dors venabili had lived on the imperial palace grounds for ten years. as wife of the first minister, she had entry to the grounds and could pass freely from the dome to the open, with her fingerprints as the pass.
in the confusion that followed cleon's assassination, her pass had never been removed and now when, for the first time since that dreadful clay, she wanted to move from the dome into the open spaces of the grounds, she could do so.
she had always known that she could do so easily only once, for, upon discovery, the pass would be canceled-but this was the one time to do it.
there was a sudden darkening of the sky as she moved into the open ;rod she felt a distinct lowering of the temperature. the world under the dome was always kept a little lighter during the night period than natural night would require and was kept a little dimmer during the day period. and, of course, the temperature beneath the dome was always a bit milder than the outdoors.
most trantorians were unaware of this, for they spent their entire lives under the dome. to dors it was expected, but it didn't really matter.
she took the central roadway, into which the dome opened at the site of the dome's edge hotel. it was, of course, brightly lit, so that the darkness of the sky didn't matter at all.
dors knew that she would not advance a hundred meters along the roadway without being stopped, less perhaps in the present paranoid lays of the junta. her alien presence would be detected at once.
nor was she disappointed. a small ground-car skittered up and the guardsman shouted out the window, "what are you doing here? where are you going?"
dors ignored the question and continued to walk.
the guardsman called out, "halt!" then he slammed on the brakes and stepped out of the car, which was exactly what dors had wanted him to do.
the guardsman was holding a blaster loosely in his hand-not threatening to use it, merely demonstrating its existence. he said, "your reference number."
dors said, "i want your car."
"what!" the guardsman sounded outraged. "your reference number. immediately!" and now the blaster came up.
dors said quietly, "you don't need my reference number," then she walked toward the guardsman.
the guardsman took a backward step. "if you don't stop and present your reference number, i'll blast you."
"no! drop your blaster."
the guardsman's lips tightened. his finger began to edge toward the contact, but before he could reach it, he was lost.
he could never describe afterward what happened in any accurate way. all he could say was "how was i to know it was the tiger woman?" (the time came when he would be proud of the encounter.) "she moved so fast, i didn't see exactly what she did or what happened. one moment i was going to shoot her down-i was sure she was some sort of madwoman-and the next thing i knew, i was completely overwhelmed."
dors held the guardsman in a firm grip, the hand with the blaster forced high. she said, "either drop the blaster at once or i will break your arm."
the guardsman felt a kind of death grip around his chest that all but prevented him from breathing. realizing he had no choice, he dropped the blaster.
dors venabili released him, but before the guardsman could make a move to recover, he found himself facing his own blaster in dors's hand.
dors said, "i hope you've left your detectors in place. don't try to report what's happened too quickly. you had better wait and decide what it is you plan to tell your superiors. the fact that an unarmed woman took your blaster and your car may well put an end to your usefulness to the junta."
dors started the car and began to speed down the central roadway. a ten-year stay on the grounds told her exactly where she was going. the car she was in-an official ground-car-was not an alien intrusion into the grounds and would not be picked up as a matter of course. however, she had to take a chance on speed, for she wanted to reach her destination rapidly. she pushed the car to a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour.
the speed, at least, eventually did attract attention. she ignored radioed cries, demanding to know why she was speeding, and before long the car's detectors told her that another ground-car was in hot pursuit.
she knew that there would be a warning sent up ahead and that there would be other ground-cars waiting for her to arrive, but there was little any of them could do, short of trying to blast her out of existence-something apparently no one was willing to try, pending further investigation.
when she reached the building she had been heading for, two ground-cars were waiting for her. she climbed serenely out of her own car and walked toward the entrance.
two men at once stood in her way, obviously astonished that the driver of the speeding car was not a guardsman but a woman dressed in civilian clothes.
"what are you doing here? what was the rush?"
dors said quietly, "important message for colonel header linn."
"is that so?" said the guardsman harshly. there were now four men between her and the entrance. "reference number, please."
dors said, "don't delay me."
"reference number, i said."
"you're wasting my time."
one of the guardsmen said suddenly, "you know who she looks like? the old first minister's wife. dr. venabili. the tiger woman."
there was an odd backward step on the part of all four, but one of them said, "you're under arrest."
"am i?" said dors. "if i'm the tiger woman, you must know that i am considerably stronger than any of you and that my reflexes are considerably faster. let me suggest that all four of you accompany me quietly inside and we'll see what colonel linn has to say."
"you're under arrest" came the repetition and four masters were aimed at dors.
"well," said dors. "if you insist."
she moved rapidly and two of the guardsmen were suddenly on the ground, groaning, while dors was standing with a blaster in each hand.
she said, "i have tried not to hurt them, but it is quite possible that i dave broken their wrists. that leaves two of you and i can shoot faster than you can. if either of you makes the slightest move-the slightest-i will have to break the habit of a lifetime and kill you. it will sicken me to do so and i beg you not to force me into it."
there was absolute silence from the two guardsmen still standing-no motion.
"i would suggest," said dors, "that you two escort me into the colonel's presence and that you then seek medical help for your comrades."
the suggestion was not necessary. colonel linn emerged from his office. "what is going on here? what is-"
dors turned to him. "ah! let me introduce myself. i am dr. dors venabili, the wife of professor hari seldon. i have come to see you on important business. these four tried to stop me and, as a result, two are badly hurt. send them all about their business and let me talk to you. i mean you no harm."
linn stared at the four guardsmen, then at dors. he said calmly, "you mean me no harm? though four guardsmen have not succeeded in stopping you, i have four thousand at my instant call."
"then call them," said dors. "however quickly they come, it will not be in time to save you, should i decide to kill you. dismiss your guardsmen and let us talk civilly."
linn dismissed the guardsmen and said, "well, come in and we will talk. let me warn you, though, dr. venabili-i have a long memory."
"and i," said dors. they walked into linn's quarters together.
