The  snow had  ceased, but  it caked  the ground  deeply now and  the sleekground car advanced through the deserted streets with lumbering effort. Themurky gray light of  incipient dawn was cold not only in the poetical sensebut also  in a very literal  way ?and even in  the then turbulent state ofthe Foundation's  politics, no  one, whether Actionist  or pro-Hardin foundhis  spirits  sufficiently  ardent to  begin  street  activity that  early.
Yohan Lee did not like that and his grumblings grew audible. "It's going tolook   bad,   Hardin.   They're   going   to   say   you   sneaked   away.""Let them say it if they wish. I've got to get to Anacreon and I want to doit without trouble. Now that's enough, Lee."Hardin leaned back into the cushioned seat and shivered slightly. It wasn'tcold inside  the well-heated  car, but there  was something frigid  about asnow-covered    world,   even    through    glass,   that    annoyed   him.
He  said, reflectively,  "Some day  when we  get around  to it we  ought toweather-condition Terminus. It could be done.""I," replied  Lee, "would  like to see  a few other things  done first. Forinstance, what  about weather-conditioning Sermak? A  nice, dry cell fittedfor  twenty-five   centigrade  all   year  round  would   be  just  fight.""And then  I'd really  need  bodyguards," said Hardin, "and  not just thosetwo,"  He indicated  two  of Lee's  bully-boys  sitting up  front with  thedriver, hard  eyes on the empty streets, ready  hands at their atom blasts.
"You evidently want to stir up civil war.""I  do? There  are  other sticks  in the  fire  and it  won't  require muchstirring, I  can tell you." He  counted off on blunt  fingers, "One: Sermakraised hell  yesterday in the City Council  and called for an impeachment.""He  had a  perfect  right to  do so,"  responded Hardin,  coolly. "Besideswhich, his motion was defeated 206 to 184.""Certainly.  A majority  of twenty-two when  we had  counted on sixty  as aminimum. Don't deny it; you know you did.""It was close," admitted Hardin.
"All  right.  And  two;  after the  vote,  the  fifty-nine  members of  theActionist Party reared upon  their hind legs and stamped out of the CouncilChambers."Hardin was  silent, and  Lee continued, "And three:  Before leaving, Sermakhowled that you were  a traitor, that you were going to Anacreon to collectyour payment, that the Chamber majority in refusing to vote impeachment hadparticipated  in the  treason, and  that the  name of  their party  was not'Actionist' for nothing. What does that sound like?""Trouble, I suppose."&q............