Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Death Star
Trevize felt frustrated.From the beginning of this search to the present, his few small victories were of no importance, they could only be regarded as temporary flukes to let the failure pass by.
Now, he delayed the time to jump to the third outer world, but it made others feel the emotion of Xia An.When he finally made up his mind to let the computer drive the spaceship into hyperspace, Pelorat stood at the door of the cockpit with a serious expression on his face, and Bliss was behind him.Even Feron stood there, clutching Bliss' hand with one hand, staring at Trevize like a pedant.
Trevize looked up, looked away from the computer, and said with a bit of anger: "What a family portrait!" He would say this purely out of restlessness.
He began to instruct the computer to perform the jump, deliberately arranging that the distance between the spaceship and the target star was greater than necessary when returning to normal space.He told himself that it was because the events of the first two outer worlds had taught him the importance of caution, but he didn't really believe that explanation.He knew, deep down, that he wanted to return to space at a reasonable distance from that star, so that he could not be sure whether it had habitable planets or not.This would give him a few more days of space travel before he could solve the mystery, while (perhaps) having to face the bitter consequences of failure.
So now, in front of "Family Portrait," he takes a deep breath, holds it in for a moment, and lets it out like a whistle.At the same time, he gave the last command to the computer.
The patterns of the stars are silently changing discontinuously.Finally, the viewing screen became hollower, and they had come to a region of sparser stars.Near the center, a twinkling star can be seen.
Trevize grinned, because that counted as a victory, too.After all, the third set of coordinates may be wrong, and eligible G-type stars may not be seen at all.He glanced at the others, and said, "That's it, star number three."
"Are you sure?" Bao Qisi asked softly.
"Look carefully!" Trevize said, "I want to turn the screen into a concentric picture of the computer galaxy map. If the bright star disappears, it means that the map is not included, and it is the one we are looking for."
The computer immediately responded to his instructions, and the planet disappeared in an instant, without even a slight peripheral vision, as if it had never existed.The other star images were not affected at all, and they still looked so majestic and magnificent.
"We found it," Trevize said.
Even so, he slowed the Far Asterisk forward, at half its normal speed.Another mystery yet to be solved is whether habitable planets exist, but he's in no rush to find out.Even after three days of flying, there is still no progress on this issue.
However, it may not be said that there has been no progress.A very distant gas giant orbits the star, its day zone glowing dimly yellow.From their current position it looked like a fat crescent moon.
Trevize didn't like the way it looked, but tried not to show it.He said flatly, like a talking guide: "There's a big gas giant out there, and it looks pretty spectacular. Now we can see that it has a pair of thin rings, and two huge satellite."
"Most planetary systems have gas giants, right?" Bliss said.
"That's right, but this one is quite large. Judging from the distance between the two satellites and it, as well as the satellite's revolution period, the mass of this giant planet is about two thousand times that of a habitable planet."
"What's the difference?" said Bliss, "Gas giants are gas giants, big or small, right? , so they are not suitable for habitation. To find a habitable planet, we must go to the vicinity of that star to find it."
Trevize hesitated for a moment, then decided to reveal the truth. "The problem," he said, "is that the gas giants sweep large swathes of space out of a planetary system; the material they don't absorb into their own structure coalesces into fairly large bodies that form their satellite systems. They prevent other The agglomeration phenomenon, even over great distances. So the larger the gas giant, the more likely it is that it will be the only large planet, and other than that giant planet, there will only be a few asteroids in the system."
"You mean, there are no habitable planets here?"
"The larger the gas giant, the less chance there is of a habitable planet. This gas giant is so large that it's a dwarf star."
"May we have a look?" said Pelorat.
The three of them stared at the screen together. (Feilong is reading in Baoqisi's cabin.)
The Cup Noodle keeps zooming in until the crescent takes up the entire screen.A thin dark line spans the upper half of the crescent, the shadow cast by the planet's rings.The ring itself is a crevasse that curves a short distance from the planet's surface, extending a small portion into the dark side of the planet before it is shadowed.
Trevize said: "The inclination of the planet's axis of rotation to the plane of revolution is about thirty-five degrees, and its rings are of course in the equatorial plane, so that in its present orbital position the light from the star comes from below, project the rings at a considerable distance above the equator."
Pelorat was fascinated. "Those are tiny planetary rings."
"In fact, it's already above average size." Trevize replied.
"According to the legend, in the planetary system to which the Earth belongs, the gas giant planet with a planetary ring has a much wider, longer, and more refined planetary ring than this one, and even dwarfs that gas giant planet."
"I'm not surprised at all," Trevize said. "A story that has been passed down by word of mouth for thousands of years, do you think it's going to get smaller and smaller?"
Bliss said: "It's so beautiful, if you look at that crescent, it seems to roll and roll before your eyes."
"That's an atmospheric storm," Trevize said. "If you pick the right wavelength of light, you can usually see it better. Come on, let me try." Putting his hands on the table, he ordered the computer to read the spectrum Filter one by one and then stabilize at an appropriate wavelength.
The crescent, which seemed to be slightly receding, suddenly turned into a mass of changing colors. Because the rate of change was so fast, people were dazzled.Finally, it turned orange-red, and inside the crescent there were many distinct spirals that were drifting, tightening and relaxing as they moved.
"It's unbelievable," murmured Pelorat.
"It's so cute," said Bliss.
Nothing incredible, and nothing cute, Trevize thought sadly.Both Pelorat and Bliss were fascinated by the beautiful scenery in front of them, and they didn't even expect the existence of the planet they praised, which greatly reduced Trevize's chance of solving the mystery.But then again, why would they think of this?The two of them firmly believed that Trevize's choice was correct, they were just accompanying him in his exploration of proof, and they had no emotional burden, so they shouldn't blame them at all.
He said: "Although the dark side looks very dark, if our eyes can see light a little longer than the wavelength of visible light, we can see that it is actually a dark and intense fiery red. The planet emits a lot of light into space. Infrared radiation, because it is so large that it is almost red-hot. It has surpassed the gas giant planets and is simply a 'sub-star'."
He paused for a long time, then continued: "Now, let's put it behind us for the time being and start looking for possible habitable planets."
"Maybe there is," Pelorat said with a smile. "Don't give up, old friend."
"I haven't given up yet," Trevize said, but he wasn't very confident. "The process of planetary formation is too complicated to establish a set of strict rules. We can only discuss it in terms of probability. If there is such a giant in space, the probability will be much lower, but it is not equal to zero."
Bao Qisi said: "Why don't you think this way - the first two sets of coordinates respectively provide a planet inhabited by people from outside the world, then the third set of coordinates, since a qualified star has been provided, should be It will also allow you to find a habitable planet. Why talk about chance?"
"Of course I hope you're right," Trevize said, without comfort. "Now we are going to fly out of the orbital plane of the planet and head towards the central star."
Almost immediately after he said his intentions, the computer sprang into action.He leaned back in the pilot's seat, reaffirming the fact that one of the aftereffects of piloting a spaceship with such advanced computers was the inability to - ever again - pilot any other type of ship.
Could he still bear to do those calculations himself?Can bear the need to consider the acceleration effect and limit it to a reasonable range?The most likely scenario is that he will forget about those problems and let the ship go at full speed until he and other passengers are thrown against the bulkhead and smashed to pieces.
Well, then, he'd go on flying the Farstar—or any other identical spaceship, if he could bear that little change—forever.
Since he wanted to temporarily forget about the question of whether there are habitable planets, he began to ponder another matter—he just ordered the spaceship to leave the orbital plane and fly above the orbital plane.If there is no special reason, it is necessary to fly below the orbital surface, and the pilot almost always chooses to fly upwards. Why is this?
In fact, strictly speaking, why do you have to think of one direction as up and the other side as down?The notion of space as a symmetrical space is purely a convention.
However, when observing a planet, he always pays attention to its rotation and revolution direction.If both are counterclockwise, then the direction of the raised arm is north, and the direction of the feet is south.And in every corner of the galaxy, north is always imagined as above, and south as below.
This is purely a statute, which can be traced back to the misty ancient times, and humans have been blindly using it until now.An originally familiar map would be incomprehensible if viewed from the south. It must be turned around to make sense.Under normal circumstances, anyone will be used to going north, that is, "up".
Trevize thought of a campaign led by Bael Rioth, an imperial general three centuries ago.At a critical moment, he ordered the squadron to turn below the orbital plane, and a squadron of the enemy was caught by Rioth's battleship without any warning.Someone later complained that it was a speculative move—from the mouth of the losers, of course.
Such a far-reaching statute that is as old as human beings must have originated from the earth.Thinking of this, Trevize's mind was drawn back to the issue of habitable planets.
Pelorat and Bliss were still staring at the gas giant, watching it do somersaults across the screen in very, very slow motion.Now the part of the sun is gradually expanding, Trevize has fixed the spectrum on the orange-red wavelength, and the churning storm on its surface has become more frenzied and more hypnotic.
At this time, Feilong wandered into the cockpit. Bao Qisi thought that it should take a nap, and she also needed it.
Pelorat was left alone.Trevize told him, "I've got to remove the gas giant, Janov. I'm going to get the computer to focus and start looking for the right size beacon."
"Of course, old comrade," said Pelorat.
But the reality is much more complicated.What the computer is looking for is not just a beacon of the right size, but the beacon must also be sent from a planet with the right size and distance.He had to wait several days before he could get a definite answer.
Trevize walked into his cabin with a serious expression—in fact, it should be said to be gloomy.Then, he was really taken aback.
Baoqisi was waiting for him there, Feilong was close to her, the robe and tunic on her body exuded a fresh smell, one could tell that it had been steam washed and vacuum ironed.The child looked much better in his own clothes than in a nightgown a few sizes too big for Paulis.
Bao Qisi said: "You were at the computer just now, and I didn't want to disturb you, but now please listen-let's go, Ferron."
Ferron said in a high-pitched, musical tone: "I greet you, Trevize the Protector. It is my great honor to do... more... to travel through space with you in a spaceship. I am also very happy, because I have two dear friends, Bao Qisi and Pei."
After Feilong finished speaking, he showed a cute smile.Trevize thought to himself again: Do I take it as a boy or a girl, or both, or neither?
He nodded. "I remember it very well, and the pronunciation is almost completely correct."
"It's not memorized at all," Bao Qisi said eagerly, "Feilong drew up the manuscript by himself, and then asked me if I could recite it to you. I didn't even know what Feilong would say in advance."
Trevize forced a smile. "In this case, it's really not easy." He noticed that Bao Qisi tried to avoid using pronouns when referring to Feilong.
Baoqisi turned to Feilong and said, "I told you that Trevize would like it—now go to Pei, if you are interested, you can ask him for some more reading materials."
After Feilong ran away, Bao Qisi said: "The speed at which Feilong learned the Galactic Standard Language is amazing. The Solari must have a special talent for languages. Think about it, Bender just listened to the hyperwave communication, They can speak a decent galactic standard language. Apart from energy conversion, their brains may have other differences from ordinary people."
Trevize just snorted.
Bliss said, "Don't tell me you still don't like Ferron."
"I don't care if I like it or not, that little thing just makes me feel at ease. For example, the thought of dealing with a androgynous person makes me uncomfortable."
Bliss said, "Come on, Trevize, it's ridiculous to say that, Ferron is a perfectly normal creature. To an androgynous society, think how disgusting you and I are—either males or females. Each sex counts as half, and must be temporarily united in ugly fashion in order to produce the next generation."
"Do you object to that, Bliss?"
"Don't pretend to get me wrong, I'm trying to see us from an androgynous standpoint. To them that sort of thing must have seemed terribly distasteful, but to us it's quite natural. That's why Ferron arouses your interest." Resentment, but that's just a short-sighted, narrow-minded reaction."
"Frankly speaking," Trevize said, "I don't know what pronoun to use to call this little thing. It's really annoying. In order to worry about pronouns, thoughts and conversations will always be interrupted."
"But that's what's missing in our language," Baoqis said. "It's not Feron's problem. Human language has never been developed with androgyny in mind. I'm glad you brought it up, because I myself Been thinking. Using 'it', as Bender himself insists, is not the solution, because that pronoun is used to refer to things that have nothing to do with gender. In our language, there is simply no pronoun that fits both So, why not pick one at random? One of the reasons why I think of Ferron as a girl is that she has a female high-pitched voice, and besides, she is capable of producing offspring, which is one of the most important characteristics of a woman. Pero Rat has agreed, why don't you do the same? Let's call Feron 'she'."
Trevize shrugged. "Fine, pointing out that 'she' has testicles will sound weird, but even so, it's fine."
Baoqisi sighed. "You do have a nasty habit of making jokes about everything. But I know you're under a lot of stress, so I'll take it easy. Just call Ferron with a feminine pronoun, please. "
"I will." Trevize hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help saying: "Every time I see you together, I feel more and more that you regard Feron as a substitute for your children. Is it because you want A child, but think Janov can't do it?"
Baoqisi opened her eyes wide. "I am not with him for children! Do you think that I regard him as a convenient tool to help me have children? What's more, I haven't reached the time to have children. When the time comes in the future, I have to give birth to a child." Son of Gaia, there is nothing Pei can do about this matter."
"You mean Janov must be abandoned?"
"Of course not, it's just a temporary separation, and artificial insemination may even be used."
"I think you have to wait until Gaia decides there's a need for it, and when a pre-existing member of Gaia's humanity dies, creating a vacancy, before you can have a child."
"It's a harsh statement, but it's also true. Every part of Gaia, and every relationship to each other, must be in perfect balance."
"Just like the Solari."
Baoqisi pursed her lips tightly, her face became a little pale. "Exactly the same. The Solaris produce more than they need, and destroy the excess; we produce just enough children, and never kill any life. Just like when the surface layer of your skin dies, you grow Just the right new skin, not one more cell will grow."
"I understand what you mean." Trevize said, "By the way, I hope you will take Janov's feelings into consideration."
"About me possibly having a baby? It's never been discussed and never will be."
"No, I didn't mean that—I was thinking that Janov might feel left out with your growing interest in Feron."
"He's not left out, he's as interested in Feron as I am. She's another of our mutual interests and even brings us closer together. Could it be you who feel left out?"
"Me?" Trevize was taken aback.
"Yeah, that's you. I don't understand Isolates any more than you understand Gaia, but I have a feeling that you like to be the center of attention in this spaceship, and you may feel that position has been taken over by Feron .”
"It's ridiculous."
"And you think I'm snubbing Pei, that's equally absurd."
"Then let's declare a truce. I'll try to treat Feron as a girl, and I won't worry too much about you disregarding Janov's feelings."
Baoqisi smiled slightly. "Thank you, then everything will be all right."
Trevize turned around, and Bao Qisi suddenly said, "Wait a minute!"
Trevize turned back again, and said in a bored tone, "What's the matter?"
"I feel very well, Trevize, that you're sad and depressed right now. I won't probe your mind, but you might be willing to tell me what's wrong. Yesterday, you said that there is an eligible star in this planetary system Planet, seems quite happy - I hope it's still there, that discovery was a mistake?"
"In this system, there is indeed a planet that fits the bill, and it's still there," Trevizes said.
"Is it okay to be big or small?"
Trevize nodded. "Since it is said to meet the conditions, the size is of course just right, and its distance from the star is also consistent."
"Well, then, what's the problem?"
"We're now close enough to it to analyze its atmospheric composition, and the results show that it doesn't have an atmosphere."
"No atmosphere?"
"It doesn't have an atmosphere. It is an uninhabitable planet. And the other planets around this sun don't have the slightest habitable conditions. This third attempt, our result is nothing."
Pelorat looked stony, obviously unwilling to disturb Trevize's gloomy silence.He stood on the sidelines at the door of the cockpit, with obvious intentions, hoping that Trevize would take the initiative to speak.
Trevize didn't speak, and his silence seemed to have taken root.
Finally Pelorat couldn't bear it anymore, and he said timidly, "What are we doing now?"
Trevize raised his head, stared at Pelorat for a while, then turned his head away, and said, "We are flying towards that planet."
"But since it has no atmosphere..."
"It's the computer that says it doesn't have an atmosphere. For a long time it told me what I wanted to hear, and I just took it; now it's telling me something I don't want to hear, so I'm going to check it out. If the computer Makes mistakes too, and now is when I want it to make mistakes.l
"Do you think it went wrong?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Can you think of a reason why it might go wrong?"
"No, I can't think of it."
"Then why are you bothering, Grant?"
Trevize finally turned to face Pelorat, his face contorted, almost desperate. "Janov, can't you see that I have nowhere to go? In the first two worlds, our search for the whereabouts of the earth turned out to be nothing, and this world is blank again. What should I do now? Wandering from one world Go to another world, look around with wide eyes, and ask everyone you meet, "Excuse me, where is the earth?" The earth hides its tracks so well that there are no clues left anywhere. If there is any clue, it will definitely let us find it."
Pelorat nodded, and then said: "I am also thinking in this direction myself, do you mind if we discuss it? I know you are very upset and don't want to talk, brother, so if you want me to leave, I will Let's go now."
"Let's start the discussion," Trevize's voice sounded like a groan. "What else can I do but listen?"
Then Pelorat said: "It sounds like you don't really want me to talk, but it might do us both good to talk. If you can't bear it, please tell me to shut up anytime—I have a feeling , Grant, Earth doesn’t necessarily just take a passive, negative approach to hide itself, and it doesn’t necessarily just clear references to it, doesn’t it arrange some false clues to create a smoke screen with this active approach?”
"How to say?"
"Well, we've heard in several places that the Earth is radioactive, and that claim may have been made up on purpose to discourage everyone from looking for it. If it is radioactive, it's absolutely out of reach, most likely In fact, we can't even set foot on Earth. Even if we had robots, they probably wouldn't be immune to radiation. So why bother? If it wasn't radioactive, it would be invulnerable unless someone inadvertently close, and even so, it may have other methods of concealment."
Trevize forced a smile. "How strange, Janov, that just happened to occur to me. It even occurred to me that the gigantic moon, which was unlikely to exist, was a fiction, deliberately put into the legend of this world. As for the gas giant planet with an overly large planetary ring The same may not exist, and it is likely to be fabricated. These may be deliberate arrangements, so that we can look for something that does not exist at all, so that we can come to the right planetary system, and when we stare at the earth, we will pay attention to it Ignore it. Because of the fact that it has no huge moon, no radioactive crust, and no three planetary rings in its immediate vicinity. Therefore, we can't recognize it, and we can't dream that it is right in front of us— I can imagine worse."
Pelorat looked downcast. "How could there be anything worse?"
"It's simple. In the middle of the night, when you're most depressed, you start wandering the endless realms of fantasy, looking for anything to make you more desperate. What if the earth's self-hiding magic is infinite? What if it can blind us What about our minds? What if we pass near the Earth, though it does have giant moons, and its neighbors have giant rings, and we simply ignore it? What if we've missed it long ago?"
"But if you believe that, why are we..."
"I didn't say I believed it, I said it was just some crazy fantasy, and we'll keep looking."
Pelorat hesitated, then said: "How long, Trevize? At a certain point, of course we have to give up."
"Never," Trevize snapped, "even if I had to spend my whole life flying from planet to planet, looking around with wide open eyes, asking everyone, 'Excuse me, sir, where is Earth? 'I will certainly do the same. I can always take you and Bliss back to Gaia, and even take Ferron with me, if you wish, and then I will go on my own way."
"Oh, no, you know I'm not going to leave you, Grant, and neither is Bliss. We'll go to every planet with you if we have to. But why?"
"Because I have to find Earth, because I'm going to find it. I don't know under what circumstances, but I'm going to find it—now, listen, I'm going to try to get to a good place to study the insolation of this planet face, and not too close to its sun, so don't bother me for the time being."
Pelorat didn't speak anymore, and Yi didn't leave either.He stayed where he was and continued to watch, watching the planetary image on Trevize's research screen.More than half of the planets are in daylight.To Pelorat it seemed unremarkable, but he also knew that Trevize was now connected to a computer and his senses had been greatly enhanced.
Trevize whispered, "There's a mist over there."
"Then there must be an atmosphere." Pelorat blurted out.
"Not much, not enough to support life, but enough to generate a breeze that kicks up dust. This is a common feature for a planet with a thin atmosphere, and it may even have small polar ice caps - condensation on the A handful of 'water ice' in the poles, you know. The world is too hot for solid carbon dioxide. I have to switch to radar imaging so I can work on the night side."
"Really?", "Yes. I should have tried that in the first place, but the planet has no air at all, and therefore no clouds, and it seemed natural to try to see it in visible light."
Trevize remained silent for a long time. During this period, the radar reflection on the display screen was blurred, like an abstract painting of a planet, a bit like the style of a certain Kryonian artist.Then he said vigorously: "Okay—" This voice lasted for a while, and then he fell silent again.
Pelorat finally couldn't help asking: "What is 'good'?"
Trevize shot him a quick glance. "I can't see any craters."
"No craters? Is that a good sign?"
"Totally unexpected." He grinned, and added: "A very good phenomenon. In fact, it may be very good."
Ferron's nose was always stuck to the porthole of the spaceship, through which he could directly observe a small part of the universe with the naked eye.This is arguably the most natural view, completely unenhanced or enhanced by computers.
Bliss, who had just tried to explain the mysteries of the universe to Feron, sighed and said to Pelorat in a low voice: "I don't know how much she knows, dear Pei. The mansion where her single parents lived, And a small part of the mansion near the grounds was the whole universe to her. I don't think she ever went out at night, and never saw the stars."
"Do you really think so?"
"I really do. I wouldn't have given her any space views until she knew enough vocabulary to understand a little bit of my words—how lucky you are to be able to talk to her in her language."
"The problem is that I don't understand it very well." Pelorat apologized: "The universe is a rather difficult concept to grasp without prior preparation. She once said to me that if those small flat dots were huge worlds, every They're all like Lali - they're all much bigger than Solari, of course - so they can't just hang out there, they're supposed to fall, she said."
"Based on what she already knew, she was right. She asked reasonable questions, bit by bit, and finally she understood. At least she was curious, and she wasn't afraid. .”
"Actually, Bao Qisi, I am also curious. After Ge Lan discovered that the world in front of him had no craters, you can see how much he changed immediately. I have no idea what the difference is, how about you?"
"Not at all. Yet he's far more knowledgeable about planetology than we are, and we can only assume he knows what he's doing."
"Wish I knew that too."
"Then, go ask him."
Pelorat showed a troubled expression. "I've been afraid to upset him, and I'm sure he thinks I should know these things, and he doesn't need him to tell me."
Bao Qisi said: "This is stupid talk, Pei. Regarding the myths and legends in the Milky Way, he thinks it may be useful. He will not hesitate to ask you for advice at any time, and you are always willing to answer and explain. Why shouldn't he?" So? You go ask him now, and if it bothers him, he gets a chance to practice being a man, and it will do him good."
"Are you going with me?"
"No, of course not. I'm going to stay with Feron and keep trying to fit the concept of the universe into her head. You can explain it to me anytime later—as long as he explains it to you."
Pelorat stepped into the cockpit timidly.He was delighted to find Trevize whistling, apparently in a good mood.
"Glenn," he said as cheerfully as possible.
Trevize looked up. "Janov! You always come in on tiptoe, as if you think it's illegal to disturb me. Close the door, sit down, sit down! Look at this."
He pointed to the planet reflected on the imaging screen, and said, "I only found two or three craters, and they were all fairly small."
"Does that make a difference, Grant? Does it?"
"Difference? Of course there is. Why do you ask that?"
Pelorat made a helpless gesture. "It's all very mysterious to me. I majored in history in college, and besides that I did sociology and psychology, and I also took courses in languages and literature, mostly ancient languages; in graduate school , I specialize in mythology. I have never touched planetology, or other natural sciences."
"That's right, Janov, I'd rather you only be proficient in this knowledge. Your knowledge of ancient languages and mythology has been of great help to us, and you know this yourself—when you meet the relevant The problem, I will be responsible for solving it.”
He went on: "You know, Janov, that planets are formed by the collision and aggregation of smaller bodies. The last ones that collide will create crater marks, I mean there is a possibility. If A planet is as big as a gas giant planet, and its atmosphere is actually full of liquid structures. The last batch of impacts will only splash some liquid, without leaving any traces under it.
"Smaller solid planets, whether made of ice or rock, are bound to be marked by craters. They will never disappear unless there is some kind of elimination. Elimination occurs in three cases:
"In the first case, the world's liquid ocean is covered with a layer of ice. Then any impact will shatter the ice and send water in all directions. Soon the ice will refreeze, for example, if the The puncture wound is healed. Such a planet or moon must be very cold, and it cannot be what we call a habitable world."
"In the second case, if the volcanic activity in this world is intense, then once a crater is formed, lava flows or volcanic ash will pour in continuously, gradually obliterating the crater. However, such a planet or satellite is unlikely to be suitable for human habitation."
"Habitable worlds constitute the third case. Such worlds may have polar ice caps, but most of the oceans must be free fluid. They may also have active volcanoes, but they must be sparsely distributed. If such worlds appear Meteor crater, it can't heal itself, and there's nothing to fill it. But there's erosion on it, wind or moving water will keep eroding the crater, and if there's life, biological activity can also have a strong erosion effect. Got it Bar?"
Pelorat thought for a moment, then said, "But, Grant, I don't understand what you mean at all. The planet we're going to..."
"We're landing tomorrow," Trevize said cheerfully.
"The planet we're going to has no oceans."
"There's only a very thin polar ice cap."
"Not much atmosphere either."
"One-hundredth of the density of the atmosphere of Terminus."
"There is no life either."
"I didn't detect any signs of life."
"So, what could have eroded away the crater?"
"Oceans, atmospheres, and creatures," Trevize replied. "Listen, if the planet had no air and no water to begin with, the craters wouldn't go away after they formed, and it would have cratered holes all over the surface. The fact that there are so few craters on this planet proves that it must have contained空气和水分，而且不久之前，也许还有相当丰沛的大气和海洋。此外，看得出这个世界有些巨大的海盆，那里过去一定曾是汪洋一片，而干涸河床的痕迹更不在话下。所以你看，侵蚀作用过去的确存在，是不久之前才停止的，而新的陨石坑还来不及累积。”
裴洛拉特看来一脸疑惑。“我也许不是行星学家，可是我也知道，这么大的一颗行星，足以维持浓厚的大气数十亿年之久，不可能突然让大气流失，对不对？”
“我也认为不可能。”崔维兹说：“但这个世界在大气流失前，上面无疑有生命存在，也许还是人类生命。根据我的猜测，它是个经过改造的世界，就像银河中几乎每个住人世界一样。问题是人类抵达之前，它的自然条件如何；人类为了使它适于住人，又对它进行过何种改造；还有，生命究竟是在什么情况下消失的，这些问题的答案我们都不知道。有可能曾经发生一场'激变'，将大气层一扫而光，一举结束了人类生命。也可能人类在这颗行星居住时，维持着一种奇异的非平衡状态，而人类消失之后，它就陷入恶性循环，导致大气变得越来越稀薄。或许我们登陆之后就能找到答案，也可能根本找不到，不过这点无关紧要。”
“如果那上面现在没有生命，过去是否有生命存在，同样是无关紧要的一件事。一个世界始终不可住人，和一度曾可住人，两者又有什么差别呢？”
“假如只有现在不可住人，当年的居民应该缓篝下些遗迹。”
“奥罗拉也有许多遗迹……”
“一点也没错，但奥罗拉经历了两万年的雨雪风霜，以及起伏剧烈的温度变化。此外那里还有生命——别忘了那些生命；那里也许不再有人类的踪迹，可是仍有众多生命。遗迹也像陨石坑一样会遭到侵蚀，甚至更快。经过了两万年，不缓篝下什么对我们有用的东西。然而这颗行星曾经有过一段时期，也许长达两万年，也许少一点，上面没有任何风雨或生命。我承认，温度变化还是有的，不过那是唯一的不利因素，那些遗迹应该保存得相当好。”
“除非，”裴洛拉特以怀疑的口吻喃喃说道：“上面根本没有任何遗迹。有没有可能这颗行星上从未出现生命，或是根本没有人类居住饼，而造成大气流失的事件其实也和人类无关？”
“不，不可能，”崔维兹说：“你无法使我变得悲观，我绝不会放弃希望。即使在这里，我也已经侦察到一些遗迹，我可以确定那是座城市——所以我们明天就要登陆。”
宝绮思以忧虑的口吻说：“菲龙深信我们是要带她回到健比——她的机器人身边。”
“喔——”崔维兹一面说，一面研究着太空艇下方急速掠过的地表。然后他抬起头，仿佛现在才听见那句话。“嗯，那是她唯一认识的亲人，对不对？”
“没错，当然没错，伹她以为我们回到了索拉利。”
“它看来像素拉利吗？”
“她怎么会知道？”
“告诉她那不是索拉利。听好，我会给你一两套附有图解的胶卷参考书，让她看看各种住人世界的特写，再向她解释一下，这样的世界总共有好几千万。你会有时间做这件事：一旦我们选定目标着陆之后，我不知道詹诺夫和我会在外面徘徊多久。”
“你和詹诺夫？”
“对，菲龙不能跟我们一块去，即使我想要她去也办不到——但除非我是疯子，否则我不会有那种念头。这个世界需要太空衣，宝绮思，上面没有可供呼吸的空气。我们没有适合菲龙穿的太空衣，所以她得跟你留在太空船内。”
“为什么跟我？”
崔维兹的嘴角扯出一个假笑。“我承认，”他说：“如果你跟我们一起行动，我会比较有安全感，可是我们不能把菲龙单独留在太空船上。她有可能造成破坏，即使只是无心之失。我必须让詹诺夫跟着我，因为他也许看得懂此地的古代文书。这就表示你得和菲龙留在这里，我认为你应该愿意。”
宝绮思显得犹豫不决。
崔维兹说：“你看，当初是你要带菲龙同行，我根本就反对，我确信她只会是个麻烦。因此——她的出现带来一些束缚，你就必须做些自我调适。她待在这里，所以你也得待在这里，没有别的办法。”
Baoqisi sighed. "I suppose so."
“好，詹诺夫呢？”
“他和菲龙待在一起。”
“很好，你去换班，我有话跟他说。”
裴洛拉特走进来的时候，崔维兹还在研究行星地表。他先清了清喉咙，表示他已经到了。“有什么问题吗，葛兰？”
“不能算真正有问题，詹诺夫，我只是不太确定。这是个很特殊的世界，我不知道它发生过什么变故。当初海洋一定极辽阔，这点可以从海盆看出来，不过它们都很浅。从这些地理遗迹中，我所能做出的最佳判断，是这个世界原本有许多河渠，海洋曾经进行淡化的手续，也可能海水本来就没什么盐分。如果当初海洋中的盐分不多，就能解释海盆中为何没有大片盐田。或者也有可能，在海水流失的过程中，盐分跟着一起流失——这就会使它看来像人为的结果。”
裴洛拉特迟疑地说：“很抱歉，我对这些事一窍不通，葛兰，但这些有任何一样跟我们寻找的目标有关吗？”
“我想应该没有，可是我忍不住靶到好奇。这颗行星如何被改造成适于人类居住，它在改造之前又是什么面貌，我若知道这些答案，或许就能了解它在遭到遗弃之后——或者也许是之前，曾经发生什么变故。要是我们知道发生了什么事，也许就能提早防范，避免发生不愉快的意外。”
“什么样的意外？它是个死去的世界，不是吗？”
“的确死透了。水分非常少，大气稀薄而不能呼吸，宝绮思也侦测不到精神活动的迹象。”
“我认为这就够确定了。”
“不存在精神活动，不一定代表没有生物。”
“至少表示一定没有危险的生物。”
“我不知道——不过我想请教你的不是这个。我找到两座城市，可当作我们探查的第一站，它们的状况似乎极佳，其他的城市也都一样。不管空气和海洋是被什么力量毁掉的，城市似乎完全未被波及。言归正传，那两个城市特别大，但较大的那个似乎缺少空地，它的外缘远方有些太空航站，市内却没有这类场所。另外那个稍微小一点的，市内则有些开阔的空间，所以比较容易降落在市中心，不过那里并不是正式的太空航站——可是话说回来，谁又会计较呢？”
裴洛拉特显得愁眉苦脸。“你是要我做决定吗，葛兰？”
“不，我自己会做决定，我只是想知道你的看法。”
“如果你不嫌弃的话——向四方延伸的大城比较像商业或制造业中心，具有开放空间的较小城市则较像行政中心。我们的目标应该是行政中心，那里有纪念性建筑物吗？”
“你所谓的纪念性建筑物是什么意思？”
裴洛拉特微微一笑，拉长了他紧绷的嘴唇。“我也不清楚，各个世界的建筑风格都不相同，也会随着时间改变。不过，我猜它们总是看来大而无当，而且豪华奢侈，就像我们在康普隆时置身的那个建筑。”
这回轮到崔维兹露出微笑。“垂直看下去很难分辨，而我们在着陆或起飞时，虽然可以从侧面观察，看出去也会是一团混乱。你为什么比较中意行政中心？”
“那里较有可能找到行星博物馆、图书馆、档案中心、大学院校等等机构。”
“好，我们就去那里，去那个较小的城市，也许我们能有所发现。我们已经失败两次，这次也许能有什么发现。”
“说不定这是'幸运的三度梅'。”
崔维兹扬起眉毛。“你从哪里听来这句成语？”
“这是个古老的成语，”裴洛拉特说：“我是在一则古代传说中发现的。它的意思是第三次的尝试终于带来成功，我这么想。”
“听来很有道理。”崔维兹说：“很好——幸运的三度梅，詹诺夫。”