"Wye" (pp. 373-393) Summary

Uniformed, erect, with a long blond mustache curled at the tips, Sgt. Emmer Thalus summons Seldon to accompany him, but blocks Venabili; his orders cover only Seldon. When Seldon refuses to budge without his "companion", Thalus moves to carry him off bodily, and Seldon slows him with a precise blow to his upper arm. Raych positions himself behind the sergeant and Venabili draws her knives. Thalus warns them that his instructions do not preclude harming anyone but Seldon. Raych seizes the neuronic whip. Seldon hastens to defuse the situation, asking if the sergeant's orders explicitly forbid bringing others. Gradually he convinces him that this provides a way out of the standoff. Thalus gives his word as a soldier not to harm any of them. Seldon's partners disarm reluctantly. Before leaving with the sergeant, Seldon asks Davan to...