‘Attack now or never; with a single ship, or all the force in the Empire; by military force or economic pressure; by candid declaration of war or by treacherous ambush. Do whatever you wish in your fullest exercise of free will. You will still lose.’ ‘Because of Hari Seldon’s dead hand?’ ‘Because of the dead hand of the mathematics of human behaviour that can neither be stopped, swerved, nor delayed.
