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Chapter 12
Raych did his best to size up his new companion, without allowing his own face to lose its smooth naivete. The man had sharp greenish eyes and his right hand clenched almost threateningly into a fist as it rested on the table.
    Raych looked owlishly at the other and waited.
    Again, the man said, "I understand you call yourself a Joranumite."
    Raych did his best to look uneasy. It was not difficult. He said, "Why do you ask, mister?"
    "Because I don't think you're old enough."
    "I'm old enough. I used to watch Jo-Jo Joranum's speeches on holovision."
    "Can you quote them?"
    Raych shrugged. "No, but I got the idea."
    "You're a brave young man to talk openly about being a Joranumite. Some people don't like that."
    "I'm told there are lots of Joranumites in Wye."
    "That may be. Is that why you came here?"
    "I'm looking for a job. Maybe another Joranumite would help me."
    "There are Joranumites in Dahl, too. Where are you from?"
    There was no question that he recognized Raych's accent. That could not be disguised.
    He said, "I was born in Millimaru, but I lived mostly in Dahl when I was growing up."
    "Doing what?"
    "Nothing much. Going to school some."
    "And why are you a Joranumite?"
    Raych let himself heat up a bit. He couldn't have lived in downtrodden, discriminated-against Dahl without having obvious reasons for being a Joranumite. He said, "Because I think there should be more representative government in the Empire, more participation by the people, and more equality among the sectors and the worlds. Doesn't anyone with brains and a heart think that?"
    "And you want to see the Emperorship abolished?"
    Raych paused. One could get away with a great deal in the way of subversive statements, but anything overtly anti-Emperor was stepping outside the bounds. He said, "I ain't saying that. I believe in the Emperor, but ruling a whole Empire is too much for one man."
    "It isn't one man. There's a whole Imperial bureaucracy. What do you think of Hari Seldon, the First Minister?"
    "Don't think nothing about him. Don't know about him."
    "All you know is that people should be more represented in the affairs of government. Is that right?"
    Raych allowed himself to look confused. "That's what Jo-Jo Joranum used to say. I don't know what you call it. I heard someone once call it `democracy,' but I don't know what that means."
    "Democracy is something that some worlds have tried. Some still do. I don't know that those worlds are run better than other worlds. So you're a democrat?"
    "Is that what you call it?" Raych let his head sink, as if in deep thought. "I feel more at home as a Joranumite."
    "Of course, as a Dahlite-"
    "I just lived there awhile."
    "-you're all for people's equalities and such things. The Dahlites, being an oppressed group, would naturally think in that fashion."............
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