninhabited planet?"
"Have you tried the Central Computer? It has all three hundred billion Galactic stars listed."
"I've been told it has, but does it? We know very well, you and I, that there are thousands of inhabited planets that have escaped listing on any of our maps - not only on the one in this room, but even on the Central Computer. Gaia is apparently one of them."
Kodell's voice remained calm, even coaxing. "Mayor, there may well be nothing at all to be concerned about. Trevize may be off on a wild goose chase or he may be lying to us and there is no star called Gaia - and no star at all at the co-ordinates he gave us. He is trying to throw us off his scent, now that he has met Compor and perhaps guesses he is being traced."
"How will this throw us off the scent? Compor will still follow. No, Liono, I have another possibility in mind, one with far greater potentiality for trouble. Listen to me..."
She paused and said, "This room is shielded, Liono. Understand that. We cannot be overheard by anyone, so please feel free to speak. And I will speak freely, as well.
"This Gaia is located, if we accept the information, ten parsecs from Sayshell Planet and is therefore part of the Sayshell Union. The Sayshell Union is a well-explored portion of the Galaxy. All its star systems - inhabited or not inhabited - are recorded and the inhabited ones are known in detail. Gaia is the one exception. Inhabited or not, none have heard of it; it is present in no map. Add to this that the Sayshell Union maintains a peculiar state of independence with respect to the Foundation Federation, and did so even with respect to the Mule's former realm. It has been independent since the fall of the Galactic Empire."
"What of all this?" asked Kodell cautiously.
"Surely the two points I have made must be connected. Sayshell incorporates a planetary system that is totally unknown and Sayshell is untouchable. The two cannot be independent. Whatever Gaia is, it protects itself. It sees to it that there is no knowledge of its existence outside its immediate surroundings and it protects those surroundings so that outsiders cannot take over."
"You are telling me, Mayor, that Gaia is the seat of the Second Foundation?"
"I am telling you that Gaia deserves inspection."
"May I mention an odd point that might be difficult to explain by this theory?"
"Please do."