Chapter 6

Mayor Hardin  chewed at the  end of his cigar.  It had gone out  but he waspast noticing that. He hadn't slept the night before and he had a good ideathat   he  wouldn't  sleep   this  coming   night.  His  eyes   showed  it.
He said wearily, "And that covers it?""I  think so."  Yohan Lee  put a  hand to  his chin.  "How does  it sound?""Not too bad. It's got to be done, you understand, with impudence. That is,there is to be no hesitation; no time to allow them to grasp the situation.
Once we are in a position to give orders, why, give them as though you wereborn  to do  so, and  they'll obey out  of habit.  That's the essence  of acoup.""If the Board remains irresolute for even ?
"The Board? Count them out. After tomorrow, their importance as a factor inTerminus affairs won't matter a rusty half-credit."Lee nodded slowly. "Yet  it is strange that they've done nothing to stop usso far. You say they weren't entirely in the dark.""Fara stumbles at the  edges of the problem. Sometimes he makes me nervous.
And Pirenne's been suspicious of me since I was elected. But, you see, theynever had  the capacity  of really understanding  what was up.  Their wholetraining  has been  authoritarian.  They are  sure that  the  Emperor, justbecause  he is  the Emperor, is  all-powerful. And  they are sure  that theBoard of Trustees, simply because it is the Board of Trustees acting in thename of  the Emperor,  cannot be in a  position where it does  not give theorders. That incapacity to  recognize the possibility of revolt is our bestally."He heaved  out of his chair and went to the  water cooler. "They're not badfellows, Lee,  when they stick to  their Encyclopedia ?and  we'll see thatthat's where they stick  in the future. They're hopelessly incompetent whenit comes  to ruling Terminus. Go away now and  start things rolling. I wantto be alone."He  sat down  on the  comer of  his desk  and stared  at the cup  of water.
Space! If only he  were as confident as he pretended! The Anacreonians werelanding in  two days  and what had  he to go  on but  a set of  notions andhalf-guesses as  to what  Had Seldon had  been driving at  these past fiftyyears?  He wasn't  even a  real, honest-to-goodness  psychologist ? just afumbler with a little  training trying to outguess the greatest mind of theage.
If  Fara were  fight;  if Anacreon  were all  the  problem Hari  Seldon hadforeseen; if  the Encyclopedia were  all he was interested  in preserving ?
then what price coup d'閠at?
He shrugged and drank his water.