Chapter 8 Chapter 8: The Forbidden World

"Glenn," Pelorat said, "I'm watching from the sidelines, will I disturb you?" "Not at all, Janov," Trevize said. "What if I ask a question?" "Just ask." So Pelorat asked, "What are you doing?" Trevize looked away from the video screen. "As long as the stars on the screen seem to be very close to the forbidden world, I have to measure the distance of each star, so that I can determine their real distance. I must know their force field, so I need the data of mass and distance ...without such data, there is no guarantee of a successful jump."

"How do you do it?" "Well, for every star I see, its coordinates are stored in the computer memory, and these coordinates can be converted into Complon's coordinate system. Next, according to the relative The position of Complon’s sun, and then make a small correction, you can get the distance between each star and us. On the screen, those red dwarfs are very close to the forbidden world, but in fact some may be closer, and some are actually closer. is farther away. We need to know their three-dimensional position, you get the idea." Pelorat nodded. "You already have the coordinates of that forbidden world..."

"That's right, but that's not enough. I also need to know the distances of other stars—the error can be allowed to be about one percent; near that taboo world, the strength of the force field of those stars is very small, and a little error will not cause obvious damage. But the sun that the forbidden world surrounds, or the star that may have the forbidden world, has a strong force field near the forbidden world, and I must know its precise distance, at least as accurate as other stars A thousand times that of , coordinates alone cannot do this.” "Then what are you going to do?"

"I measured the apparent distance between that forbidden world—or its star—and three nearby stars. Those three stars were very faint and required many times of magnification to see clearly, so their distances must be the same. Very far. Then, we put one of them in the center of the screen, and then jump to one side by a tenth of a parsec, and the direction of the jump is perpendicular to the line of sight to the forbidden world. Since there are no stars nearby, even if we don't know how far away At the distance of the star, such a jump is still very safe. "After the transition, the reference star in the center is still in place. If the three stars are really far away from us, the positions of the other two dark stars will not change. However, the stars of the forbidden world The distance is relatively short, so there will be a parallax shift. From the magnitude of the shift, we can determine the distance between it and us. If I want to verify it again, I can choose another three stars and try again. "

Pelorat said: "How much time will it take?" "It won't be too long. The computer is responsible for all the complicated work, and I just need to give orders. The work that really takes time is when I have to study the results of the measurements and make sure they are all right, and that there are no mistakes in my instructions. If I'm the kind of bruiser who has complete confidence in myself and the computer, I can do it in minutes." "It's amazing to think about how much computers can do for us," Pelorat said. "I've always known this."

"What would you do if you didn't have a computer?" "What would I do if I didn't have spaceships? What would I do if I wasn't trained in space navigation? What would I do if I didn't have 20,000 years of hyperspace technology behind me? In fact, I am now So—here, now. If we imagined ourselves in the future 20,000 years from now, what technological marvel would we marvel at? Or is it possible that 20,000 years from now, humans will cease to exist?" "Almost impossible," said Pelorat. "Almost impossible not to exist. Even if we were not part of the Gaia galaxy, we would still have psychohistory to guide us."

Trevize turned around in his chair, letting go of the computer with both hands. "Let it calculate the distance," he said. "Let it double-check it a few times. We're in no hurry." He looked at Pelorat strangely, and added: "Psychohistory! You know, Janov, that this topic came up twice at Complon, and each time it was dismissed as superstitious. I myself Said it once, and Deniador mentioned it later. After all, how can you define psychohistory other than saying it's a Foundation superstition? Is it a belief without proof or proof? What do you think, Jen Nove? This question should be relatively close to your field."

Pelorat said: "Why do you say there is no evidence, Grant? The simulacrum of Hari Seldon has appeared many times in the vault, and whenever a major event occurs, he will speak eloquently about the current situation. Back then, if he couldn't use psychohistorical methods to make predictions, he couldn't have known about future events." Trevize nodded. "It does sound difficult, and even if there was one miscalculation, it wasn't simple. But then again, it's unorthodox, kind of like magic tricks any warlock would do .” "No sorcerer can predict centuries to come."

"No warlock can perform miracles, just make you believe it is true." "Come on, Grant, I can't think of a trick that will allow me to predict what will happen five centuries from now." "You can't imagine any tricks that allow a warlock to read the message hidden in an unmanned orbiting satellite. However, I have witnessed a warlock do it. Have you ever thought about the timed envelope and Harry Xie Maybe the simulacra of Dunton were all directed by the government?" Pelorat seemed rather disgusted by this statement. "They won't do that."

Trevize hissed contemptuously. "If they try to do that, they will be caught," Pelorat said. "I'm not sure about that. The problem, though, is that we don't know how psychohistory works." "I don't know how that computer works, but I know it works." "That's because someone else knows how it works, and what happens if no one knows? Then if it stops for some reason, we're all helpless. If psychohistory suddenly fails... " "Second Foundation people know how psychohistory works." "And how do you know, Janov?"

"That's what everyone says." "Everyone can say anything—ah, the distance between the stars in the forbidden world and us has been calculated. I hope the calculation is very accurate. Let's deliberate on this set of numbers." He stared at the group of numbers for a long time, and his lips twitched from time to time, as if he was doing some rough calculations in his heart.Finally, he finally spoke, but did not lift his eyes. "What is Bliss doing?" "Sleeping, buddy." Then Pelorat defended her, "She needs sleep, Glenn. Being a part of Gaia across hyperspace is exhausting." "I think so." After Trevize finished speaking, he turned to face the computer again. He put his hands on the table and murmured, "I'm going to let it move forward in several jumps, and each time it needs a new jump." Check." Then he pulled his hands back again, "I mean, Janov, what do you know about psychohistory?" Pelorat seemed a little surprised. "Nothing. There's a huge difference between being a historian, like me, and being a psychohistorian. Of course, I know the two fundamental cornerstones of psychohistory, but everyone knows that." "Even I know. The first condition is that the population involved must be large enough to be treated statistically. But how big is 'large enough'?" "The latest estimate of the population of the Milky Way is around 10 trillion, which is probably an underestimate. Of course, it's definitely big enough," Pelorat said. "how do you know?" "Because psychohistory works, Glenn. No matter how much you say it, it works." "And the second condition," Trevize added: "is that humans cannot know about psychohistory, or their responses will be biased—but everyone knows that there is psychohistory." "Just knowing it exists, buddy, that doesn't count. The second condition is that humans can't know the predictions made by psychohistory, and they don't. Only the Second Foundation should know, but they're special case." "It's incredible that the science of psychohistory can be built on the basis of these two conditions alone." "It's not just based on these two conditions," said Pelorat. "It's also about advanced mathematics and sophisticated statistical methods. It's said—if you want to hear the oral history—that Hari Seldon started psychohistory, It is based on the kinetic theory of gases. Every atom or molecule in a gas is moving randomly, so we cannot know the position or velocity of any one. However, using statistics, we can derive precise laws that describe their overall behavior. According to this principle, Seldon attempts to solve the overall behavior of human society, although this solution does not apply to individual human beings." "Perhaps so, but human beings are not atoms." "That's right," said Pelorat. "Human beings are conscious, and their behavior is complex enough to manifest free will. How Seldon handles this problem is beyond me, even if someone who understands tries to explain it to me. I'm sure." I can't understand it myself. But anyway, he did succeed." Trevez said: "So if this theory is to be established, there must be a large number of people who don't understand it. Don't you think that such a huge mathematical structure is built on a soft foundation? If these two If the conditions are not really met, then everything will collapse." "But since the Seldon plan has not collapsed..." "Alternatively, if these two conditions are not totally incompatible or insufficient, but weaker than theory predicts, psychohistory may function effectively for centuries, and then, in the event of a particular crisis, become Temporary collapse—just as the mule temporarily collapsed when it came along. Besides, what if there should be a third condition?" "What third condition?" Pelorat frowned slightly. "I also know," said Trevize, "that an argument may appear to be perfectly logical and brilliant, but it implies certain unstated assumptions. Perhaps this third condition is one that everyone takes for granted. Hypothetical, so no one ever thought of it." "If an assumption is taken for granted, it's usually quite true, and if it isn't, it can't be taken for granted." Trevize snorted. "If you know as much about the history of science as you do about the history of legend, Janov, you'll know how seriously wrong this statement is—but I think we've come close to the sun of that forbidden world." Indeed, a bright star appeared in the center of the screen.Because it was too bright, the screen automatically filtered most of its light, and all other stars disappeared from the screen. Washing and personal hygiene facilities on the Far Star are kept to a minimum, and water usage is always kept to a reasonable minimum to avoid overloading the recycling system.On this point, Trevize once reminded Pelorat and Bao Qisi with a straight face. Even so, Bao Qisi always has a way to keep fresh and glamorous at any time, her long black hair always has a beautiful luster, and her nails are always bright and dazzling. At this time, she walked into the cockpit and said, "You are here!" Trevize looked up. "Don't be surprised. It's almost impossible for us to leave the spaceship. Even if you can't detect our whereabouts with your mind, it only takes thirty seconds to find us in the spaceship." Bliss said: "It's purely a greeting, it shouldn't be taken literally, you know that very well yourself. Where are we now? Don't say 'in the cockpit'." "Precious, my love," said Pelorat, holding out a hand. "We are now in the outer region of the planetary system to which the forbidden world belongs." She walked up to Pelorat and put a hand lightly on his shoulder, while he put his arms around her waist."It's not going to be a real taboo, we're not being held back," she said. "It's taboo because Complon and the other second-wave colonists built a world that was deliberately isolated from the first-wave colonists, the Outworlders," says Trevize. "If we don't Feeling this deliberate restriction, what's going to stop us?" "Those Outworlders, if any survived, would probably also deliberately isolate themselves from the second wave of colonial worlds. While we don't mind invading their domains, that doesn't mean they don't either." "That's right," Trevize said. "If they were still there, they would be. Until now, we don't even know if their planets exist. So far, all we've seen are ordinary gaseous forms." There are two giant planets in total, and they are not particularly large." Pelorat hurriedly said: "But this does not mean that there are no people in the outer world, but the inhabited world is very close to the sun, and the volume is much smaller than the gas giant planet, and at this distance, the flash makes it extremely difficult for us to detect We need to get to the inner circle by micro-leap to detect these planets.” He seemed to be very proud to be able to speak like a seasoned space traveler. "In that case," said Bliss, "why don't we move to the inner circle now?" "It's not time yet," Trevize said. "I'm telling the computer to detect as many signs of an artificial object as possible. We're going to move inwards in stages—a dozen if necessary—each time. Stop and do some reconnaissance. I don't want to be caught again this time, like we were when we first approached Gaia. Remember, Janov?" "Every time we escape, we may fall into that kind of trap, but the dumb trap brings me Bliss." Pelorat stared at her with loving eyes. Trevize grinned sarcastically. "Would you like to have a new Bliss every day?" Pelorat showed an aggrieved expression, and Bao Qisi said with a little anger: "My good brother, or no matter what Pei insists on calling you, you'd better move to the inner circle quickly. As long as I'm with you Together, you won't fall into a trap." "With the power of Gaia?" "Detecting the existence of other minds? Of course no problem." "Are you sure your strength is strong enough, Bao Qisi? I guess you must sleep for a long time to make up for the physical strength you expended in order to maintain contact with the main body of Gaia. Now you are so far away from the source of your strength, your ability may be greatly improved Limited, how much can I rely on you?" Baoqisi blushed. "The power of connection is strong enough." Trevize said, "Don't be mad, I'm just asking. Can't you see that's one of the downsides of being Gaia? I'm not Gaia, I'm a whole, separate being, and that means I can travel as far as I want, no matter how far away I am from my world or my people, I will always be Glenn Trevize. I will continue to have all the abilities I have, no matter where I go. Change. If I'm alone in space, with no humans within a few parsecs, and for some reason, unable to communicate with anyone in any way, and not even seeing a single star in the sky, I'm still Ge Glen Trevize. I may not survive, I may die, but I will die Glen Trevize." Bliss said: "Alone in space, far away from all human beings, you cannot turn to your fellow human beings, nor can you rely on their talents and knowledge. Alone, as an isolated individual, with your body. You'd be pitifully small compared to a part of society as a whole." Trevize said: "However, this smallness is not the same as you are today. You have a bond with Gaia, which is much stronger than the bond I have with society, and this bond can go all the way, even Crossing hyperspace, but it takes energy to sustain it. So you're bound to be out of breath, I mean psychically, and feel yourself greatly diminished, much more than I am." Bao Qisi's youthful face suddenly looked very serious, and for a moment, she seemed no longer young, or she could not tell the age at all.She was no longer just Bliss, but became more like Gaia, as if she wanted to refute Trevize's argument.She said: "Even if everything you say is true, Glenn Trevize - you were, are, and will be you, maybe not less, but certainly not more - even if you Everything you said is true, do you think there is a free lunch in the world? Isn’t it better to be a warm-blooded animal like you than a fish, or other cold-blooded animals?” "Tortoises are ectotherms, not found on Terminus, but you can see them on some worlds. They are shelled animals, slow-moving and extremely long-lived," Pelorat said. "Very well, then, isn't it better to be a human than to be a tortoise? Humans can maintain fast motion at any temperature without becoming sluggish. Humans can support high-energy activities, rapidly contracting Muscles, fast-working nerve fibers, and vigorous, persistent thinking—isn't that much better than a slow-moving, insensitive, vaguely aware tortoise? Right?" "I agree," Trevize said. "That's true, so what?" "Well, don't you know that there is a price to pay for being a warm-blooded animal? In order to keep your body temperature above the ambient temperature, you have to expend far more energy than a tortoise. You have to eat almost constantly, replenishing from Energy drained from you. You'll starve more easily than a tortoise and die sooner. Would you rather be a tortoise and live a slow, long life? Or would you rather pay the price and be a Quick, sensitive, and thinking creatures?" "Is that the right analogy, Bliss?" "No, Trevize, because Gaia is much better off. When we're close together, we don't expend too much energy; when only parts of the Gaia are hyperspace-distanced from the rest, The energy consumption will increase-don't forget, what you choose is not just a large Gaia, but a larger single world; what you choose is the Gaia galaxy, a huge complex composed of many worlds. No matter where you are in the Milky Way, you will be part of the Gaia galaxy, and you will be tightly surrounded by some parts of it, which extend from each interstellar atom to the central black hole. At that time, the only way to maintain the whole is It takes a little energy, because no part is further from the other. Your decisions will lead to all these consequences, Trevize, how can you doubt that your choices are bad?" Trevize lowered his head and pondered for a long time, finally raised his head and said: "My choice may be good, but I must find tangible evidence. The decision I made is the most important thing in human history, and it is not enough to say it is good , I have to know it's really good." "I've told you so much, what more do you need?" "I don't know, but I will find the answer on Earth." He said firmly. Pelorat said: "Glenn, the star has become a disk." indeed so.The computer has been busy with its own work, ignoring any arguments surrounding it. It directs the spaceship to gradually approach the star, and now it has reached the distance set by Trevize. At this time, they are still far away from the orbital plane of the planet.The computer divides the screen drawing into three parts, each showing the three small inner planets. The innermost planet has a surface temperature in the liquid water range and has an oxygen-containing atmosphere.Trevize waited for the computer to work out its orbit, and an initial rough estimate seemed promising.He let the calculations go on, because the longer the planetary motion was observed, the more accurate the calculations of the various orbital parameters could be made. Trevize said in a rather calm tone: "We have seen a habitable planet, which is very likely to be habitable." "Ah—" On Pelorat's usual serious expression, the expression closest to joy appeared. "However," said Trevize, "I'm afraid there are no giant moons. In fact, no satellites of any kind have been detected so far. So it's not the Earth, at least in conjunction with the legendary Earth." "Don't worry about that, Grant," Pelorat said. "When I saw that the gas giants don't have unusual rings, I expected that Earth might not be found here." "Very well, then," said Trevize, "the next step is to see what kind of life there is on it. From the fact that it has an oxygen-containing atmosphere, we're absolutely certain that there's plant life on it, but..." "There is animal life, too," said Bliss suddenly, "and there are many of them." "What?" Trevize turned to look at her. "I can sense it. Although only vaguely at this distance, I am sure that this planet is not only habitable, but is undoubtedly inhabited." The Far Star is currently in the polar orbit of this forbidden world. Since it is still quite far from the earth's surface, the orbital period is maintained at six o'clock. It seems that Trevize is not in a hurry to leave this orbit. "Since the planet is inhabited," he explained, "and according to Deniado, it was once inhabited by technologically advanced humans, the first wave of colonists, the so-called Outerworlders, who are now They may still have advanced technology, and may not take kindly to us, the second wave of colonists who replaced them. I hope they will automatically show up, so that we can get to know them a little bit before we venture to land." "They may not know we are here," said Pelorat. "If it were us, we would know. So I have to assume that if they do exist, they will probably try to contact us, and even want to go up to hunt us down." "But if they do come after us, and their technology is very advanced, we may be helpless..." "I don't believe it," Trevize said: "The progress of science and technology may not be comprehensive. They may surpass us in some aspects, but they are obviously not enthusiastic about interstellar travel. Because we are not they who opened up the entire galaxy, but In the history of the Empire, I have not seen any record of them leaving their world and appearing before our eyes. If they have never traveled to space, how can they make great advances in space navigation? We may have none Armed, but even if they send out their warships to pursue us, we cannot be caught by them-no, we will not be helpless." "Their progress may be in terms of psychomechanics, maybe the mules are people from the outside world..." Trevize shrugged, clearly displeased. "The mule can't be everything. The Gaians say he's their mutant, and some think he's an accidental mutant." Pelorat said: "In fact, there are other conjectures—no one, of course—that he is a man-made machine. In other words, a robot, but no one uses that word." "If there's something with dangerous psychic powers, it's up to Bliss to dispel it. She can—by the way, is she sleeping?" "She slept a long time," said Pelorat, "but when I came out I saw her move." "Moved a bit, didn't you? Well, if there's any accident, she'll have to wake up when she's called. You're responsible for that, Janov." "Okay, Grant." Pelorat replied calmly. Trevize turned his attention to the computer again. "One thing that bothers me is the entry points. Normally, they're a sure sign that the planet is inhabited by high-tech humans. But these..." "Is there something wrong with them?" "There are a couple of issues. One, they're ancient in style, probably thousands of years old. Two, there's no radiation of any kind other than thermal radiation." "What is thermal radiation?" "Anything that is hotter than its surroundings emits thermal radiation. Everything produces this familiar signal that has a broad frequency band and a pattern of energy distribution determined by temperature, and that's what those entry stations emit. .If there are man-made devices operating on it, there must be some other non-random radiation leaking out. Since there is only thermal radiation now, we can assume that the entry station is empty, perhaps for thousands of years; otherwise, if there are people on it, those Human technology in this area is extremely advanced, and there is a way to prevent other radiation from leaking out." "It is also possible," said Pelorat, "that the planet has a high degree of civilization, but the entry station is vacant, because we galactic colonists have left this planet alone for so long that they have long ceased to fear any outsiders. near." "Maybe. Or, it could be some kind of bait." At this moment, Bao Qisi walked in, and Trevize caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye, and said angrily, "Yes, we are here." "I know," said Bliss, "and it's still on track, I can see that." Pelorat quickly explained: "Glenn is very cautious, my dear. There seems to be no one at those entry points. We are not sure what this means." "This is something to worry about at all," Bao Qisi said in a nonchalant tone, "the planet we are orbiting now has no signs of intelligent life detected on it." Trevize stared down at her, surprised. "What did you say? You said..." "I said that there is animal life on this planet, which is true, but who in the galaxy ever told you that animals must be humans?" "Why didn't you make it clear when you first detected animal life?" "Because at such a long distance, I can't tell the difference. I can only be sure to detect the pulsation of animal neural activity, but at that intensity, I can't tell the difference between a butterfly and a human." "What now?" "We're so much closer now that you might think I was sleeping, but I wasn't—or at most slept for a while. I was, to use an inappropriate verb, listening as hard as I could, trying to hear Evidence of mental activity complex enough to represent intelligent life." "It turned out to be nothing?" "I dare say," Bao Qisi's tone suddenly became cautious, "if I can't detect anything at this distance, then the number of human beings on this planet will exceed several thousand at most. If we By getting closer, I can judge more accurately." "Well, that makes a big difference," Trevize said, with a hint of confusion in his voice. "I think," said Bliss, looking sleepy, and therefore very grumpy. "You can now stop what radiation analysis, reasoning, deduction, and God knows what else you're doing. My Gaia perception can be done more accurately and more efficiently. Maybe you can now understand why I say it's better to be a Gaian than an orphan." Trevize didn't answer immediately, obviously trying to restrain his anger.When he spoke again, he used a very polite and almost formal tone. "I am very grateful for your information. However, you must know one thing. For example, even if I want to improve my sense of smell, because it has many benefits, this motivation is not enough to make me give up my life and willingly Become a blood beast." When the spaceship came below the clouds and drifted through the atmosphere, the forbidden world finally appeared to them, looking strangely old. The polar region is a piece of ice and snow, just as they expected, but the range is too large.The mountains are all barren, and occasionally glaciers can be seen, but the scope of the glaciers is also not large.There are also small areas of desert, fairly evenly distributed here and there. Putting that aside for a moment, the planet can actually be quite beautiful.Its land area is quite large, but its shape is crooked, so it has an extremely long coastline and a very large coastal plain.It also has lush tropical and temperate forests surrounded by grasslands.Even so, its old appearance is still very obvious. There are many semi-bald areas in the forest, and some grasslands are also sparse and thin. "Is it some kind of plant disease?" Pelorat wondered. "No," Bao Qisi said slowly: "It's worse than that, and it's even harder to recover." "I've seen many worlds," Trevize said, "but never one like this." "I have seen very few worlds," said Bliss, "but in my/our/Guy's opinion, the human race in this world must be extinct." "Why?" Trevize said. "Think about it," said Bliss in a rather sharp tone, "no inhabited world has a true ecological balance. The earth must have had such a balance, because if it evolved into the world where humans evolved, it must have been there for a long time." There will be a period of time when there will be no humans or other species capable of developing advanced technology capable of transforming the environment. In that case, there must be a natural balance - of course, which is constantly changing. However, in all other Humans have carefully modified their new environments and introduced various flora and fauna to the worlds they inhabit, but the ecosystems they have created are doomed to be out of balance. It will only hold a limited number of species, unless humans want them or not. Not imported..." Pelorat said: "Do you know what this reminds me of? Excuse me, Bliss, but let me interrupt, but it fits so well that I can't resist telling you now, lest I forget later." .I once read an old creation myth. According to this myth, life was formed on a certain planet where there were a limited number of species that were useful or desirable to humans. Later, the earliest Criticizing humans for doing a stupid thing—never mind what that is, old man, because those old myths are usually symbolic, and if you take their content too seriously, you will only confuse people more—in the end, the star The soil of the planet is cursed. 'It will grow you thorns and thistles', so says the curse. But this is written in the ancient Galactic script, and it will taste better if it is read in the original language. However, the problem is Is it really a curse? Things that humans don't like or want, such as thorns and thistles, may be necessary to maintain ecological balance." Baoqisi smiled slightly. "It's incredible, Pei, how everything reminds you of a legend, and they are so instructive sometimes. When humans transform a world, they always ignore thorns and thistles, let alone what those things are, and then They have to try their best to maintain the normal development of this world. It is not a self-sufficient organism like Gaia, but a collection of mixed isolated organisms, but these mixed isolated organisms are not perfect, so they cannot make ecological balance Sustained forever. If the human race disappears, as if the hands of the guide are gone, the life forms of the entire world are bound to begin to collapse, and the planet itself will undergo reverse transformation." Trevize said skeptically, "If it's going to happen, it won't happen soon. The world may have been deserted for 20,000 years, but most of it still seems to be 'business as usual.'" "Of course," Bao Qisi said, "it depends on how perfect the ecological balance was established at the beginning. If it was a fairly good balance at the beginning, it may still be maintained for a long time after the loss of human beings. Although it is a long time for human beings, compared with the lifespan of a planet, it is only a matter of one night." "I think," said Pelorat, gazing intently at the planetary landscape. "If the planet's environment is deteriorating, we can be sure that humans are gone." "I still can't detect human-level mental activity, so I'm guessing the planet really doesn't have any humans," Bliss said. "There's always been some humming from the lower levels of consciousness, high enough to represent a bird." Humans and mammals. But I am still not sure whether the level of anti-transformation is enough to show that humans have become extinct. Even if there are humans living on a planet, if that society is not normal and does not understand the importance of protecting the environment, the ecological environment will still be It could get worse." "Needless to say," said Pelorat, "such a society would soon be destroyed. I do not believe that there is any human being who does not understand the importance of protecting the resources upon which he lives." Baoqisi said: "I don't have your optimistic confidence in human reason, Pei. I think that if a planetary society is composed entirely of isolated bodies, then it is conceivable that for local interests, even for personal interests, It is easy to make people forget the safety of the planet as a whole." “我不认为那是可想而知，”崔维兹说：“我站在裴洛拉特这一方。事实上，既然有人居住的世界数以千万计，却没一个因为反改杂邙环境恶化，你对孤立体的恐惧可能夸大了，宝绮思。” 太空艇此时驶出昼半球，进入黑夜的范围。感觉上像是暮色迅疾加深，然后外面就成了一片黑暗，只有在经过晴朗的天空时，还能看到一些星光。 藉着精确监看大气压与着力强度，远星号得以维持褂讪的高度。他们目前保持的这个高度，绝对不会撞到隆起的群山，因为这颗行星已经许久未有造山运动。不过为了预防万一，电脑仍然利用“微波指尖”在前面探路。 崔维兹一面凝视逃陟绒般的黑夜，一面若有所思地说：“我总是认为，要确定一颗行星毫无人迹，最可靠的徵状就是暗面完全没有可见光。任何拥有科技的文明，都无法忍受黑暗的环境——一旦进入日面，我们就要降低高度。” “那样做有什么用？”裴洛拉特说：“下面什么都没有。” “谁说什么都没有？” “宝绮思说的，你也这么说过。” “不是的，詹诺夫。我是说没有科技导致的辐射，宝绮思是说没有人类精神活动的迹象，但这并不代表下面什么也没有。即使这颗行星上没有人类，也一定会有某些遗迹。我要寻找的是线索，詹诺夫，就这点而言，科技文明的残留物就可能有；用。” “经过两万年之后？”裴洛拉特的音调逐渐提高，“你认为有什么东西能维持两万年？这里不会有任何的胶卷、纸张、印刷品。金属会生銹，木材会腐烂，塑料会碎成颗粒，甚至石头都会粉碎或遭到侵蚀。” “也许没有两万年那么久，”崔维兹耐心地说：“我提到这个时间，是说这颗行星上如果没有人类，最长也不会超过两万年。因为根据康普隆的传说，在此之前这个世界极为繁荣。可是，或许在一千年前，最后一批人类才死亡或消失，或者逃到别处去。” 他们到达夜面另一个尽头，曙光随即降临，然后几乎在同一刻，出现了灿烂夺目的阳光。 远星号一面开始降低高度，一面慢慢减速，直到地表的一切都清晰可见。陆地沿岸点缀着许多小岛，现在每个都能看得相当清楚，大多数布满了绿油油的植群。 崔维兹说：“照我看来，我们该去研究那些受损特别严着的地区。我认为人类最集中的区域，便是生态最失衡的地方，反改造可能就以那些地方为源头，不断向外扩散开来。你的意见如何，宝绮思？” “的确有可能。总之，我们对此地缺乏了解，还是从最容易找的地方下手较好。草原和森林会吞噬人类活动的迹象，搜寻那些地方可能只是浪费时间。” “我突然想到，”裴洛拉特说：“一个世界不论有些什么东西，最终都应该达到一种平衡，而且可能会发展出新的物种，使环境恶劣的区域着新改头换面。” “是有这个可能，裴，”宝绮思说：“这要看当初那个世界的失衡有多严着。至于说一个世界会自我治疗，经由演化达到新的平衡，所需的时间要比两万年多得多，恐怕要好几百万年的时间。” 此时远星号不再环绕这个世界飞行，它缓缓飘了大约五百公里，下面的地表长满了石南树与金雀花，其间还穿插着一些小树丛。 “你们认为那是什么？”崔维兹突然伸手向前指去。太空艇此时停留在半空中，不再飘移。着力发动机调到了最高档，将行星着力场几乎完全中和，舱内因而传来一种轻微但持续不断的嗡嗡声。 崔维兹所指的地方，其实没什么值得一看的。放眼望去，只有些乱七八糟的土堆，上面长着稀稀疏疏的杂草。 “我看不出什么名堂。”裴洛拉特说。 “那堆破烂中有个四四方方的结构，有几条平行线，还有一些互相垂直的模糊线条，看到没有？看到没有？那不可能是天然形成的，一定是人工建筑物，看得出原本是地基和围墙，清楚得好像它们依旧耸立在那里。” “即使真的是，”裴洛拉特说：“那也只不过是个废墟。如果我们想要做考古研究，我们就得拼命地挖呀挖，专业人士要花上好几年才能妥善……” “没错，不过我们没时间妥善处理。那也许是一座被湮没的古城外围，某些部分可能尚未倾倒。让我们跟着那些线条走，看看会把我们带到哪里。” 在那个区域的某一端，树木丛距较密之处，她们发现几堵耸立的墙垣。或者应该说，只有部分仍旧屹立。 崔维兹说：“这是个不错的开始，我们要着陆了。”