"But six months, six months, in the enemy Base, with nothing to show for it." Devers' strong hands clasped each other tautly, so that his knuckles cracked. "Nothing to show for it!"
"Well, now, wait. You remind me-" Barr fumbled in his pouch. "You might want to count this." And he tossed the small sphere of metal on the table.
Devers snatched it. "What is it?"
"The message capsule. The one that Riose received just before I jacked him. Does that count as something?"
"I don't know. Depends on what's in it!" Devers sat down and turned it over carefully in his hand.
When Barr stepped from his cold shower and, gratefully, into the mild warm current of the air dryer, he found Devers silent and absorbed at the workbench.
The Siwennian slapped his body with a sharp rhythm and spoke above the punctuating sounds. "What are you doing?"
Devers looked up. Droplets of perspiration glittered in his beard. "I'm going to open this capsule."
"Can you open it without Riose's personal characteristic?" There was mild surprise in the Siwennian's voice.
"If I can't, I'll resign from the Association and never skipper a ship for what's left of my life. I've got a three-way electronic analysis of the interior now, and I've got little jiggers that the Empire never heard of, especially made for jimmying capsules. I've been a burglar before this, y'know. A trader has to be something of everything."
He bent low over the little sphere, and a small flat instrument probed delicately and sparked redly at each fleeting contact.
He said, "This capsule is a crude job, anyway. These Imperial boys are no shakes at this small work. I can see that. Ever see a Foundation capsule? It's half the size and impervious to electronic analysis in the first place."
And then he was rigid, the shoulder muscles beneath his tunic tautening visibly. His tiny probe pressed slowly-
It was noiseless when it came, but Devers; relaxed and sighed. In his hand was the shining sphere with its message unrolled like a parchment tongue.
"It's from Brodrig," he said. Then, with contempt, "The message medium is permanent. In a Foundation capsule, the message would be oxidized to gas within the minute."
But Ducem Barr waved him silent. He read the message quickly.
FROM: AMMEL BRODRIG, ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, PRIVY SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL, AND PEER OF THE REALM.
TO: BEL RIOSE, MILITARY GOVERNOR OF SIWENNA. GENERAL OF THE IMPERIAL FORCES, AND PEER OF THE REALM. I GREET YOU.
PLANET #1120 NO LONGER RESISTS. THE PLANS OF OFFENSE AS OUTLINED CONTINUE SMOOTHLY. THE ENEMY WEAKENS VISIBLY AND THE ULTIMATE ENDS IN VIEW WILL SURELY BE GAINED.
Barr raised his head from the almost microscopic print and cried bitterly, "The fool! The forsaken blasted fop! That a message?"
"Huh?" said Devers. He was vaguely disappointed.
"It says nothing," ground out Barr. "Our lick-spittle courtier is playing at general now. With Riose away, he is the field commander and must sooth his paltry spirit by spewing out his pompous reports concerning military affairs he has nothing to do with. 'So-and-so planet no longer resists.' 'The offensive moves on.' 'The enemy weakens.' The vacuum-headed peacock."
"Well, now, wait a minute. Hold on-"
"Throw it away." The old man turned away in mortification. "The Galaxy knows I never expected it to be world-shakingly important, but in wartime it is reasonable to assume that even the most routine order left undelivered might hamper military movements and lead to complications later. It's why I snatched it. But this! Better to have left it. It would have wasted a minute of Riose's time that will now be put to more constructive use."
But Devers had arisen. "Will you hold on and stop throwing your weight around? For Seldon's sake-"
He held out the sliver of message before Barr's nose, "Now read that again. What does he mean by 'ultimate ends in view'?"
"The conquest of the Foundation. Well?"
"Yes? And maybe he means the conquest of the Empire. You know he believes that to be the ultimate end."
"And if he does?"
"If he does!" Devers' one-sided smile was lost in his beard. "Why, watch then, and I'll show you."
With one finger the lavishly monogrammed sheet of message-parchment was thrust back into its slot. With a soft twang, it disappeared and the globe was a smooth, unbroken whole again. Somewhere inside was the tiny oiled whir of the controls as they lost their setting by random movements.
"Now there is no known way of opening this capsule without knowledge of Riose's personal characteristic, is there?"
"To the Empire, no," said Barr.
"Then the evidence it contains is unknown to us and absolutely authentic."
"To the Empire, yes," said Barr.
"And the Emperor can open it, can't he? Personal Characteristics of Government officials must be on file. We keep records of our officials at the Foundation."
"At the Imperial capital as well," agreed Barr.
"Then when you, a Siwennian patrician and Peer of the Realm, tell this Cleon, this Emperor, that his favorite tame-parrot and his shiniest general are getting together to knock him over, and hand him the capsule as evidence, what will he think Brodrig's 'ultimate ends' are?"
Barr sat down weakly. "Wait, I don't follow you." He stroked one thin cheek, and said, "You're not really serious, are you?"
"I am." Devers was angrily excited. "Listen, nine out of the last ten Emperors got their throats cut, or their gizzards blasted out by one or another of their generals with bigtime notions in their heads. You told me that yourself more than once. Old man Emperor would believe us so fast it would make Riose's head swim."