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.Or (and Gendibal intended to consider everything) what if theship did possess mentalic force and, nevertheless, advanced in thisself-confident manner? That could only mean it was under the control of amegalomaniac or that it possessed powers far beyond any that Gendibal couldbring himself to consider possible.But what he considered possible was not the final judgment--Carefully he sensed Novi s mind.Novi could not sense mentalicfields consciously, whereas Gendibal, of course, could--yet Gendibal s mindcould not do so as delicately or detect as feeble a mental field as couldNovi s.This was a paradox that would have to be studied in future and mightproduce fruit that would in the long run prove of far greater importance thanthe immediate problem of an approaching spaceship.Page 263 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlGendibal had grasped the possibility of this, intuitively,when he first became aware of the unusual smoothness and symmetry of Novi smind--and he felt a somber pride in this intuitive ability he possessed.Speakers had always been proud of their intuitive powers, but how much wasthis the product of their inability to measure fields by straightforwardphysical methods and their failure, therefore, to understand what it was thatthey really did? It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word intuition. And how much of this ignorance of theirs might arise from theirunderestimation of the importance of physics as compared to mentalics?And how much ofthat was blind pride? When he became FirstSpeaker, Gendibal thought, this would change.There would have to be somenarrowing of the physical gap between the Foundations.The Second Foundationcould not face forever the possibility of destruction any time the mentalicmonopoly slipped even slightly.--Indeed, the monopoly might be slipping now.Perhaps theFirst Foundation had advanced or there was an alliance between the FirstFoundation and the Anti-Mules.(That thought occurred to him now for the firsttime and he shivered.)His thoughts on the subject slipped through his mind with arapidity common to a Speaker--and while he was thinking, he also remainedsensitively aware of the glow in Novi s mind, the response to the gentlypervasive mentalic field about them.It wasnot growing stronger as theFoundation warship drew nearer.This was not, in itself, an absolute indication that thewarship was not equipped with mentalics.It was well known that the mentalicfield did not obey the inverse-square law.It did not grow stronger preciselyas the square of the extent to which distance between emitter and receiverlessened.It differed in this way from the electromagnetic and thegravitational fields.Still, although mentalic fields varied less withdistance than the various physical fields did, it was not altogetherinsensitive to distance, either.The response of Novi s mind should show adetectable increase as the warship approached--someincrease.(How was it that no Second Foundationer in fivecenturies--from Hari Seldon on--had ever thought of working out a mathematicalrelationship between mentalic intensity and distance? This shrugging off ofphysics must and would stop, Gendibal silently vowed.)If the warship possessed mentalics and if it felt quitecertain it was approaching a Second Foundationer, would it not increase theintensity of its field to maximum before advancing? And in that case, wouldnot Novi s mindsurely register an increased response of some kind?--Yet it did not!Confidently Gendibal eliminated the possibility that thewarship possessed mentalics.It was advancing out of ignorance and, as amenace, it could be downgraded.The mentalic field, of course, still existed, but it had tooriginate on Gaia.This was disturbing enough, but the immediate problem wasthe ship.Let that be eliminated and he could then turn his attention to theworld of the Anti-Mules.He waited.The warship would make some move or it would comeclose enough for him to feel confident that he could pass over to an effectivePage 264 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmloffense.The warship still approached--quite rapidly now--and still didnothing.Finally Gendibal calculated that the strength of his push would besufficient.There would be no pain, scarcely any discomfort --all those onboard would merely find that the large muscles of their backs and limbs wouldrespond 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 oflight.(The two ships were close enough to make hyperspatial contact--with itsinevitable loss of precision--unnecessary.)And Gendibal then fell back in numbed surprise.The Foundation warship was possessed of an efficient mentalicshield that gained in density in proportion as his own field gained inintensity.--The warship was not approaching out of ignorance after all--andit had an unexpected if passive weapon.5. Ah, said Branno. He has attempted an attack, Liono [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Or (and Gendibal intended to consider everything) what if theship did possess mentalic force and, nevertheless, advanced in thisself-confident manner? That could only mean it was under the control of amegalomaniac or that it possessed powers far beyond any that Gendibal couldbring himself to consider possible.But what he considered possible was not the final judgment--Carefully he sensed Novi s mind.Novi could not sense mentalicfields consciously, whereas Gendibal, of course, could--yet Gendibal s mindcould not do so as delicately or detect as feeble a mental field as couldNovi s.This was a paradox that would have to be studied in future and mightproduce fruit that would in the long run prove of far greater importance thanthe immediate problem of an approaching spaceship.Page 263 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlGendibal had grasped the possibility of this, intuitively,when he first became aware of the unusual smoothness and symmetry of Novi smind--and he felt a somber pride in this intuitive ability he possessed.Speakers had always been proud of their intuitive powers, but how much wasthis the product of their inability to measure fields by straightforwardphysical methods and their failure, therefore, to understand what it was thatthey really did? It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word intuition. And how much of this ignorance of theirs might arise from theirunderestimation of the importance of physics as compared to mentalics?And how much ofthat was blind pride? When he became FirstSpeaker, Gendibal thought, this would change.There would have to be somenarrowing of the physical gap between the Foundations.The Second Foundationcould not face forever the possibility of destruction any time the mentalicmonopoly slipped even slightly.--Indeed, the monopoly might be slipping now.Perhaps theFirst Foundation had advanced or there was an alliance between the FirstFoundation and the Anti-Mules.(That thought occurred to him now for the firsttime and he shivered.)His thoughts on the subject slipped through his mind with arapidity common to a Speaker--and while he was thinking, he also remainedsensitively aware of the glow in Novi s mind, the response to the gentlypervasive mentalic field about them.It wasnot growing stronger as theFoundation warship drew nearer.This was not, in itself, an absolute indication that thewarship was not equipped with mentalics.It was well known that the mentalicfield did not obey the inverse-square law.It did not grow stronger preciselyas the square of the extent to which distance between emitter and receiverlessened.It differed in this way from the electromagnetic and thegravitational fields.Still, although mentalic fields varied less withdistance than the various physical fields did, it was not altogetherinsensitive to distance, either.The response of Novi s mind should show adetectable increase as the warship approached--someincrease.(How was it that no Second Foundationer in fivecenturies--from Hari Seldon on--had ever thought of working out a mathematicalrelationship between mentalic intensity and distance? This shrugging off ofphysics must and would stop, Gendibal silently vowed.)If the warship possessed mentalics and if it felt quitecertain it was approaching a Second Foundationer, would it not increase theintensity of its field to maximum before advancing? And in that case, wouldnot Novi s mindsurely register an increased response of some kind?--Yet it did not!Confidently Gendibal eliminated the possibility that thewarship possessed mentalics.It was advancing out of ignorance and, as amenace, it could be downgraded.The mentalic field, of course, still existed, but it had tooriginate on Gaia.This was disturbing enough, but the immediate problem wasthe ship.Let that be eliminated and he could then turn his attention to theworld of the Anti-Mules.He waited.The warship would make some move or it would comeclose enough for him to feel confident that he could pass over to an effectivePage 264 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmloffense.The warship still approached--quite rapidly now--and still didnothing.Finally Gendibal calculated that the strength of his push would besufficient.There would be no pain, scarcely any discomfort --all those onboard would merely find that the large muscles of their backs and limbs wouldrespond 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 oflight.(The two ships were close enough to make hyperspatial contact--with itsinevitable loss of precision--unnecessary.)And Gendibal then fell back in numbed surprise.The Foundation warship was possessed of an efficient mentalicshield that gained in density in proportion as his own field gained inintensity.--The warship was not approaching out of ignorance after all--andit had an unexpected if passive weapon.5. Ah, said Branno. He has attempted an attack, Liono [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]