Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Moss

Trevize looked grotesque in his spacesuit, the only thing exposed were the two weapon holsters—not the two he usually strapped to his hips, but the sturdy holsters attached to the spacesuit itself.He carefully inserted the hand mill into the right holster and the nerve whip on the left.Both weapons had been recharged, and this time, Trevize thought angrily, no power could take them away. Bliss said with a smile, "Are you still going to carry a weapon? It's just a matter of no air and—forget it! I'll never question your decision again." "Very good!" said Trevize, and turned to help Pelorat adjust his helmet, leaving his own helmet still on.

Pelorat, who had never worn a space suit, asked pitifully, "Can I really breathe in this, Grant?" "Absolutely," Trevize said. Bliss stood watching as they closed the final seams, with her arm around Ferron's shoulders.The little Solari stared at the two propped up spacesuits in horror, trembling all over his body.Baoqisi's arms wrapped around her tenderly, giving her a sense of security. Once the airlock opened, the two "astronauts" walked in, waving goodbye with outstretched arms.Then the airlock closed, and the main gate opened, and they dragged their feet on a piece of lifeless land.

It's dawn, but the sun hasn't risen yet.The sky was, of course, perfectly clear, with a sort of purple glow.The horizon in the sunrise direction is lighter in color, and it can be seen that there is some mist in that area. "It's cold," said Pelorat. "Do you feel cold?" Trevize asked in surprise.The thermal insulation effect of the space suit is 100%. If the temperature is occasionally uncomfortable, it should be that the internal temperature is too high and the body heat needs to be discharged. "Not at all," said Pelorat, "but look—" His voice came to Trevize's ears clearly over the radio.As he spoke, he stretched out his finger and pointed.

They were walking toward a building whose mottled stone facade was covered in hoarfrost in the purple light of dawn. "Because the atmosphere is so thin, the nights are going to be colder than you think, and the days are going to be very hot," Trevize said. "It's the coldest part of the day, and it's going to be hours before it gets hotter. Can't stand in the sun." His words were like mystic spells, and hardly had he finished them when the outer rings of the sun appeared on the horizon. "Don't stare at it," Trevize said unhurriedly. "Although your panel will be reflective and ultraviolet rays can't penetrate, it's still dangerous to do so."

He turned his back to the rising sun, letting his slender figure fall across the building.Due to the appearance of sunlight, Hoarfrost quickly disappeared before his eyes.After a while, the walls darkened with damp, and soon dried completely. Trevize said: "Right now, the buildings don't look as good as they look from the air. There are cracks and peeling marks everywhere. I think this is the result of the drastic temperature changes, and another reason is a small amount of water. The water freezes at night and thaws during the day, possibly for 20,000 years." Pelorat said: "There are some words carved on the stone above the entrance, but they are too mottled to be legible."

"Can you recognize it, Janov?" "Probably some kind of financial institution, at least I recognize the word 'bank'." "what is that?" "A place where assets are stored, withdrawn, traded, invested, borrowed, etc. - if I guess correctly." "A whole building for this? No computers?" "Not completely replaced by computers." Trevize shrugged. He found the details of ancient history uninteresting. They moved around, faster and faster, spending less and less time in each building.There is a dead silence here, which makes people feel extremely calm.After thousands of years of slow collapse, the city they broke into was a wreck, nothing left but dry bones.

Their current location was a standard temperate zone, but in Trevize's imagination, he could feel the heat of the sun on his back. Pelorat, who was standing about a hundred meters to the right of Trevize, suddenly shouted, "Look there!" Trevize's ears were buzzing. He said, "Don't shout, Janov. No matter how far you are from me, I can hear your whisper clearly. What is that?" Pelorat immediately lowered his voice and said, "This building is called 'Outer World Hall', at least, that's what I think those inscriptions mean." Trevize walked over to him.In front of them was a three-story building with irregular lines at the top and many large rock fragments piled up, as if there was a statue there, but it had already collapsed to pieces.

"Are you sure?" Trevize said. "If we go in, we'll know the answer." They climbed five low, wide steps and crossed an oversized square.In the thin air, their metal shoes struck the ground, causing only a slight vibration that wasn't quite the sound of footsteps. "I understand what you mean by 'big, insignificant, and extravagant,'" Trevize murmured. They entered a wide, lofty hall, with sunlight streaming in from high windows.The parts of the room that are exposed to direct sunlight are too harsh, and the shaded parts are too dark, because the air is thin and hardly able to scatter light.

In the center of the hall is a taller-than-life figure that appears to be made of synthetic stone.One of the arms had fallen off, and there was a crack in the other arm.Trevize felt that if he slapped hard, the arm would also be separated from the main body in an instant.So he took a few steps back, as if worried that if he got too close, he would be tempted to commit a nasty act of vandalism. "I don't know who this person is?" Trevize said. "There are no signs anywhere. I think the people who erected this stone statue thought that he was too famous to need any identifying characters. But now... ’ He felt himself in danger of becoming increasingly cynical, and hastily turned his attention elsewhere.

Pelorat was looking up, and Trevize followed his gaze and saw some marks on the wall—that was an inscription, but Trevize couldn't understand it at all. "Inconceivable," said Pelorat, "perhaps twenty thousand years have passed, but here, where they happen to be protected from sunlight and moisture, they are still recognizable." "I don't understand it," Trevize said. "That's an ancient font, and it's still written in artistic calligraphy. Let me take a look... Seven... One... Two..." His voice became weaker and weaker, and suddenly he said loudly: "There are a total of Fifty names. It is said that there are fifty outer worlds in total, and this is the outer world guild hall, so I speculate that these are the names of the fifty outer worlds. Maybe it is based on the order of creation, Aurora ranks first, Solari is the last one. If you look closely, it has seven lines, the first six lines have seven names in each, and the last line has eight. It seems that they originally planned to form a seven by seven square, and later Adding Solari. My guess, buddy, was that Solari hadn't been remodeled and hadn't been inhabited by anyone when this list was made."

"What world are we on now? Can you see it?" Pelorat said: "You can notice that the fifth world in the third row, which is the nineteenth ranked world, has its name engraved larger than the other worlds. The list maker seems to be quite self-centered, especially to highlight Their own status. Besides..." "What's its name?" "According to the best judgment I can make, it should be called 'Mel Pomeranian,' a name completely unknown to me." "Is it possible to represent Earth?" Pelorat shook his head vigorously, but because he was covered by the helmet, the shaking was in vain. "In the ancient legends, the earth has dozens of different names. Gaia is one of them, as you know, and so are Tainin, Erda, etc., and they are all short. I don't know the earth. There are longer aliases, and don't even know of any aliases that come close to the short form of Mel Pomeranian." "Then we are on Melpomenia, which is not Earth." "That's right. In addition - as I was about to say just now - in addition to the larger font size, there is an even better proof that the coordinates of Mel Pomerania are (O, O, O). Generally speaking, This coordinate refers to its own planet." "Coordinates?" Trevize was stunned for a moment, "There are also coordinates on this list?" "There are three numbers next to each world, I think those are the coordinates, otherwise what else?" Trevize didn't answer.He opened a small sack on the right side of the spacesuit, and took out an ingenious device connected to the sack with wires.He brought the device closer to his eyes and carefully adjusted the focus on the inscription on the wall.Normally this would only take a few seconds, but with his fingers wrapped in his space suit, the job became extremely taxing. "A camera?" Pelorat asked extra. "It feeds images directly into the spacecraft's computer," Trevize replied. He snapped a few shots from different angles and said, "Wait a minute! I need to stand taller. Do me a favor, Janov." Pelorat clasped his hands tightly, forming a stirrup shape, but Trevize shook his head. "That can't support my weight, you have to get down." Pelorat struggled to do as he said, Trevize stuffed the camera back into the bag, stepped on Pelorat's shoulders with the same effort, and then climbed up to the base of the stone statue.He shook the statue cautiously to test its firmness, then stepped on the statue's bent knee, using it as a stepping stone, and thrust himself up to catch the shoulder of the broken arm.He stuck his toes into the unevenness of the stone statue's chest, and slowly climbed up. After panting several times, he finally sat on the stone statue's shoulders.To those long-gone ancients, the statue was an object of reverence, and Trevize's actions seemed sacrilege.The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, so he tried to sit as lightly as possible. "You'll fall and hurt yourself," cried Pelorat anxiously. "I won't fall and get hurt, but you might deafen me." After speaking, Trevize took out the camera again.After taking a few photos, he put the camera back in place and carefully climbed down until his feet were on the base before jumping to the ground.The shock was apparently fatal, and the statue's other arm instantly fell off, falling to a small pile of rubble at its feet.There was no sound at all during the whole process. Trevize froze in place.His first impulse was to find a place to hide as soon as possible before the administrator came to arrest him.It was unimaginable, he reflected afterwards, how in such a situation—accidentally breaking a seemingly precious thing—one could instantly return to childhood.Although this feeling only lasted for a while, it touched the depths of his heart. Pelorat's voice sounded weak, as if he had witnessed or even abetted an act of vandalism.Still, he managed to say something reassuring: "It's—it doesn't matter, Grant, it's crumbling anyway." He approached the rubble-strewn pedestal and floor, as if to prove it.He just stretched out his hand, ready to pick up a larger fragment, but suddenly said: "Glenn, come here." Trevize walked over, and Pelorat pointed to a piece of broken stone on the ground, which turned out to be part of the good arm. "What is that?" asked Pelorat. Trevize took a closer look, it was a fluffy thing, bright green in color.He wiped it with his fingers wrapped in the space suit, and it scraped off without any effort. "Looks very much like moss," Trevize said. "Is it what you call a life that lacks a soul?" "I'm not entirely sure to what extent they lack minds. I guess Bliss will insist that this thing is conscious too—but she'll claim that even this rock is conscious." Pelorat said, "Do you think it is the moss that breaks the rock?" Trevize said: "I have no doubt that they are accomplices. This world has plenty of sunlight and some moisture. Half of the atmosphere is water vapor, in addition to nitrogen and inert gases. But there is only a little carbon dioxide, so would make people think that there is no plant life-but the reason for the low carbon dioxide content may also be that it is almost completely incorporated into the surface of the rock. If the rock contains some carbonate, perhaps the moss will use it by secreting acid. It decomposes and reuses the carbon dioxide it produces. Of the remaining life on this planet, they are probably the most dominant one." "It's really interesting," said Pelorat. "That's true," Trevize said, "but it's of limited interest. Coordinates in the outer world are actually more interesting, but what we really want are Earth coordinates. If Earth coordinates aren't here, maybe hidden somewhere else in the building, or It's in another building. Come on, Janov." "But you know..." said Pelorat. "Okay, okay," Trevize said impatiently: "Let's talk about it later. We have to search and see what clues this building can provide. The temperature is getting higher and higher—" He He looked at the small temperature scale attached to the back of his left hand, "Come on, Janov." They searched one by one with a calm pace, taking their steps lightly as much as possible.It's not that they're worried about making a noise, or being overheard, but they're a little embarrassed, lest they cause a shock that could cause further damage. They kicked up some dust and left many footprints.In the thin air, the dust raised up a little, and then quickly fell back to the ground. Occasionally, passing certain dark corners, one of them would silently point out more growing moss.There seemed to be some comfort in finding life here, no matter how low-level.In turn, the eerie, suffocating feeling of walking in a dead world is somewhat relieved.Especially in a world like this, surrounded by human relics, there was a sophisticated civilization here long before it was shown. Then Pelorat said: "I think this must be a library." Trevize looked around curiously. First, he saw some bookshelves. After a closer look, the things beside him that he thought were just decorations turned out to be books.He cautiously tried to pick one up, only to find that they were thick and sticky, and realized that they were just boxes.He fumbled open a box and saw several discs inside.The discs were thick too, and he didn't reach out to touch them, but they seemed very fragile. "It's unbelievably primitive," he said. "Thousands of years ago," Pelorat said apologetically, as if defending the ancient Melpomenians against the charge of their technological backwardness. Trevize pointed to the back of a film book, where some ancient cursive characters were blurred. "Is that the title? What's it called?" Pelorat studied it. "I'm not sure, old friend. But I think there's a word in it that refers to microscopic life, maybe 'microbes.' I guess those are microbiological terms, and I don't understand even the galactic standard language." .” "It's possible." Trevize said ruefully, "Even if we could read, it probably wouldn't help us at all. We're not interested in bacteria—do me a favor, Janov, browse through these books, see See if there are any interesting titles. I can just check the reading machine while you do this." "Are these the reading machines?" said Pelorat incredulously.He's referring to squat cubes with sloping screens and a curved protrusion that might support an elbow, or hold an electronic clipboard—if Mel Pomeranian had one too. this device. "If this is a library, there must be some kind of reading machine, and this one looks a lot like it," Trevize said. He wiped off the dust on the screen very carefully, and immediately felt a sigh of relief. No matter what material this screen is made of, at least it will turn into powder without touching it.He fiddled with the controls lightly, one after the other, but nothing happened.He tried other reading machines again, changing one after another, but he still couldn't get any results. He is not surprised that even though the air is thin and these devices are not affected by water vapor, so that they can still function normally after 20,000 years, the power source is still a big problem.There is always a way to dissipate the stored energy, no matter how to prevent it, it is useless.This fact arises from the ubiquitous and irresistible second law of thermodynamics. Pelorat came up behind him and called, "Glenn." "what?" "I found a film book..." "What kind?" "I think it's about the history of spaceflight." "Great--but if I can't get the reader started, it won't be of any use to us." He clenched his hands into fists, looking very frustrated. "We can take the film back to the spacecraft." "I don't know how to read it with our reader, it won't fit in at all, and our scanning system must be incompatible." "But is it really necessary to go to such trouble, Grant? What if we..." "It is necessary, Janov. Don't bother me now, I'm trying to decide what to do. I can try to charge the reader, maybe that's the only thing it lacks." "Where are you going to get your electricity?" "Hmm—" Trevize took out the two sidearms, looked at them a few times, and then put the hands back into the leather case.Then he opened the shell of the nerve whip with a "snap", checked the energy supply indicator, and found that it was fully loaded. Trevize dropped to the floor, reached for the back of the reader (he'd been assuming that was the reader), and tried to push it forward.The machine moved forward a little, and he began to work on his new discovery. One of the cables must be supplying power, the one that went to the wall, of course, but he couldn't find an obvious plug or connector. (Even the most natural things are confusing, how should he face this ancient alien culture?) He gave the cable a tug, tried a little harder, turned the cable one way, then the other.He pressed the wall near the cable, and then the cable next to the wall.Then he diverted his attention and began to study the half-hidden back of the reading machine diligently, with the same fruitless result. So he pressed the floor with one hand to get up, but the moment he stood up straight, he pulled the cable up.He didn't know exactly which action had ripped it off. The cable doesn't appear to be disconnected or torn, and the end appears to be fairly flat, with a small smooth round hole where it used to attach to the wall. Pelorat said softly, "Glenn, can I..." Trevize waved him decisively. "Shut up now, Janov, please!" He suddenly noticed something green sticking to the crease of his left glove, which must have been the moss that had been picked up from the back of the reading machine just now, and it had been crushed.The glove was a little damp from it, but it dried quickly before his eyes, and the green spots gradually turned brown. He turned his attention to the cable, examining the ripped end carefully.Sure enough, there are two small holes in there, which can accommodate two wires. He sat down on the floor again, opened the power box of the Neuro Whip, carefully removed a wire, and pulled it apart with a "click".Then he slowly and lightly pushed the wire into the hole, pushing until it would go no further.When he tried to pull it out gently, he found that he couldn't pull it out, as if he was caught by something.His first instinct was to pull it out, but he resisted the urge.He removed another wire and pushed in another opening.In this way, a circuit must be formed, which can transmit power to the reader. "Janov," he said, "you've seen all kinds of film books, and see if you can get that book in there." "It's really necessary..." "Come on, Janov, you're always asking irrelevant questions. We only have such a little time. I don't want to go back in the middle of the night when the temperature is unbearably low." "It must be so," said Pelorat, "but..." "Okay," Trevize said, "if this is the history of spaceflight, it's going to start on Earth, because spaceflight was first invented on Earth—let's see if it works now." Pelorat put the film book into the obvious slot, and his movements were a bit exaggerated.Then he began to study the markings next to the various control buttons, looking for any operating instructions. Trevize, who was waiting, whispered (partly to ease his nervousness): "I think there must be robots in this world-everywhere; obviously in good condition: shining in a near-vacuum environment ..the problem is that their electricity is also long gone. Even with a new charge, are their brains intact? The levers and gears may last for thousands of years, but what about the microswitches and subatomic springs in their brains? Their brains must be broken lost, even if it is still intact, how much do they know about the earth? And they..." Pelorat said: "The reading machine is working, brother, look here." In the dim light, the reader's screen began to flicker, but the brightness was quite weak.Trevize slightly increased the power supplied by the nerve whip, and the screen immediately turned bright.Due to the thin air, the place where the sun directly falls is dim, so the room is dim and dark, and the screen is brighter by contrast. The screen continued to flicker on and off, occasionally passing shadows. "Need to adjust the focus," Trevize said. "I know," said Pelorat, "that this seems to be the best I can get. The film itself must be damaged." The shadows come and go quickly now, and every so often, there seems to be a comic-like blur.Later, the picture became clear for a while, and then dimmed again. "Flip back and stay on that screen, Janov," Trevize said. Pelorat was already trying to do that, but he went backwards so much that he had to play it forwards, and finally found the image and stuck it on the screen. Trevize was eager to see what it was about, but then said in a frustrated tone, "Can you read it, Janov?" "I don't fully understand." Pelorat said while squinting at the screen. "About Aurora, I can see that. I think it's talking about the first hyperspace expedition—'The First Swarm,' it says." He continued to look down, but the picture became blurred and dim again.Finally he said: "The fragments I can understand seem to be all about the deeds of the outer world, and I can't find any records about the earth." Trevize said bitterly, "No, there won't be. Like Trantor, this world is wiped out of Earth data—turn this thing off." "But it doesn't matter..." Pelorat said while turning off the reader. "Because we can try our luck at other libraries? The other places have been cleaned up, too. Everywhere is the same. Do you know—" Trevize had been looking at Pelorat while speaking, and now suddenly His eyes widened, with a look of horror and horror on his face. "What's up with your panel?" he asked. Pelorat naturally raised his gloved hand, touched his panel, and stretched that hand out in front of his eyes. "What is this?" His voice was confused.Then, looking at Trevize, he exclaimed in surprise, "There are also some strange things on your panel, Grant." Trevize's first reaction was to look for a mirror to take a picture, but he couldn't find one nearby, and even if there was one, he still needed a light.He murmured, "Go to a sunny place, will you?" Trevize half pushed and half pulled Pelorat to the nearest window, and the two of them were under a beam of sunlight.Although the spacesuit had good insulation, he could still feel the heat of the sun on his back. He said, "Face the sun, Janov, and close your eyes." He saw immediately what was wrong with Pelorat's panel.At the junction of the glass panel and the metal space suit, dense moss is growing, so that there is a circle of green fluff around the panel.Trevize knew that he was in exactly the same situation. He scraped around Pelorat's panel with a gloved finger, and some of the moss fell off, and green flakes clung to his glove.Trevize spread them out in the sun, and he could see that although they were shiny, they seemed to harden and dry quickly.He tried again, and this time the moss was dry and brittle, falling off when he touched it, and gradually turning brown.So he began to wipe vigorously around Pelorat's panel. "Do it for me too, Janov." After a while, he asked again: "Do I look clean? Very well, and so do you. Let's go, I don't think there is any need to stay here any longer." In this airless abandoned city, the heat of the sun has become unbearable.The shimmering light of the stone buildings almost stings the eye.Trevize squinted to look at the buildings, and walked on the shaded side of the street as much as possible.He stopped at a crack in the facade of a building, wide enough for his gloved pinky finger to slip through.He stuck his finger in, pulled it back to look, and murmured, "Moss." Then, deliberately walking to the end of the shadow, he stretched out his mossy little finger and exposed it to the sun for a while. He said: "Carbon dioxide is the key, wherever you can get carbon dioxide - decaying rocks, anywhere - they have a way to grow. We're going to produce a lot of carbon dioxide, you know, maybe on this dying planet The most abundant source of carbon dioxide. I think a small amount of this gas escapes the edge of the panel." "So the moss will grow there." "right." The journey back to the spaceship seemed long, much longer than at dawn, and certainly much hotter.But when they got to the spaceship, it was still in the shadows, which Trevize's calculations were at least correct. Pelorat said, "Look!" Trevize saw it, a ring of green moss around the edge of the main gate. "Where is it leaking too?" Lorat asked. "Of course. I'm sure it's just a little bit, but this moss seems to be the best indicator of trace carbon dioxide. I've never heard of any instrument that is more sensitive than them. Their spores must be everywhere, even where there are only a few molecules of carbon dioxide." , those spores will germinate too." He tuned the radio to the wavelength used by the spaceship, and said, "Bliss, can you hear me?" Bao Qisi's voice rang in the ears of both of them. "Okay, are you ready to come in? Is there any gain?" "We're right outside," Trevize said. "But don't open the airlock, we'll open it from the outside. Repeat, don't open the airlock." "why?" "Bao Qisi, do as I say first, okay? We can have a good discussion later." Trevize drew his handgun, carefully turned it down to the lowest power, then stared at the weapon, hesitant because he had never used the lowest power.He looked around, but couldn't find anything more fragile to test. In desperation, he aimed his hand mill at the nearby rocky hill in which the Farstar perched in its shadow—and the target didn't turn red hot.He touched the shot site naturally—does it feel warm?He couldn't be sure because of his space suit of insulating material. He hesitated again, and then thought that the heat resistance of the outer shell of the spaceship should be of the same order of magnitude as that of the hill.So he pointed the hand mill at the outer edge of the gate, quickly pressed the trigger, and held his breath at the same time. The bryophytes within a few centimeters will turn yellowish brown.He raised his hand and waved near the discolored moss, and there was a slight breeze in the thin air, but even a slight breeze was enough to blow the scorched yellow residue into the air. "Is it effective?" Pelorat asked anxiously. "It worked," Trevize said. "I switched the hand mill to a low-energy hotline." He started spraying hot wire around the airlock, and the bright green deposits changed color, and there was no trace of green anymore.Then he knocked on the main gate to shake off the remaining attachments, and a cloud of brown dust fell to the ground—because this cloud of dust was so fine, it was still floating in the thin air for a long time due to the tiny amount of gas. "I think the gate can be opened now." After Trevize finished speaking, he used the controller on his wrist to shoot a set of radio wave codes, and activated the opening mechanism from inside the spaceship, and a gap appeared in the gate.When the gate was halfway open, Trevize said, "Don't waste time, Janov, get in now—don't wait for the pedal, climb in." Trevize himself followed closely behind, and kept spraying the edge of the gate with a hand mill that was turned down to a lower intensity, and then disinfected the pedal that was put down in the same way.Then he gave the signal to close the gate, while continuing to spray the hot wire until the gate was completely closed. Trevize said, "We're in the airlock, Bliss. We'll be here for a few minutes, and you better not do anything!" Bao Qisi's voice came over. "Give me a hint, how are you all? How is Pei?" Pelorat said, "Here I am, Precise, and I'm all right, there's nothing to worry about." "It's fine if you say so, Pei, but there must be an explanation later, and I hope you understand this." "It's a deal," Trevize said, turning on the light in the airlock. Two men in spacesuits stood facing each other. Trevize said, "We're going to get as much air out of this planet as possible, so we're going to have to be patient for a while." "Where's the air in the spaceship? Do you want to let it in?" "Not yet. I'm as eager as you are to get out of this spacesuit, Janov. But first I want to make sure we've completely ruled out any spores that came in with us, or stuck to us." Taking advantage of the unsatisfactory lighting effect of the airlock light, Trevize aimed the hand mill at the inner seam between the gate and the hull, sprayed the hot wire along the floor in a very regular way, then walked up, circled around and then returned to the floor. "Now it's your turn, Janov." Pelorat squirmed uneasily, and Trevize added, "You'll probably feel a little hot, but it shouldn't be any worse. If you start to feel sick, just let me know." He aimed the invisible light beam at Pelorat's panel and sprayed it, especially the edge, and then gradually expanded to other parts of the spacesuit. "Raise both arms, Janov," he murmured orderly, and then added: "Put your arms on my shoulders and raise one leg. I have to clean the soles of your shoes. Now get the other." A foot—do you find it too hot?" Pelorat said, "It's not quite like basking in the cool breeze, Grenn." "Okay, now let me taste what my prescription feels like, and spray it all over my body." "I've never held a hand mill." "You gotta hold it, hold it tight like this, press this little button with your thumb - and press the holster hard at the same time, yes, that's it. Now spray on my faceplate, keep moving slowly, Jano Dude, don't stay in one place for too long. Then spray on the rest of the helmet, then work your way down to the cheeks and neck." Trevize kept giving orders, and when his whole body was sprayed with heat, and his body was covered with sticky and greasy sweat, he took back his wristwatch and checked the energy indicator. "More than half of it has been used." After speaking, he began to spray the inside of the airlock systematically, spraying each bulkhead back and forth several times.He didn't put the mill back in its holster until it ran out of power and became hot to the touch from the rapid and prolonged discharge. Only then did he send out the signal to enter the spaceship.As the inner door opened, there was a hiss immediately, and the air rushed into the airlock, refreshing him.The coolness of the air and the effect of convection can quickly take away the heat of the space suit, and the efficiency is many times higher than that of simple radiation.He did feel the cooling effect right away, maybe it was just an imagination, but imaginary or not, he welcomed the feeling very much. "Take off your spacesuit, Janov, and leave it inside the airlock," Trevize said. "If you don't mind," said Pelorat, "the first thing I want to do is to take a good shower." "That's not the first priority. In fact, before that, even before you relieve the bladder pressure, I'm afraid you'll have to talk to Bliss first." Of course Bliss was waiting for them, with a look of concern on her face.Feilong hid behind her and peeked out, holding Bao Qisi's left arm tightly with both hands. "What happened?" Bao Qisi asked in a stern tone, "What are you doing?" "To prevent contagion," Trevize replied sarcastically. “所以我要打开紫外辐射灯。取出墨镜戴上，请勿耽搁时间。” 等到紫外线加入壁光之后，崔维兹将湿透的衣服一件件脱下来，每件都用力甩了甩，还拿在手中翻来覆去转了半天。 “只是为了预防万一，”他说：“你也这样做，詹诺夫——还有，宝绮思，我全身都得剥个精光，如果那会让你不自在，请到隔壁舱房去。” 宝绮思说：“我既不会不自在，也绝不会尴尬。你的模样我心里完全有数，我当然不会看到什么新鲜东西——是什么样的传染病？” “只是些小东西，但如果任其自由发展的话，”崔维兹故意用轻描淡写的语气说：“会给人类带来极大的灾害，我这么想。” 一切终于告一段落，紫外辐射灯也已功成身退。当初在端点星，崔维兹首度踏上远星号的时候，太空艇中就备有许多操作说明与指导手册，根据这些录成胶卷的复杂说明，紫外辐射灯的用途正是消毒杀菌。不过崔维兹想到，如果乘客来自流行日光浴的世界，这种装置会构成一种诱惑，让人想用它将皮肤晒成时髦的古铜色，而且想必有人会这么做。不过无论如何使用，这种光线总是具有消毒杀菌的效果。 此时太空艇已进入太空，崔维兹尽量朝梅尔波美尼亚的太阳接近，在不使大家感到难过的前提下，让太空艇在半空翻腾扭转，以确定外壳全部受到紫外线的充分照射。 最后，他们才将弃置在气闸中的两套太空衣救回来，并且做了详细检查，直到连崔维兹都满意为止。 ． “如此大费周章，”宝绮思终于忍不住说道：“只是为了苔藓。你是不是这么说的，崔维兹？苔藓？” “我管它们叫苔藓，”崔维兹说：“是因为它们使我联想到那种植物。然而，我并不是植物学家。我所能做的描述，只是它们的绿色鲜艳异常，也许能藉着非常少的光能生存。” “为什么是非常少的光能？” “那些苔藓对紫外线极敏感，不能在阳光直射的场所生长，甚至无法存活。它们的孢子散布各处，而在阴暗的角落、雕像的裂缝中、建筑物的基部表面，只要是有二氧化碳的地方，它们都能生长繁殖，靠着散射光子携带的能量维生。” 宝绮思说：“我觉得你认为它们有危险。” “很有可能。假如我们进来的时候，有些孢子附着在我们身上，或者被我们卷进来，它们会发现这里的光线充足，又不含有害的紫外线，此外还有大量水分，以及源源不绝的二氧化碳。” “我们空气中的二氧化碳含量，只有百分之零点零三。”宝绮思说。 “对它们而言太丰富了——我们呼出的空气则含有百分之四。万一孢子在我们鼻孔或皮肤生长呢？万一它们分解破坏我们的食物呢？万一它们制造出致命的毒素呢？即使我们千辛万苦将它们消灭，只要还有少数孢子存活，被我们带到另一颗行星后，它们也足以长满那个世界，再从那里转移到其他世界。谁知道它们会造成多大灾害？” 宝绮思摇了摇头。“一种不同形式的生命，不一定就代表有危险，你太轻易杀生了。” “这是盖娅说的话。”崔维兹说。 “当然是，但我希望你认为我说得有理。那些苔藓刚好适应这个世界的环境，正因为少量的光线对它们有利，大量的光线却会杀死它们：同理，它们能利用偶尔飘来的几丝二氧化碳，但太多也许就缓箢它们死亡。所以说，可能除了梅尔波美尼亚之外，它们无法在其他世界生存。” “你要我在这件事上赌运气吗？”崔维兹追问。 Bliss shrugged. “好啦，别生气，你的立场我明白。身为孤立体，你除了那样做，也许根本没有其他选择。” 崔维兹正想回嘴，可是菲龙清脆、高亢的声音突然插进来，说的竟是她自己的语言。 崔维兹问裴洛拉特：“她在说些什么？” 裴洛拉特答道：“菲龙说的是……” 然而，菲龙仿佛这才想起她的母语不容易懂，遂改口说：“你们在那里有没有看到健比在那里？” 她的发音咬字十分仔细，宝绮思高兴得露出微笑。“她的银河标准语是不是说得很好？几乎没花什么时间学。” 崔维兹低声道：“要是由我讲会越讲越糊涂，还是你跟她解释吧，宝绮思，说我们没在那颗行星上发现机器人。” “我来解释，”裴洛拉特说：“来吧，菲龙。”他用一只手臂温柔地搂住那孩子的肩头，“到我们的舱房来，我拿另一本书给你看。” “书？关于健比的吗？” “不能算是……”舱门便在他们身后关上了。 “你可知道，”崔维兹一面不耐烦地目送他们的背影，一面说：“我们扮演这孩子的保姆，简直是在浪费时间。” “浪费时间？这样做哪里妨碍到你寻找地球了，崔维兹？完全没有。反之，扮演保母可以建立沟通管道，减轻她的恐惧，带给她关爱，这些成就难道一点都不值得吗？” “这又是盖娅说的话。” “没错。”宝绮思说：“那么让我们谈点实际的。我们造访了三个古老的外世界，结果一无所获。” Trevize nodded. "Exactly." “事实上，我们发现每个世界都相当凶险，对不对？在奥罗拉上有凶猛的野狗；在索拉利上有怪异危险的人类：而在梅尔波美尼亚上，则存在着具有潜在威胁的苔藓。这显然代表说，一个世界一旦孤立起来，不论上面有没有人类，都会对星际社会构成威胁。” “你不能将这点视为通则。” “三次全都应验，由不得你不信。” “你相信的又是什么呢，宝绮思？” “我会告诉你，但请敞开胸怀听我说。如果银河中有数千万个互动的世界，当然这也是实际情形；每一个都由孤立体组成，事实上也正是如此，那么在每个世界上，人类都居于主宰的地位，能将他们的意志加在非人生命型态上、加在无生命的地理环境上，甚至加诸彼此身上。所以说，这种银河其实就是个非常原始、笨拙，而且功能不当的盖娅星系，是个联合体的雏型。你明白我的意思吗？” “我的白你想要说什么。但这不表示当你说完之后，我会同意你说的话。” “只要你愿意听就奸，同下同意随你高兴，但是请注意听。原始盖哑星系是唯一能运作的银河，银河越是远离原始型态、越是接近盖娅星系就越好。银河帝国是个强势原始盖娅星系的尝试，在它分崩离析后，时局便开始迅速恶化。后来，又不断有人企图强化原始盖娅星系，基地联邦就是一个例子。此外骡的帝国也是，第二基地计划中的帝国也是。但纵使没有这些帝国或联邦，纵使整个银河陷入动乱，那也是连成一气的动乱；每个世界都和其他世界保持互动，即使只是满怀敌意的互动。这样子的银河，本身还是个联合体，因此不是最坏的情况。” “那么，什么才是最坏的情况？” “你自己知道答案是什么，崔维兹，你已经亲眼目睹。如果一个住人世界完全解体，居民成了真正的孤立体，又如果它和其他人类世界失去一切互动，它就会朝向——恶性发展。” “像癌一样？” “没错，索拉利不就是现成的例子吗？它和所有的世界对立。而在那个世界上，所有的人也都处于对立状态，你全都看到了。假如人类完全消失，最后一点纪律也会荡然无存，互相对立的情势将变得毫无章法，就像那些野狗；或者只剩下天然的力量，就像那些苔藓。我想你懂了吧，我们越接近盖娅星系，社会就越美好。所以，为何要在尚未达到盖娅星系的时候，就半途而废呢？” 崔维兹默默瞪着宝绮思，好一会儿才说：“这的确是个好问题。可是，你为什么假设药量和药效永远成正比；如果用一点有好处，多量便会更好，全部服下则最好？你自己不也指出，那些苔藓或许只能适应微量的二氧化碳，过多的话就会致死吗？一个身高两公尺的人比一公尺高的人有利，可是同样比三公尺高的人要好。如果一只老鼠膨胀成像只大象，对它一点益处都没有，那样它根本活下下去；同理，大象缩成老鼠的大小也一样糟糕。” “每样东西，大至恒星小至原子，都有一个自然的尺度、自然的复杂度，以及某种最佳的特质，而生物与活生生的社会也必定如此。我不是说旧银河帝国合乎理想，我当然也看得出基地联邦的缺陷，可是我不会因此就说：由于完全孤立不好，完全统一便是好的。这两种极端也许同样可怕，而旧式银河帝国不论多么不完美，却可能是我们能力的极限。” 宝绮思摇了摇头。“我怀疑你自己都不相信自己的话，崔维兹。你是不是想要辩称，既然病毒和人类同样无法令人满意，你就希望锁定某种介于其间的生物——例如黏菌？”， “不，但我或许可以辩称，既然病毒和超人同样无法令人满意，我就希望锁定某种介于其间的生物——例如凡夫俗子。不过我们根本没有争论的必要，等我找到地球之后，我就能得到解答。在梅尔波美尼亚，我们发现了其他四十七个外世界的坐标。” “你全部会去造访？” “每个都要去，如果非这样不可。” “到每个世界去冒险？” “是的，如果只有那样才能找到地球。” 裴洛拉特早已回来，将菲龙一个人留在他的舱房。他似乎有话要说，却夹在宝绮思与崔维兹的快速舌战中无法开口。当双方你来我往的时候，他只好轮流对着两人干瞪眼。 “那得花多少时间？”宝绮思问。 “不论得花多少时间。”崔维兹说：“但我们也许在下一站就能找到所需的线索。” “或者全都徒劳无功。” “那要等全部找完才知道。” 此时，裴洛拉特终于逮到机会插一句嘴。“何必找呢，葛兰？我们已经有答案了。” 崔维兹原本朝裴洛拉特不耐烦地挥了挥手，挥到一半突然打住，转过头来茫然问道：“什么？” “我说我们已经有答案了。在梅尔波美尼亚上我就一直想告诉你，我至少试了五次，你却过于专注手头的工作……” “我们有了什么答案？你到底在说些什么？” “地球啊，我想我们已经知道地球在哪里了。”