October the 10th, 2010

Hooray for October the 10th, 2010! That’s right, it’s 10/10/10. That’s the largest reason I am posting; I want to memorialize this day! Now onto the body of the post.

I mentioned the science-as-religion in the kingdoms in my last post, and that comes greatly into play in this one. Hardin was able to repel the attack through the use of this religion. Shortly after the prince regent on Anacreon ordered the launching of the navy, Hardin gave his own order. He had all the power shut down on Anacreon (which was fueled by nuclear plants under watch of the priests), except in the temples. Happening during the prince’s coronation, it gave the appearance that the “Galactic Spirit” had abandoned the planet.

Meanwhile, on the Imperial cruiser, the priest activated an ultra wave relay after a speech about how he was cursing the ship for attacking the seat of the religion, Terminus. With the soldiers on the ship fervently following him, he forces the captain to state that he would use the ship to blow up the palace if the attack was not called off.

Anacreon and the other kingdoms are then forced to sign similar treaties that give Terminus power over all of them. Hardin’s popularity for this effectively destroys any chance of the separate political party ousting him.

The hologram of Hari Seldon then returns again, on the 80th anniversary of the Foundation. He warns them against overconfidence.

Skipping into the future again (the number of years has not been said), we find Limmar Ponyets, a trader, trying to save his friend, Gorov (who is a spy for the Foundation), from being executed on Askone on charge of attempting to sell atomics. This is necessary for the Foundation to establish their religion on Askone, which would eventually give them the same sort of power they have over the four kingdoms.

I left them off as Ponyets was attempting to sell transmuted (from iron) gold (valued on Askone in the future as it is now on Earth) to the Grand Master of the planet. He’s having difficulty because of the atomic nature of the transmutation, but the Ponyets is trying to pitch to the Grand Master that any “black magic” in the nature of the gold would surely be overcome if it was used as a tribute to the spirits (ancestor worship is currently prevalent on Askone).

I left off on page 148.

The biggest surprise for me in this section was that Hardin remained in power. I had expected the rival group to succeed, just as Hardin had done when faced with the Encyclopedists (which is the name of one chapter; the last one was The Mayors (referring to Hardin) and the one I’m currently on is The Traders (referring to the space faring traders that sell atomic products)).
Other than pointing out that humanity finally got alchemy right (even if it’s iron and not lead), I’m fresh out of ideas. Not to mention the possibility that it’s just gold paint.