Sunday, January 26, 2020
British Airways Marketing Mix
British Airways Marketing Mix British Airways plc (LSE: BAY) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. The headquater of Britsh Airways is situated in Waterside near by its core London Heathrow Airport and BA is the biggest air commuter carrier on the based of swift, and long distance flights. The second main airport after heathrow is Gatwick airport, from where British Airways offers short haul flights. The British Airways Group was bring into existance through Labour Government on 1st of September 1974 through. The existance of BA was due to the alliance of two biggest London-based air passenger carriers, BOAC and BEA, and with the two comparatively quite small local airlines, Cambrian Airways Cardiff and Northeast Airlines Newcastle upon Tyne. All of these four originally separate companies finally got dissolved on 31 March 1974 to form British Airways (BA) and then after thirteen years, in February 1987, the company got privatised. Later on British Airways got expanded by acquiring British Caledonian in 1988 and then Gatwick-based carrier Dan-Air in 1992. British Airways is the major and biggest buyer of boeing aircrafts.and in November 1998 British Airways placed its first main order of 89 A320 crafts.and then the second largest order was placed In 2007 for starting their long distance flights. The centrepiece of the airlines the long-haul fleet being the Boeing 747-400; with 54 examples. Now British Airways is counted as the largest operator of the type in the world. Richard Bransons established Virgin Atlantic in 1984 and after that Virgin Atlantic begin a rigid and tense relationship with British Airways . In 1993 British Airways apologised Virgin Atlantic without urguing on compaign against Virgin Atlantic. This was the first time in airline industry that any airline was penalised for damaging the reputation of other airline and so Britsh Airways had paid damages to them. But British Airways still stayed as a biggest airline till 2008 on the base of large number of customers which was around 35.7 million passengers . But later on Easy Jet get the tittle of carrying maximum customer in the same year which was around 44.5 million. British Airways got listed on the London Stock Exchange 2001 with FTSE of 100 index. On 12 November 2009, British Airways announced its alliance with the largest spain based airline called Iberia Airlines. This newly combined airline will make BA worlds third-largest carrier (Delta Airlines at number one ranking and American Airlines standing on second number) in terms of annual revenue. Literature Review 2. Marketing:- The American Marketing Association defines marketing as the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. So it can be said that marketing is getting the right product to the right people at the right price at the right time. 2.1. Marketing concept:- Marketing concept means the ways an organization should adopt to maximise their profits by fulfilling the needs of their customer groups. This marketing concept is very straight forward and that is why it has a great deal of commonsense validity. The effective marketing starts right with the identification and appreciation of customers needs and expectations and then working backwards to develop such products and/or services to satisfy their customers needs and or demands. The basic task of the marketing function operating under the marketing concept is not to manipulate customers to do what suits the interests of the firm, but rather to find effective and efficient means of making the business do what suits the interests of its customers. It does not mean that all firms practice marketing in this ideal way. However efficient as well effective marketing as defined here requires that consumers needs should be kept first in organizational decision-making process. 2.2. Marketing Objectives Growth in market share Clearer product differentiation Long term brand value to customers Creating and launching new products / services Innovation 2.3. Marketing Strategies Marketing Strategies are the means by which marketing objectives can be achieved and generally can be remembered as 7Ps (also known as Marketing Mix) are as follows: Price Product Place Promotion Customer Satisfaction Processes Physical evidence People Marketing Strategies of British Airways get fit into the marketing mix as:- Product: On the basis of BA high class products (services they provide their customers) they are awarded with official 4 stars ranking. Price: As far as pricing strategy of BA is concerned Officials of British Airways strongly, categorically and confidently address their customers to book their tickets online with full confidence at BA.com and if they ever find lower rates than British airways (anywhere online) they commit to refund all the difference, even if they make the booking online. Promotion: British Airways is famous for introducing different kinds of vouchers and discounted coupons for their customers. They always seem offering discount voucher codes to their customers even if they are not the club members (but requires a simple registration only once with them). They also offer special rewards and benefits in terms of long/ short holiday packages not only for cheaper flights but for rented cars as well (in order to make their customers more happy and loyal towards their integrated services). The only thing customer is supposed to do is just collecting the BA miles points by flying with them or with any of the partner airlines and by staying in selected hotels and also by rented cars. All adding to customers points towards getting more and more points. Place: British Airways having a vast network of flights across the globe serves destinations across all the six major continents including almost 371 destinations. Though main hub of British Airways is at London Heathrow airport but British Airways also operates a majority of their flights at London Gatwick Airport. Previously British Airways used to have its main hub in Manchester Airport which later on moved to London Heathrow. 3. Environmental Analysis of British Airways 3.1. SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis is a measure to audit an organization and its environment (internal and/or external). It is assumed as the first stage of planning and ultimately helps marketers to specifiaclly focus on the key issues facing that organization. SWOT analysis is comprises of four different factors strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are basically meant to represent internal environment of an organization while on the other opportunities and threats are considered as external factors directly or indirectly influencing business of the organization. (S)trengths            Strength of British Airways is its Brand and rated as a first new speedy airline,specially purchased to promise comfortable travelling of passengers. This strategy was introduced by keeping an eye on customer complaints. previously received by the fleet used by British Airways in the past. The magnitude of Airways operations allows them on pro over all of their competitors by giving high class services to a far more wider variety of customers.            Moreover, on the basis of knowledge and skills, BA operational research department claims that analytical skills performed by the members of the company and its employees are its strengths. Their strong customer focus further develops expertise in customer service areas in terms of purchasing high-end software for the air services and wide selection of it further enhance the organisation strength on compititors. (W)eaknesses            Britsh Airway is always great criticised on their poor marketing strategies which is one of the worst weeknesses of the airline which have had a bad impact on customer satisfaction. Despite the great infrastructure owned by the company, BA still needs to introduce and carry out better market schemes in order to attract more customers. Hence, a separate competitive package for customer service must be introduced in order to make the current service somewhat more attractive towards its clients, further prompting an opportunity of earning larger amounts of revenues. Morever limited knowledge about simulation software and its development is also reflects airline weeknesses. (O)pportunities            The rapid changing in techonologies and innovation in product , would implemented on the right time could be a great opportunity. As it is rightly said that the global changes can be considered and utilised as an opportunity to work with, while ignoring certain opportunities can be considered a weakness. In BA, virtual reality and appreciation of these opportunities could definately provide new sources for simulation and/or obtaining network softwares and ultimtely sharing expertise by means of special interest/focused groups. So opportunities derived from such kind of common thinking can really be utilized to further strengthen the companys business.            Technological trends further opens doors for new opportunities in terms of various business domains, (however, if it is taken for granted), opportunities can either be a treated as a threat or as a weakness as well. In order to promote global trends would be a greater chance for the organisation. (T)hreats            It is not really important that threats would be external it can be external. Internal threats as seen in management are not only the centralized but a bureaucratic system and above all poor decision-making really adds fuel to fire. Moreover, the companys focus on national and local problems pose a threat since much more problems which company seems to neglect can be easliy appreciated in the global scheme. It neglects the global problems instead focusing deeply on the national and/or local levels. The global problems greatly offer tremendous threats if and when companies will ignore such. Moreover, globalization can be an opportunity and strength but at the same time can also be considered as a threat if not to be keen and vigilant of its tricks and treachery. Further, rapid changes on technology and customers behavior (in accordance to their demands) can also be a threat if interpret ed mistakenly. 3.2 PESTEL Analysis A PEST analysis is a business measurement tool, looking at factors external to the organization. PESTLE is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, factors. These factors are generally used to assess the market for any business or organizational unit. The PEST analysis points present as a framework for reviewing a situation, and can also be used to review organiztions current strategy or position, direction of a company, its marketing proposition and /or idea. There are many variants on this model including PESTLE analysis. (P)olitical and (L)egal Factors Political factor does effect any organisation in certain ways if the appropriate step will not taken to resolve . The incident of 7/11 left security threat for the airline industry as well ,due to this kind of activity will effect the government stability . If we talk about war in Iraq does prove that country is in crisis or instable.So due to these kind of accidents athourities has to imposed more strick strick legislation which evryone has to follow. Recently legislation athourites has placed amended important regulations in airline industry which create opportunities and increase the competition as well. The most important legal factor which effects British Airways were the strikes called by union leaders and recently they announced one more call of strike in coming summer, well BA always stayed in the news either the issues raised by union or it is plane crash but these events have bad impact on the potential customers. (E)conomic Factors Economical factors are very important while doing external analysis because if the price of fuel gone up does effect airline. According to recent survey the average spending on travel is dramatically goes down due to global crisis. Many of the organisation working on cost effective soltutions and try to use alternates instead of spending more.The demand for air travel is characterised by very high income elasticity. Usuall fuel prices goes parallel to the value of $ dollar and the exchange rate or lower value of sterling will also effect airline industry. Due to the political instability in Iraq has effect the fuel prices and these price get record higher which add  £100 million in BAs budget. (S)ocial Factors The effect of social factor on trading is different for different countries but still this factor is considerable in growth and development of airline.So BA need to trained their staff on demographic changes. Recently in channel 4 they mentioned that the average people over than 50s do frequent travells as compared to young generation so, British Airways need to make such tempting strategies which brings more customers of this age . (T)echnology BA does around 57000 surveys every month to get best knowledge what their customers want and expect from them. Almost third of airline booking are now made online that again signifies presence of high class technology. With almost half of all Europe from UK site. Travellers can have access to their bookings or any changes via their mobile phones even. They can check-in and also access real time arrival and departure information with online system. This system is definitely saving their time as well as money of travellers and company. (E)nvironmental In Enviornmental analysis British Airways is focusing on climate change because this issue keep more value rather then others and on other hand new legislation on enviornment does efffect the company growth . British Airways have introduced programme on change of climate which has four core areas. Green Scheme Carbon emission Fuel consumption Noise pollution In March 2009 company carbon offset scheme became first ever airline offset product to meet the requirements of the UK Governments Quality Assurance Scheme. Company targets to reduce company net CO2 emission by 50% far by 2050. Meeting this target will require intense investment in terms of newer technology, appropriate bio-jet fuels and in cost-effective emissions reductions in other sectors of the economy by the creation of new effective global carbon trading markets. Company continue to look for newer ways to improve fuel efficiency and most surprisingly over 600 projects have been assessed so far of these 55 have been implemented successfully. 4. Market Analysis OF British Airways:- The main focus of Brtish Airways is on transportation but they also providing freight forwarding and leisure to their customers. Market of Britsh Airways has increased to 5.7% in 2009 which allow them to reach  £9.2 billion. Airline is considered as a most comfort medium of transport. In 2009 the ration of short distance flights was very high which gain 72.9% of the market. Currently other airlines acquiring maximum share of the short distance flight market because of cost effective.But these airlines still have a threat from the fuel prices. 4.1. Competitor Analysis The competition in airline industry is getting boom now if we compared this market with the past market, because now customers has more choice in terms of luxury, cost effectiveand many others. British Airways has two different marketing competitiotrs one based on short distance or at national level where as the other competitors are for international flights operating world wide. According to these two markets British Airways has keeping two different standards like national level flights are cost effective and very economical where as for international flight BAs has entirely different enviornment on the base of luxury,price and other aspects.. Therefore, BA seem competing on a global, European, national as well as on regional scales. New planes, new routes, additional (frequent) flights and management changes are all factors that promise an improved business. Such changes made by competitors need constant monitoring in order for BA to examine its current position and to develop future strategies. 4.2. Customer Analysis Shaw (2004) addresses what he calls the most fundamental and commonest mistakes made in airline marketing failure to make a proper distinction between the Consumer and the Customer. Consumers are the people who actually travel and avail the service however it is important that BA consider customers, as they are the decision makers. This is important in both consumer markets as well as in industrial markets. BAs customers can be found differ enormously in terms of their buying behaviour. Not only they differ in terms of their age, income, educational levels and geographic location but more fundamentally in BAs case in terms of their lifestyles and expectations which are influenced by many factors. BA also operates in an industrial market which differs in buying behaviour that can further be exhibited by the formality of BAs purchasing policies, their delivery dates and their expected and actual performance. Over the last few years increasing complexity in customer needs has been appreciated, as the customers have become more educated and demanding due to this following changes have occurred. A shift in demographic to older passengers rather Increased global connectivity ultimately allowing the customers more frequent usage of internet and search mediums (in terms of comparison of services, prices and general layout. Well maintained up to date data on company websites further make decision easier for the customers). Increased requirement of convenience (new destination, quick check-in, in flight service/ entertainment etc). Price no doubts remains more of priority. All bits of major and minor egments have become more defined within their needs. Evidence that British Airways is failing to respond to the changing customer landscape includes: The amount of BA customers recommending their services reduced from 61% in 2006/7 to 59% in 2007/8 (British Airways 2008). BA have been criticised for innovation (Doganis,2006, Pg 165). Poor reliability and baggage handling (AQR) Failed attempts to target the price conscious consumer through low cost airline operation (Eirma,2008). 5. Branding A name, term, sign, symbol, memo, design or a combination of all intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and at the same time to differentiate them from those of competitors. 5.1. Scope of Branding Branding creates a mental structure which helps consumers to organise their knowledge about the product or the service in such a way that clarifies their decision more in order to make appropriate decision ultimately providing positive value to the firm. British Airways brand value stresses to ensure that all behaviours and communication should properly reflect the qualities of their brand. Any sponsorship by them must get fit in with these values. Brand values of British Airways are: Safe and secure Professional Warm Thoughtful Responsible British. As a global company they are interested in working with other companies with the purpose of reaching far international audiences. 5.2. Brand Crisis Analysis: Early investigation shows that the British Airways get more damaged due to disaster in terminal. A Disturbance in Public relation occured due to disorgansed management , lack of strategy in marketing, and the events of the past few days blighted BAs brand for years. The problems at T5 hit 100% of the brand, all over the world. Then there is the very specific damage done to BAs brand equity. At the heart of its positioning are reassurance and reliability, making it peculiarly vulnerable to a debacle like that of T5. In branding terms, there is a world of difference between inconsistency and contradiction. BA is found facing the mother of all contradictions, which was further exaggerated by the coverage of international media. But this was favourable for international passenger carrier to shatter the compaign based on Scheduled-BBH- created brand building. But the unfavourable covering left bad reputation of brand on customer expeirence, on the other hand this will lead to Britsh Airways This, however, leaves the brand facing a torrent of negative coverage and a black mark on pass engers experiences, without any possible injection of brand equity in the predictable future. BAs poor strategy of marketing really effected the Brand. Few days before British Airways adverise that the Terminal 5 would be the future of airline to just create attention of customers. The image of BA chief Willie Walsh, arms outstretched, gushing, I think its great and its going to get better. This is a hundred times better than anything else at Heathrow, has been etched in the annals of PR blunders. Aside from undermining Walsh and his tenure as chief executive, this has compounded a huge damage to the brand name of BA. Britsh Airwayss have contigency plan for the worst situation whereas skillful and Public relation staff is not possible to managed. British Airways is always staying in the news wheather it was plane aircrash or some thing different. Like few months before an air craft was crashed and this news stay on news channel for long four days. The dilemma of Britsh Airways is not finished yet like loss of 15,000 bags of customers still missing, 10% of scheduled flights were canceled and no positive assurance that these problems are ssorted . So,in the end there is no point to claimed that British Airways is out from the crisis. A last weeken aspect is the issue on British Airways staff. One day higher offical of terminal 5 Gareth KirkwoodUnlike T5 boss Gareth Kirkwood, who usually around with praetorian come forward recklessly infront of media reporters for announcement but later on he moved back to his office before answering to the questions asked by media. When senior supervisors or managers are not around they want staff to deal annoyed passengers, even one of the union leader issue a statement in which he requesting customers that do not use harsh words for British Airways employees. British Airways announced terminal 5 as an favorable circumstances for their employeed but on the other hand prospect in its employer br and strategy to manage staff is quite weaken. Morever the major weak point for British Airways is its unfortunately weak chief executive; the terminal which will stay open for ages is destroyed at initial stages. Furthermore the Brand name of leading airline getting damaged in front of interntaional customers. 6. Customer Relation Management CRM is the development and maintenance of mutually beneficial long-term relationships with strategically significant customers (Buttle, 2000). CRM is an IT enhanced value process, which identifies, develops, integrates and focuses the various competencies of the firm to the voice of the customer in order to deliver long-term superior customer value, at a profit to well identified existing and potential customers.(Plakoyiannaki and Tzokas, 2001). 6.1.Customer loyalty: The term customer loyalty is used to describe the behaviour of customers/their tendency to come to same service or product again. In terms of air travel industry companies offering good ratings, reviews, or testimonials definitely have a strong impact on customers choice. Customers referring others to the same service they get satisfied really add to marketing of the company with absolutely no cost. By praising a service or in other words offering favourable word of mouth publicity regarding a product, telling friends and family, adding them to the number of loyal customers ultimately adds to the profitability of the company. British Airways is to announce a shift in strategy by providing passengers not only cheap fares but also providing them the access to luxury airport lounges and other benefits through their new loyalty schemes. The British Airways Executive Club is not just another frequent flyer programme. It has been designed not only to recognise but also reward business travellers every time they fly. The airline is responding to the slump in business travel during the recession by offering frequent flyers the elite membership of its Executive Club even sometime in a year to those passengers as well, buying discounted economy tickets. Previously, only passengers on expensive fares could earn Tier Points needed for Gold or Silver membership which opens the doors to world-class facilities for them, including its  £60 million Galleries lounges at Heathrows Terminal 5 featuring champagne bars and free fine dining etc. But now company introduces certain packages for the less frequent or short flight passengers as well, though they can avail its benefits in certain times not in the whole year like frequent flyers. 7. E-Marketing E-marketing means using digital technologies (newer and improved) to help sell ones goods or services. These technologies are definitely a valuable complement to traditional marketing methods whatever the size of the company or business model actually has. 7.1. E-Marketing Strategies:- Electronic sources- Internet, mobile, itv Interactive media Personalized communication service Global reach Cost efficiency Easy access Targeting right audience Branding Measurability 7.2. E-Marketing Tools Websites- easy to use, content specific, simple design SMS/ texting through mobile Email strategy Sell the product Speak to customers Serve people Save time Sizzle and extend brand identity The use of e-marketing strategies allows organisations like BA to approach customers at their convenience and improved convenience and quality of their services adding to positive word of mouth, ultimately better profitability. British Airways has announced its newly friendly user website, and promote this website as a planning tool for their customers to maximise their online business nad made it tempted for the customers who preffer to do online bookings and travel planning . As a Brand online bookings and travell planning is a far easy way of communication for its customers. British Airways spend more than around $180 million in developing and maintaining the websites which reflects a straight and simple version in context of online operations so in result the largest airline received customer satisfaction. Britsh Airways has always been focusing customer for their creativity and improvement.Rob McDonald leading staff of Britsh Airways said in a statement That website is not only cost and time effective , the extensive operation on new websites also allow the customer to get more control regarding time management, money and deliver them best travel experience on board. In addition he said that we are trying to devlop more smart website so customer can easily grasp information regarding their proposed travels, furthermore he said that we know our customer needs and to fullfil them is our priority. Online booking system through British Airways website has increased massively from 2001, customer getting awareness day by day and they do prefer online bookings rather then pop in to travel agent. The ratio of online booking in 2001 is just 3% but now it increased to 20% which is comparatively 7 times higher then before. Similarly overall worldwide revenue is also increased which is twice from the last 2 years and on other hand revenue for Asia Pacific region is five time higher then before so these online transaction system increased the company revenue. As a leading brand in global international airline market, aircrafts of British Airways landed on the runways to almost more than 200 destinations almost all over the worldand from which half of the flights are the worlds largest international passenger airline, British Airways plcs planes touch down daily on runways almost everywhere from Tehran to Lagos to Bogota. About half of its flights are across an ocean and most of the flights fly to US. British Airways marketing department has launched various email marketing strategies especially for the loyal customers who travels on long haul flights and introduced a niche website to maximise their online trasactions. Conclusion: British Airways as a leading international airline has to work hard and need improvement on their marketing strategy. The poor marketing strategy have always bad impact on company growth. I have analysed that British Airways need to improve marketing strategy to gain maximum customer loyalty. Furthermore British Airways is really effected due to global financial crisis, so to handle this situation Britsh Airways need to develop such marketing stratagies to get competitive advantage. Morever the new legislations imposed by the athourities on enviornment, noise pollution have direct and indirect impact on the airline. Britsh Airways need to target older people over 50s because they often travel and planned journeys so they would be potential customer. Britsh Airways is planning to introduce more rewards for frequent travellers. In addition British Airways has a threat for their short haul flights from Easy Jet because Easy Jet is cost effective for short haul flights so britsh airways should develop competitive stratagy to sustain in airline industry.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Alienation and the Search for Identity
Modernist literature reached its peak between 1900 and 1920’s. Alienation was one of its characteristic themes. Described as either the separation from the self or from the world, alienation, soon, will drive an individual to look for his/her niche in this world. The concept of alienation will be examined through the literary works of Frost, Hemingway, and Hurston. Robert Frost was known for his works depicting realities of rural life. This, he clearly portrayed in his poem Out, Out. The title was elicited from the end of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player.That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. We see here in Macbeth and in Out, Out the fragility and the seemingly insignificance of life. Life was taken and it was gone in the world. Frost used narrative to create a clear and objective picture of each event in Out, Out. This poem illustrates the difficulty of life in farmlands. The poem begins with the introduction of the snarling and rattling sound of the buzz saw. It implies the danger it can bring to anyone near it, most especially to the boy operating it.The scene was described as beautiful and pleasing. From the yard was the view of five mountain ranges, each one behind the other. The family and the scene seemed to be the world in which the boy’s life revolved around with. Nonetheless, the family was too busy too relish all these. Soon, the boy’s sister was finished preparing supper. When she summoned everyone to eat, the boy lost attention of what he was doing and the saw accidentally cut through his hands. The boy knew too well that even though he was young, he was fulfilling an important role in the family.He foresees a grave future if loses his hand and so he tells her sister to tell the doctor not to cut his hands out. It was seen that the boy was more con cerned with his responsibility in the family than his self. If he loses his hand, he knows that he will be of great burden to his family. He will feel alienated from the family who does hard work everyday. By the end of the poem, the boy dies after the removal of his hand and this served to be his escape from estrangement. His family, on the other hand, since they were alive, continued with their concerns.Earnest Hemingway is known for his simple and short sentences bearing complex ideas. One of his classic short stories is Hills Like White Elephant whose main theme revolved around the conflict between the intentions of two people. The story occurred beside a train station in the Ebro River valley in Spain. Hemingway used the third person point of view limiting the readers to read the thoughts of the main characters. Through the exchange of words between the American and the woman named Jig, the readers will soon realize the issue that they were discussing.Aside from the discussion, the use of symbolism enhanced the mood of the story and complemented the words spoken and feelings of the main characters, especially those of Jig. The story begins with the description of the scene: ‘.. there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Here, the opposing directions suggest that one is in the midst of perplexity and is needed to decide before long. Following this, the two main characters were introduced. Through their dialogue, it was implied that the characters were discussing about abortion.The day grew hotter which indicated the pressure that builds within the characters. The narrator describes the observation of Jig: The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees. The natural imagery f ormed leads the readers to Jig’s emotions. She sees her current state as the fertile field along the river.On the other hand, in the shadow of the clouds across the field, she sees the despondency abortion will bring to her life. The American wants Jig to pursue abortion so that he can continue with his senseless life of drinking and relentless travelling. Jig, conversely, prefers to deviate from the usual and start settling down. Jig knows what she wants but feels having no sense of self-government. It is as if the American has the last say for whatever she does to her own body. Jig may have her reasons for these. The story concludes with the couple waiting for their train turning up in five minutes.Zora Neale Hurston is a renowned anthropologist and writer of African-American Literature. Her short story Sweat is about a strong woman who has endured fifteen years of hardship from his husband Syke. The story is in narrative form and the use of the third person point of view j ust like the two other literary works mentioned above, created an impartial and rich picture of the scene and the characters. The use of symbolism and allusion provided added meaning to the dialogues. Delia Jones was described as a hardworking woman who worked all week to be able to earn a little.She had been able to put up their house and provide for herself and her husband. She was the representation of goodness in the story while Syke, her husband was the image of evil. Syke was brutal to his wife; he wanted Delia dead so that he could remarry. The townspeople knew what Delia was going through but they remained indifferent. Nothing could help Delia but herself. Her unyielding faith in God had kept her moving on each day of her life. One day, Syke brought home a box containing a six-foot rattlesnake. Delia was furious. Her husband wanted to scare her to death; it pleased him when he sees her terrified.One day the same snake will be the one to reap the life of Syke. Syke was drunk and did not know that the snake escaped from the box. He jumped to the bed where the snake was and it all happened. The snake bit him and then he died. Those fifteen years of marriage and suffering from Syke came to an end. After years of being separated from herself and the world, she was finally free. Free from brutality and distress; she was alive again. She can have what was left of herself and start a new life. Syke’s death served as the solution to Delia’s seclusion from herself and the world. The death of one brought back the life of the other.In the works of Frost, Hemingway, and Hurston, the use of the narrative form and the third person point of view were observed as to have enhanced the ideas presented. Symbolism and the use of figures of speech paired with the dialogues between characters have enabled readers to see the thoughts of the protagonists. In these three literary works, alienation brought the same feelings to the person affected. Fear and wretched ness were felt by the boy in Out, Out; by Jig in Hills Like White Elephant; and by Delia in Sweat. Their lives and decisions are influenced by the world that surrounds them.Both the boy and Delia were able to escape alienation. It was through death that they were able to avoid the feeling of nothingness. In the case of Jig, Hemingway gave the reader the opportunity to conclude the story. Would death be the key for this one, too? References: Frost, Robert. 1916. . Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†. 1927. May 31 2009. . Hurston, Zora Neale. â€Å"Sweat†. 1926. .
Friday, January 10, 2020
Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER EIGHTEEN COLLISION
COLLISION Stor Gendibal was edging toward Gaia almost as cautiously as Trevize had – and now that its star was a perceptible disc and could be viewed only through strong filters, he paused to consider. Sura Novi sat to one side, looking up at him now and then in a timorous manner. She said softly, â€Å"Master?†â€Å"What is it, Novi?†he asked abstractedly. â€Å"Are you unhappy?†He looked up at her quickly. â€Å"No. Concerned. Remember that word? I am trying to decide whether to move in quickly or to wait longer. Shall I be very brave, Novi?†â€Å"I think you are very brave all times, Master.†â€Å"To be very brave is sometimes to be foolish.†Novi smiled. â€Å"How can a master scholar be foolish? – That is a sun, is it not, Master?†She pointed to the screen. Gendibal nodded. Novi said, after an irresolute pause, â€Å"Is it the sun that shines on Trantor? Is it the Hamish sun?†Gendibal said, â€Å"No, Novi. It is a far different sun. There are many suns, billions of them.†â€Å"Ah! I had known this with my head. I could not make myself believe, however. How is it, Master, that one can know with the head – and yet not believe?†Gendibal smiled faintly, â€Å"In your head, Novi†¦Ã¢â‚¬ he began and, automatically, as he said that, he found himself in her head. He stroked it gently, as he always did, when he found himself there just a soothing touch of mental tendrils to keep her calm and untroubled – and he would then have left again, as he always did, had not something drawn him back. What he sensed was indescribable in any but mentalic terms but, metaphorically, Novi's brain glowed. It was the faintest possible glow. It would not be there except for the existence of a mentalic field imposed from without – a mentalic field of an intensity so small that the finest receiving function of Gendibal's own well-trained mind could just barely detect it, even against the utter smoothness of Novi's mentalic structure. He said sharply, â€Å"Novi, how do you feel?†Her eyes opened wide. â€Å"I feel well, Master.†â€Å"Are you dizzy, confused? Close your eyes and sit absolutely still until I say, ‘Now.†Obediently she closed her eyes. Carefully Gendibal brushed away all extraneous sensations from her mind, quieted her thought, soothed her emotions, stroked – stroked. He left nothing but the glow and it was so faint that he could almost persuade himself it was not there. â€Å"Now,†he said and Novi opened her eyes. â€Å"How do you feel, Novi?†â€Å"Very calm, Master. Rested.†It was clearly too feeble for it to have any noticeable effect on her. He turned to the computer and wrestled with it. He had to admit to himself that he and the computer did not mesh very well together. Perhaps it was because he was too used to using his mind directly to be able to work through an intermediary. But he was looking for a ship, not a mind, and the initial search could be done more efficiently with the help of the computer. And he found the sort of ship he suspected might be present. It was half a million kilometers away and it was much like his own in design, but it was much larger and more elaborate. Once it was located with the computer's help, Gendibal could allow his mind to take over directly. He sent it outward – tightbeamed – and with it felt (or the mentalic equivalent of â€Å"felt†) the ship, inside and out. He then sent his mind toward the planet Gaia, approaching it more closely by several millions of kilometers of space – and withdrew. Neither process was sufficient in itself to tell him, unmistakably, which – if either – was the source of the field. He said, â€Å"Novi, I would like you to sit next to me for what is to follow.†â€Å"Master, is there danger?†â€Å"You are not to be in any way concerned, Novi. I will see to it that you are safe and secure.†â€Å"Master, I am not concerned that I be safe and secure. If there is danger, I want to be able to help you.†Gendibal softened. He said, â€Å"Novi, you have already helped. Because of you, I became aware of a very small thing it was important to be aware of. Without you, I might have blundered rather deeply into a bog and might have had to pull out only through a great deal of trouble.†â€Å"Have I done this with my mind, Master, as you once explained?†asked Novi, astonished. â€Å"Quite so, Novi. No instrument could have been more sensitive. My own mind is not; it is too full of complexity.†Delight filled Novi's face. â€Å"I am so grateful I can help.†Gendibal smiled and nodded – and then subsided into the somber knowledge that he would need other help as well. Something childish within him objected. The job was his – his alone. Yet it could not be his alone. The odds were climbing – On Trantor, Quindor Shandess felt the responsibility of First Speakerhood resting upon him with a suffocating weight. Since Gendibal's ship had vanished into the darkness beyond the atmosphere, he had called no meetings of the Table. He had been lost in his own thoughts. Had it been wise to allow Gendibal to go off on his Own? Gendibal was brilliant, but not so brilliant that it left no room for overconfidence. Gendibal's great fault was arrogance, as Shandess's own great fault (he thought bitterly) was the weariness of age. Over and over again, it occurred to him that the precedent of Preem Palver, flitting over the Galaxy to set things right, was a dangerous one. Could anyone else be a Preem Palver? Even Gendibal? And Palver had had his wife with him. To be sure, Gendibal had this Hamishwoman, but she was of no consequence. Palver's wife had been a Speaker in her own right. Shandess felt himself aging from day to day as he waited for word from Gendibal – and with each day that word did not come, he felt an increasing tension. It should have been a fleet of ships, a flotilla. No. The Table would not have allowed it. And yet. When the call finally came, he was asleep – an exhausted sleep that was bringing him no relief. The night had been windy and he had had trouble falling asleep to begin with. Like a child, he had imagined voices in the wind. His last thoughts before falling into an exhausted slumber had been a wistful building of the fancy of resignation, a wish be could do so together with the knowledge he could not, for at this moment Delarmi would succeed him. And then the call came and he sat up in bed, instantly awake. â€Å"You are well?†he said. â€Å"Perfectly well, First Speaker,†said Gendibal. â€Å"Should we have visual connection for more condensed communication?†â€Å"Later, perhaps,†said Shandess. â€Å"First, what is the situation?†Gendibal spoke carefully, for he sensed the other's recent arousal and he perceived a deep weariness. He said, â€Å"I am in the neighborhood of an inhabited planet called Gaia, whose existence is not hinted at in any of the Galactic records, as far as I know.†â€Å"The world of those who have been working to perfect the Plan? The Anti-Mules?†â€Å"Possibly, First Speaker. There is the reason to think so. First, the ship bearing Trevize and Pelorat has moved far in toward Gaia and has probably landed there. Second, there is, in space, about half a million kilometers from me, a First Foundation warship.†â€Å"There cannot be this much interest for no reason.†â€Å"First Speaker, this may not be independent interest. I am here only because I am following Trevize – and the warship may be here for the same reason. It remains only to be asked why Trevize is here.†â€Å"Do you plan to follow him in toward the planet, Speaker?†â€Å"I had considered that a possibility, but something has come up. I am now a hundred million kilometers from Gaia and I sense in the space about me a mentalic field – a homogeneous one that is excessively faint. I would not have been aware of it at all, but for the focusing effect of the mind of the Hainishwoman. It is an unusual mind; I agreed to take her with me for that very purpose.†â€Å"You were right, then, in supposing it would be so. Did Speaker Delarmi know this, do you think?†â€Å"When she urged me to take the woman? I scarcely think so – but I gladly took advantage of it, First Speaker.†â€Å"I am pleased that you did. Is it your opinion, Speaker Gendibal, that the planet is the focus of the field?†â€Å"To ascertain that, I would have to take measurements at widely spaced points in order to see if there is a general spherical symmetry to the field. My unidirectional mental probe made this seem likely but not certain. Yet it would not be wise to investigate further in the presence of the First Foundation warship.†â€Å"Surely it is no threat.†â€Å"It may be. I cannot as yet be sure that it is not itself the focus of the field, First Speaker.†â€Å"But they†¦Ã¢â‚¬ â€Å"First Speaker, with respect, allow me to interrupt. We do not know what technological advances the First Foundation has made. They are acting with a strange self-confidence and may have unpleasant surprises for us. It must be decided whether they have learned to handle mentalics by means of some of their devices. In short, First Speaker, I am facing either a warship of mentalics or a planet of them. â€Å"If it is the warship, then the mentalics may be far too weak to immobilize me, but they might be enough to slow me – and the purely physical weapons on the warship may then suffice to destroy me. On the other hand, if it is the planet that is the focus, then to have the field detectable at such a distance could mean enormous intensity at the surface – more than even I can handle. â€Å"In either case, it will be necessary to set up a network – a total network – in which, at need, the full resources of Trantor can be placed at my disposal.†The First Speaker hesitated. â€Å"A total network. This has never been used, never even suggested – except in the time of the Mule.†â€Å"This crisis may well be even greater than that of the Mule, First Speaker.†â€Å"I do not know that the Table would agree.†â€Å"I do not think you should ask them to agree, First Speaker. You should invoke a state of emergency.†â€Å"What excuse can I give?†â€Å"Tell them what I have told you, First Speaker.†â€Å"Speaker Delarmi will say that you are an incompetent coward, driven to madness by your own fears.†Gendibal paused before answering. Then he said, â€Å"I imagine she will say something like that, First Speaker, but let her say whatever she likes and I will survive it. What is at stake now is not my pride or self-love but the actual existence of the Second Foundation.†Harla Branno smiled grimly, her lined face setting more deeply into its fleshy crags. She said, â€Å"I think we can push on with it. I'm ready for them.†Kodell said, â€Å"Do you still feel sure you know what you're doing?†â€Å"If I were as mad as you pretend you think I am, Liono, would you have insisted on remaining on this ship with me?†Kodell shrugged and said, â€Å"Probably. I would then be here on the off chance, Madam Mayor, that I might stop you, divert you, at least slow you, before you went too far. And, of course, if you're not mad†¦Ã¢â‚¬ â€Å"Yes?†– â€Å"Why, then I wouldn't want to have the histories of the future give you all the mention. Let them state that I was here with you and wonder, perhaps, to whom the credit really belongs, eh, Mayor?†â€Å"Clever, Liono, clever – but quite futile. I was the power behind the throne through too many Mayoralties for anyone to believe I would permit such a phenomenon in my own administration.†â€Å"We shall see.†â€Å"No, we won't, for such historical judgments will come after we are dead. However, I have no fears. Not about my place in history and not about that,†and she pointed to the screen. â€Å"Compor's ship,†said Kodell. â€Å"Compor's ship, true,†said Branno, â€Å"but without Compor aboard. One of our scoutships observed the changeover. Compor's ship was stopped by another. Two people from the other ship boarded that one and Compor later moved off and entered the other.†Branno rubbed her hands. â€Å"Trevize fulfilled his role perfectly. I cast him out into space in order that he might serve as lightning rod and so he did. He drew the lightning. The ship that stopped Compor was Second Foundation.†â€Å"How can you be sure of that, I wonder?†said Kodell, taking out his pipe and slowly beginning to pack it with tobacco. â€Å"Because I always wondered if Compor might not be under Second Foundation control. His life was too smooth. Things always broke right for him – and he was such an expert at hyperspatial tracking. His betrayal of Trevize might easily have been the simple politics of an ambitious man – but he did it with such unnecessary thoroughness, as though there were more than personal ambition to it.†â€Å"All guesswork, Mayor.†â€Å"The guesswork stopped when he followed Trevize through multiple Jumps as easily as if there had been but one.†â€Å"He had the computer to help, Mayor.†But Branno leaned her head back and laughed. â€Å"My dear Liono, you are so busy devising intricate plots that you forget the efficacy of simple procedures. I sent Compor to follow Trevize, not because I needed to have Trevize followed. What need was there for that? Trevize, however much he might want to keep his movements secret, could not help but call attention to himself in any non-Foundation world he visited. His advanced Foundation vessel – his strong Terminus accent – his Foundation credits – would automatically surround him with a glow of notoriety. And in case of any emergency, he would automatically turn to Foundation officials for help, as he did on Sayshell, where we knew all that he did as soon as he did it and quite independently of Compor. â€Å"No,†she went on thoughtfully, â€Å"Compor was sent out to test Compor. And that succeeded, for we gave him a defective computer quite deliberately; not one that was defective enough to make the ship unmaneuverable, but certainly one that was insufficiently agile to aid him in following a multiple Jump. Yet Compor managed that without trouble.†â€Å"I see there's a great deal you don't tell me, Mayor, until you decide you ought to.†â€Å"I only keep those matters from you, Liono, that it will not hurt you not to know. I admire you and I use you, but there are sharp limits to my trust, as there is in yours for me – and please don't bother to deny it.†â€Å"I won't,†said Kodell dryly, â€Å"and someday, Mayor, I will take the liberty of reminding you of that. – Meanwhile, is there anything else that I ought to know now? What is the nature of the ship that stopped them? Surely, if Compor is Second Foundation, so was that ship.†â€Å"It is always a pleasure to speak to you, Liono. You see things quickly. The Second Foundation, you see, doesn't bother to hide its tracks. It has defenses that it relies on to make those tracks invisible, even when they are not. It would never occur to a Second Foundationer to use a ship of alien manufacture, even if they knew how neatly we could identify the origin of a ship from the pattern of its energy use. They could always remove that knowledge from any mind that had gained it, so why bother taking the trouble to hide? Well, our scout ship was able to determine the origin of the ship that approached Compor within minutes of sighting it.†â€Å"And now the Second Foundation will wipe that knowledge from our minds, I suppose.†â€Å"If they can,†said Branno, â€Å"but they may find that things have changed.†Kodell said, â€Å"Earlier you said you knew where the Second Foundation was. You would take care of Gaia first, then Trantor. I deduce from this that the other ship was of Trantorian origin.†â€Å"You suppose correctly. Are you surprised?†Kodell shook his head slowly. â€Å"Not in hindsight. Ebling Mis, Toran Darell and Bayta Darell were all on Trantor during the period when the Mule was stopped. Arkady Darell, Bayta's granddaughter, was born on Trantor and was on Trantor again when the Second Foundation was itself supposedly stopped. In her account of events, there is a Preem Palver who played a key role, appearing at convenient times, and he was a Trantorian trader. I should think it was obvious that the Second Foundation was on Trantor, where, incidentally, Hari Seldon himself lived at the time he founded both Foundations.†â€Å"Quite obvious, except that no one ever suggested the possibility. The Second Foundation saw to that. It is what I meant when I said they didn't have to cover their tracks, when they could so easily arrange to have no one look in the direction of those tracks – or wipe out the memory of those tracks after they had been seen.†Kodell said, â€Å"In that case, let us not look too quickly in the direction in which they may simply be wanting us to look. How is it, do you suppose, that Trevize was able to decide the Second Foundation existed? Why didn't the Second Foundation stop him?†Branno held up her gnarled fingers and counted on them. â€Å"First, Trevize is a very unusual man who, for all his obstreperous inability to use caution, has something about him that I have not been able to penetrate. He may be a special case. Second, the Second Foundation was not entirely ignorant. Compor was on Trevize's tail at once and reported him to me. I was relied on to stop Trevize without the Second Foundation having to risk open involvement. Third, when I didn't quite react as expected – no execution, no imprisonment, no memory erasure, no Psychic Probe of his brain – when I merely sent him out into space, the Second Foundation went further. They made the direct move of sending one of their own ships after him.†And she added with tight-lipped pleasure, â€Å"Oh, excellent lightning rod.†Kodell said, â€Å"And our next move?†â€Å"We are going to challenge that Second Foundationer we now face. In fact, we're moving toward him rather sedately right now.†Gendibal and Novi sat together, side by side, watching the screen. Novi was frightened. To Gendibal, that was quite apparent, as was the fact that she was desperately trying to fight off that fright. Nor could Gendibal do anything to help her in her struggle, for he did not think it wise to touch her mind at this moment, lest he obscure the response she displayed to the feeble mentalic field that surrounded them. The Foundation warship was approaching slowly – but deliberately. It was a large warship, with a crew of perhaps as many as six, judging from past experience with Foundation ships. Her weapons, Gendibal was certain, would be sufficient in themselves to hold off and, if necessary, wipe out a fleet made up of every ship available to the Second Foundation – if those ships had to rely on physical force alone. As it was, the advance of the warship, even against a single ship manned by a Second Foundationer, allowed certain conclusions to be drawn. Even if the ship possessed mentalic ability, it would not be likely to advance into the teeth of the Second Foundation in this manner. More likely, it was advancing out of ignorance – and this might exist in any of several degrees. It could mean that the captain of the warship was not aware that Compor had been replaced, or – if aware – did not know the replacement was a Second Foundationer, or perhaps was not even aware what a Second Foundationer might be. Or (and Gendibal intended to consider everything) what if the ship did possess mentalic force and, nevertheless, advanced in this self-confident manner? That could only mean it was under the control of a megalomaniac or that it possessed powers far beyond any that Gendibal could bring himself to consider possible. But what he considered possible was not the final judgment. Carefully he sensed Novi's mind. Novi could not sense mentalic fields consciously, whereas Gendibal, of course, could – yet Gendibal's mind could not do so as delicately or detect as feeble a mental field as could Novi's. This was a paradox that would have to be studied in future and might produce fruit that would in the long run prove of far greater importance than the immediate problem of an approaching spaceship. Gendibal had grasped the possibility of this, intuitively, when he first became aware of the unusual smoothness and symmetry of Novi's mind – and he felt a somber pride in this intuitive ability he possessed. Speakers had always been proud of their intuitive powers, but how much was this the product of their inability to measure fields by straightforward physical methods and their failure, therefore, to understand what it was that they really did? It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word â€Å"intuition.†And how much of this ignorance of theirs might arise from their underestimation of the importance of physics as compared to mentalics? And how much of that was blind pride? When he became First Speaker, Gendibal thought, this would change. There would have to be some narrowing of the physical gap between the Foundations. The Second Foundation could not face forever the possibility of destruction any time the mentalic monopoly slipped even slightly. – Indeed, the monopoly might be slipping now. Perhaps the First Foundation had advanced or there was an alliance between the First Foundation and the Anti-Mules. (That thought occurred to him now for the first time and he shivered.) His thoughts on the subject slipped through his mind with a rapidity common to a Speaker – and while he was thinking, he also remained sensitively aware of the glow in Novi's mind, the response to the gently pervasive mentalic field about them. It was not growing stronger as the Foundation warship drew nearer. This was not, in itself, an absolute indication that the warship was not equipped with mentalics. It was well known that the mentalic field did not obey the inverse-square law. It did not grow stronger precisely as the square of the extent to which distance between emitter and receiver lessened. It differed in this way from the electromagnetic and the gravitational fields. Still, although mentalic fields varied less with distance than the various physical fields did, it was not altogether insensitive to distance, either. The response of Novi's mind should show a detectable increase as the warship approached – some increase. (How was it that no Second Foundationer in five centuries – from Hari Seldon on – had ever thought of working out a mathematical relationship between mentalic intensity and distance? This shrugging off of physics must and would stop, Gendibal silently vowed.) If the warship possessed mentalics and if it felt quite certain it was approaching a Second Foundationer, would it not increase the intensity of its field to maximum before advancing? And in that case, would not Novi's mind surely register an increased response of some kind? – Yet it did not! Confidently Gendibal eliminated the possibility that the warship possessed mentalics. It was advancing out of ignorance and, as a menace, it could be downgraded. The mentalic field, of course, still existed, but it had to originate on Gaia. This was disturbing enough, but the immediate problem was the ship. Let that be eliminated and he could then turn his attention to the world of the Anti-Mules. He waited. The warship would make some move or it would come close enough for him to feel confident that he could pass over to an effective offense. The warship still approached – quite rapidly now – and still did nothing. Finally Gendibal calculated that the strength of his push would be sufficient. There would be no pain, scarcely any discomfort – all those on board would merely find that the large muscles of their backs and limbs would respond but sluggishly to their desires. Gendibal narrowed the mentalic field controlled by his mind. It intensified and leaped across the gap between the ships at the speed of light. (The two ships were close enough to make hyperspatial contact – with its inevitable loss of precision – unnecessary.) And Gendibal then fell back in numbed surprise. The Foundation warship was possessed of an efficient mentalic shield that gained in density in proportion as his own field gained in intensity. – The warship was not approaching out of ignorance after all – and it had an unexpected if passive weapon. â€Å"Ah,†said Branno. â€Å"He has attempted an attack, Liono. See!†The needle on the psychometer moved and trembled in its irregular rise. The development of the mentalic shield had occupied Foundation scientists for a hundred and twenty years in the most secret of all scientific projects, except perhaps for Hari Seldon's lone development of psychohistorical analysis. Five generations of human beings had labored in the gradual improvement of a device backed by no satisfactory theory. But no advance would have been possible without the invention of the psychometer that could act as a guide, indicating the direction and amount of advance at every stage. No one could explain how it worked, yet all indications were that it measured the immeasurable and gave numbers to the indescribable. Branno had the feeling (shared by some of the scientists themselves) that if ever the Foundation could explain the workings of the psychometer, they would be the equal of the Second Foundation in mind control. But that was for the future. At present, the shield would have to be enough, backed as it was by an overwhelming preponderance in physical weapons. Branno sent out the message, delivered in a male voice from which all overtones of emotion had been removed, till it was flat and deadly. â€Å"Calling the ship Bright Star and its occupants. You have forcibly taken a ship of the Navy of the Foundation Federation in an act of piracy. You are directed to surrender the ship and yourselves at once or face attack.†The answer came in natural voice: â€Å"Mayor Branno of Terminus, I know you are on the ship. The Bright Star was not taken by piratical action. I was freely invited on board by its legal captain, Munn Li Compor of Terminus. I ask a period of truce that we may discuss matters of importance to each of us alike.†Kodell whispered to Branno, â€Å"Let me do the speaking, Mayor.†She raised her arm contemptuously, â€Å"The responsibility is mine, Liono.†Adjusting the transmitter, she spoke in tones scarcely less forceful and unemotional than the artificial voice that had spoken before: â€Å"Man of the Second Foundation, understand your position. If you do not surrender forthwith, we can blow your ship out of space in the time it takes light to travel from our ship to yours – and we are ready to do that. Nor will we lose by doing this, for you have no knowledge for which we need keep you alive. We know you are from Trantor and, once we have dealt with you, we will be ready to deal with Trantor. We are willing to allow you a period in which to have your say, but since you cannot have much of worth to tell us, we are not prepared to listen long.†â€Å"In that case,†said Gendibal, â€Å"let me speak quickly and to the point. Your shield is not perfect and cannot be. You have overestimated it and underestimated me. I can handle your mind and control it. Not as easily, perhaps, as if there were no shield, but easily enough. The instant you attempt to use any weapon, I will strike you – and there is this for you to understand: Without a shield, I can handle your mind smoothly and do it no harm. With the shield, however, I must smash through, which I can do, and I will be unable then to handle you either smoothly or deftly. Your mind will be as smashed as the shield and the effect will be irreversible. In other words, you cannot stop me and I, on the other hand, can stop you by being forced to do worse than killing you. I will leave you a mindless hulk. Do you wish to risk that?†Branno said, â€Å"You know you cannot do as you say.†â€Å"Do you, then, wish to risk the consequences I have described?†asked Gendibal with an air of cool indifference. Kodell leaned over and whispered, â€Å"For Seldon's sake, Mayor†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Gendibal said (not exactly at once, for it took light – and everything at light-speed – a little over one second to travel from one vessel to the other), â€Å"I follow your thoughts, Kodell. No need to whisper. I also follow the Mayor's thoughts. She is irresolute, so you have no need to panic just yet. And the mere fact that I know this is ample evidence that your shield leaks.†â€Å"It can be strengthened,†said the Mayor defiantly. â€Å"So can my mentalic force,†said Gendibal. â€Å"But I sit here at my ease, consuming merely physical energy to maintain the shield, and I have enough to maintain that shield for very long periods of time. You must use mentalic energy to penetrate the shield and you will tire.†â€Å"I am not tired,†said Gendibal. â€Å"At the present moment, neither of you is capable of giving any order to any member of the crew of your ship or to any crewman on any other ship. I can manage so much without any harm to you, but do not make any unusual effort to escape this control, for if I match that by increasing my own force, as I will have to do, you will be damaged as I have said.†â€Å"I will wait,†said Branno, placing her hands in her lap with every sign of solid patience. â€Å"You will tire and when you do, the orders that will go out will not be to destroy you, for you will then be harmless. The orders will be to send the main Foundation Fleet against Trantor. If you wish to save your world – surrender. A second orgy of destruction will not leave your organization untouched, as the first one did at the time of the Great Sack.†â€Å"Don't you see that if I feel myself tiring, Mayor, which I won't, I can save my world very simply by destroying you before my strength to do so is gone?†â€Å"You won't do that. Your main task is to maintain the Seldon Plan. To destroy the Mayor of Terminus and thus to strike a blow at the prestige and confidence of the First Foundation, producing a staggering setback to its power and encouraging its enemies everywhere, will produce such a disruption to the Plan that it will be almost as bad for you as the destruction of Trantor. You might as well surrender.†â€Å"Are you willing to gamble on my reluctance to destroy you?†Branno's chest heaved as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She then said firmly, â€Å"Yes!†Kodell, sitting at her side, paled. Gendibal stared at the figure of Branno, superimposed upon the volume of room just in front of the wall. It was a little flickery and hazy thanks to the interference of the shield. The man next to her was almost featureless with haze, for Gendibal had no energy to waste on him. He had to concentrate on the Mayor. To be sure, she had no image of him in return. She had no way of knowing that he too had a companion, for instance. She could make no judgment from his expressions, from his body language. In this respect, she was at a disadvantage. Everything he had said was true. He could smash her at the cost of an enormous expenditure of mentalic force – and in so doing, he could scarcely avoid disrupting her mind irreparably. Yet everything she had said was true as well. Destroying her would damage the Plan as much as the Mule himself had damaged it. Indeed, the new damage might be more serious, since it was now later in the game and there would be less time to retrieve the misstep. Worse still, there was Gaia, which was still an unknown quantity – with its mentalic field remaining at the faint and tantalizing edge of detection. For a moment, he touched Novi's mind to make sure that the flow was still there. It was, and it was unchanged. She could not have sensed that touch in any way, but she turned to him and in an awed whisper said, â€Å"Master, there is a faint mist there. Is it to that you talk?†She must have sensed the mist through the small connection between their two minds. Gendibal put a finger to his lips. â€Å"Have no fear, Novi. Close your eyes and rest.†He raised his voice. â€Å"Mayor Branno, your gamble is a good one in this respect. I do not wish to destroy you at once, since I think that if I explain something to you, you will listen to reason and there will then be no need to destroy in either direction. â€Å"Suppose, Mayor, that you win out and that I surrender. What follows? In an orgy of self-confidence and in undue reliance on your mentalic shield, you and your successors will attempt to spread your power over the Galaxy with undue haste. In doing so, you will actually postpone the establishment of the Second Empire, because you will also destroy the Seldon Plan.†Branno said, â€Å"I am not surprised that you do not wish to destroy me at once and I think that, as you sit there, you will be forced to realize that you do not dare to destroy me at all.†Gendibal said, â€Å"Do not deceive yourself with self-congratulatory folly. Listen to me. The majority of the Galaxy is still non-Foundation and, to a great extent, anti-Foundation. There are even portions of the Foundation Federation itself that have not forgotten their days of independence. If the Foundation moves too quickly in the wake of my surrender, it will deprive the rest of the Galaxy of its greatest weakness – its disunity and indecision. You will force them to unite by fear and you will feed the tendency toward rebellion within.†â€Å"You are threatening with clubs of straw,†said Branno. â€Å"We have the power to win easily against all enemies, even if every world in the non-Foundation Galaxy combined against us, and even if these were helped by a rebellion in half the worlds of the Federation itself. There would be no problem.†â€Å"No immediate problem, Mayor. Do not make the mistake of seeing only the results that appear at once. You can establish a Second Empire merely by proclaiming it, but you will not be able to maintain it. You will have to reconquer it every ten years.†â€Å"Then we will do so until the worlds tire, as you are tiring.†â€Å"They will not tire, any more than I will. Nor will the process continue for a very long time, for there is a second and greater danger to the Pseudo-Empire you would proclaim. Since it can be temporarily maintained only by an ever-stronger military force which will be ever-exercised, the generals of the Foundation will, for the first time, become more important and more powerful than the civilian authorities. The Pseudo-Empire will break up into military regions within which individual commanders will be supreme. There will be anarchy – and a slide back into a barbarism that may last longer than the thirty thousand years forecast by Seldon before the Seldon Plan was implemented.†â€Å"Childish threats. Even if the mathematics of the Seldon Plan predicted all this, it predicts only probabilities – not inevitabilities.†â€Å"Mayor Branno,†said Gendibal earnestly. â€Å"Forget the Seldon Plan. You do not understand its mathematics and you cannot visualize its pattern. But you do not have to, perhaps. You are a tested politician; and a successful one, to judge from the post you hold; even more so, a courageous one, to judge from the gamble you are now taking. Therefore, use your political acumen. Consider the political and military history of humanity and consider it in the light of what you know of human nature – of the manner in which people, politicians, and military officers act, react, and interact – and see if I'm not right.†Branno said, â€Å"Even if you were right, Second Foundationer, it is a risk we must take. With proper leadership and with continuing technological advance – in mentalics, as well as in physics – we can overcome. Hari Seldon never calculated such advances properly. He couldn't. Where in the Plan does it allow for the development of a mentalic shield by the First Foundation? Why should we want the Plan, in any case? We will risk founding a new Empire without it. Failure without it would, after all, be better than success with it. We do not want an Empire in which we play puppets to the hidden manipulators of the Second Foundation.†â€Å"You say that only because you do not understand what failure will be like for the people of the Galaxy.†â€Å"Perhaps!†said Branno stonily. â€Å"Are you beginning to weary, Second Foundationer?†â€Å"Not at all. – Let me propose an alternative action that you have not considered – one in which I need not surrender to you, nor you to me. – We are in the vicinity of a planet called Gaia.†â€Å"I am aware of that.†â€Å"Are you aware that it was probably the birthplace of the Mule?†â€Å"I would want more evidence than resides in your mere statement to that effect.†â€Å"The planet is surrounded by a mentalic field. It is the home of many Mules. If you accomplish your dream of destroying the Second Foundation, you will make yourselves the slaves of this planet of Mules. What harm have Second Foundationers ever done you specific, rather than imagined or theorized harm? Now ask yourself what harm a single Mule has done you.†â€Å"I still have nothing more than your statements.†â€Å"As long as we remain here, I can give you nothing more. – I propose a truce, therefore. Keep your shield up, if you don't trust me, but be prepared to co-operate with me. Let us, together, approach this planet – and when you are convinced that it is dangerous, then I will nullify its mentalic field and you will order your ships to take possession of it.†â€Å"And then?†â€Å"And then, at least, it will be the First Foundation against the Second Foundation, with no outside forces to be considered. The fight will then be clear whereas now, you see, we dare not fight, for both Foundations are at bay.†â€Å"Why did you not say this before?†â€Å"I thought I might convince you that we were not enemies, so that we might co-operate. Since I have apparently failed at that, I suggest co-operation in any case.†Branno paused, her head bent in thought. Then she said, â€Å"You are trying to put me to sleep with lullabies. How will you, by yourself, nullify the mentalic field of a whole planet of Mules? The thought is so ludicrous that I cannot trust in the truth of your proposition.†â€Å"I am not alone,†said Gendibal. â€Å"Behind me is the full force of the Second Foundation – and that force, channeled through me, will take care of Gaia. ‘What's more, it can, at any time, brush aside your shield as though it were thin fog.†â€Å"If so, why do you need my help?†â€Å"First, because nullifying the field is not enough. The Second Foundation cannot devote itself, now and forever, to the eternal task of nullifying, any more than I can spend the rest of my life dancing this conversational minuet with you. We need the physical action your ships can supply. – And besides, if I cannot convince you by reason that the two Foundations should look upon each other as allies, perhaps a co-operative venture of the greatest importance can be convincing. Deeds may do the job where words fail.†A second silence and then Branno said, â€Å"I am willing to approach Gaia more closely, if we can approach co-operatively. I make no promises beyond that.†â€Å"That will be enough,†said Gendibal, leaning toward his computer. Novi said, â€Å"No, Master, up to this point, it didn't matter, but please make no further move. We must wait for Councilman Trevize of Terminus.â€
Thursday, January 2, 2020
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