Chapter 4 third quarter

Leonor Cordel has been the head of the Security Service since the mayor of Burano came to power.It wasn't a tiresome thing, he liked to say so from time to time, but of course no one knew if he was telling the truth.He doesn't look like a liar, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. He seemed quite amiable, which really helped him a lot in his work.He was below average height and above average weight, with a bushy beard (very few citizens of the Terminus do) but mostly gray by now: his eyes were The light brown, drab uniform has a primary-color identification mark embroidered on the chest.

Now he said, "Sit down, Trevize, and let's try to be friendly." "A friendly attitude? With a traitor?" Trevize hooked his two thumbs around his belt and stood there motionless. "You're just accused of being a traitor, we haven't progressed to the point where prosecution equals conviction, even if the charge comes from the mayor himself, which I don't believe we've ever done. And my job, is to do what I can Give you your innocence. I would very much like to have this matter resolved before any harm has been done—perhaps your dignity being the only exception. No trial, and I hope you agree with that."

But Trevize did not soften, he said: "Forget it, Mr. Director, we don't have to be good to each other. Your job is to treat me as a traitor and use it as a premise to interrogate me. But I am not a traitor, I I also think that there is no need to defend myself, and there is no need to satisfy you, so why do you keep trying to prove that you are thinking of me?" "In principle, I have absolutely no intention of doing so. But the reality is cruel. Now the power is on my side, but you have nothing. Therefore, the right to ask questions belongs to me, not to you. If one day, someone suspects me If I am disloyal or intend to betray, I believe that my position will be replaced by someone immediately, and then someone will interrogate me. At that time, I sincerely hope that the person who interrogates me will treat me as I treat you."

"What are you going to do with me?" "I believe that I will be like a friend and a peer, if you can reciprocate." "Should I buy you a drink?" Trevize taunted him deliberately. "Maybe it won't be too late to invite you in the future. Now, please sit down first. I say this as a friend." Trevize hesitated for a moment, then sat down.Any hostility seemed suddenly meaningless. "What now?" he asked. "Now, may I ask you to answer some of my questions carefully with a sincere attitude, without any concealment or evasion at all?"

"What if I don't? What threats do I face? Psychic detectors?" "I don't believe so." "I also believe that it is not possible. You have not dared to use that method against a congressman. If you do that, the only result will be to prove my innocence. After I am acquitted, I will make your political life In the end, maybe even the mayor has to step down. Thinking about it this way, maybe it's worth asking you to use the mind detector to punish me." Cordel frowned, shook his head slightly, and said, "Oh, you can't, you can't. It is likely to cause serious damage to your brain, and sometimes you have to recuperate for a long time before it returns to normal. You can't afford to take this risk , absolutely not worth it. You also know that sometimes, if you forcibly use the Psychic Detector..."

"Are you threatening me, Cordel?" "I'm just talking about the facts, Trevize—please don't get me wrong, Mr. Senator. If I have to use the Psychic Detector, I will never hesitate. Even if you are later proved innocent, you have no right to recourse to any compensation. " "What exactly do you want to know?" Cordel turned on a switch on the desk, and then said: "My questions and your answers will be recorded in the form of video. I don't want you to take the initiative to say anything, and I don't want any digressions. Don't do it now, I'm sure you know what I mean."

"I understand that, you will only record the parts you want." Trevize said in a contemptuous tone. "Yes, but please don't get me wrong. I won't distort a word you say, but I have the right to choose, it's that simple. You know what words don't work for me, and I believe you will not waste our mutual time." "Just wait and see." "Senator Trevize, we have reason to think," his tone suddenly became very formal, indicating that he had started the video. "You have publicly stated on many occasions that you do not believe in the existence of the Seldon Project."

Trevize replied slowly: "If I have indeed made a public statement, and have said it on many occasions, what else do you need me to say?" "Please don't waste your time on sophistry, Mr. Congressman. You should know that all I need is for you to confess this matter in your own eyes without any influence. In our recording, your voice Vines can prove it all." "I suppose it's because of any hypnotic effect, chemical or otherwise, that changes my voiceprint?" "There will be fairly noticeable changes." "And you're just eager to prove that you didn't use any illegal means to interrogate a congressman? I don't blame you for that."

"I'm glad you understand, Mr. Councilor. Let us proceed then—you have publicly stated on numerous occasions that you do not believe in the existence of the Seldon Project. Do you admit it?" "What we call the Seldon Project, most people give it great significance, but I don't believe it." Trevize spoke slowly, with extremely cautious words. "This statement is too vague, could you please elaborate?" "I mean, it's generally accepted that Hari Seldon used the mathematics of psychohistory to calculate the future of humanity in minute detail five hundred years ago; It was designed by him long ago, and it is the most probable path from the First Galactic Empire to the Second Galactic Empire. But I think this kind of concept is too naive, and it cannot be true at all.”

"You mean, in your opinion, Hari Seldon never existed?" "I definitely didn't mean that, of course there is him." "Then he made no contribution to the science of psychohistory?" "No, of course I didn't mean that either. Listen, Commissioner, if I had had the chance, I could have explained the matter to Parliament, and I can explain it to you now. What I have to say is The reasoning is actually very obvious..." Although the chief of security said nothing, he had apparently turned off the video recording device. Trevize stopped talking immediately, frowned and said, "Why did you turn it off?"

"You're wasting my time, Mr. Congressman. I didn't ask you to speak." "You just asked me to explain my point of view, didn't you?" "Absolutely not. I just ask you to answer the questions in a simple, clear, and direct way. Answer my questions without digressing. As long as you do this, the work will be over quickly." Trevize said: "What you mean is that you want to induce me to make some statements, which will be used as supporting evidence for the official statement, proving that I have indeed admitted the crimes you have made." "We only ask you to state the truth, and I can assure you that we will never take it out of context. Please, let me try again, we were talking about Hari Seldon just now." The video device was turned on again, and Cordel used the steady "Has he not contributed anything to the science of psychohistory?" he asked in a tone of voice. "Of course he developed the science we call psychohistory." Trevize could no longer hide his annoyance, and waved his hands angrily. "What do you mean by psychohistory - how do you define it?" "My God! Psychohistory is usually regarded as a branch of mathematics that specializes in the overall response of human groups to certain stimuli under certain conditions. In other words. In theory, it can predict social and historical changes." "You used the three words 'theoretically'. Are you skeptical of this definition from a professional mathematical point of view?" "No," Trevize said, "I'm not a psychohistorian. And every member of the Al Qaeda government, and every citizen of Terminus, isn't a psychohistorian, not even... " Cordel raised his right hand and said softly, "Mr. Congressman, please!" So Trevize had no choice but to shut up. Cordel added: "We all know that based on his analysis results, Hari Seldon designed the base as a springboard, and in the most efficient way, with the factors of the greatest probability and the shortest time course, to make the Galaxy itself The plan for the leap from the First Empire to the Second Empire. Do you have any reason to question this fact?" "I wasn't even born then," Trevize said sharply again, "how would I know?" "Are you sure he didn't do that?" "cannot." "Or, do you suspect that in the past five hundred years, whenever there was a historic crisis in the base, the full-screen image of Seldon that would inevitably appear was not the one established by Hari Seldon in the year before his death? Eve, recorded by himself?" "I thought, I can't deny that." "Do you think—would you like to say simply that you think this is a hoax at all, a deliberate hoax contrived by someone in the past for a particular purpose?" Trevize sighed, and replied, "No, I don't insist on that." "Then are you prepared to insist that the message conveyed by the image of Hari Seldon is a secret game played by someone?" "No, I have no reason to think that such a trick is possible, nor that it would be of any use." "I see. You just witnessed Seldon's reappearance. Don't you think his analysis—the analysis prepared five hundred years ago—doesn't quite match the actual situation today?" "On the contrary," Trevize said with a sudden refreshment. "It fits perfectly with the status quo." The mood of the other party seemed to have no effect on Cordel. "However, Mr. Congressman, after the appearance of Seldon's image, you still insist that the Seldon Project does not exist?" "Of course I insist. The reason why I insist that it does not exist is precisely because Seldon's prediction is too perfect..." Cordel turned off the machine again. "Mr. Congressman," he said, shaking his head violently, "you made me want to expunge this record. I just asked you if you still held on to that queer belief, and you gave me a bunch of reasons Come on. Let me repeat my question—" So he asked again: "However, Mr. Congressman, after the appearance of Seldon's image, you still insist that the Seldon Project does not exist?" "And how did you know? After the appearance of Seldon's image, no one had the opportunity to have a word with my old friend, Komp." "That's our guess, Mr. Congressman. And let's say you've answered 'Of course I do.' If you're willing to say it again, without automatically embellishing it, the question counts as asking It's over." "Of course I insist." Trevize replied in an extremely ironic tone. "Very well," Cordel said, "I'll help you choose a more natural-sounding 'Of course I do.' Thank you, Mr. Congressman." Then the video was switched off again. Trevize said, "Is that the end?" "The part I need is already done." "What you need is actually very obvious. It's just a set of question and answer records. You can publish this record to Terminus, and even spread it to every corner of the base federation ruled by Terminus, so that everyone knows that I wholeheartedly accept the Seldon plan." Legend. Later, if I make any more denials myself, you can use it to prove that I acted crazy, or completely insane." "Or, in the eyes of those radical people, your words and deeds will be regarded as treason. Because they all believe that the Seldon Project is an absolute guarantee for the security of the base. Maybe we don't need to make the record public just now, Councilor Trevize, If we can come to some kind of understanding with each other; but if it is really necessary, we will definitely let the whole Federation know." "Are you really that stupid, Your Excellency," Trevize said, frowning, "that's why you have no interest in what I really want to say?" "As a human being, I'm indeed quite interested. And given the right opportunity, I'd be more than happy to listen to you with a skeptical attitude. However, in my capacity as Chief of Security, I've now got all I need gone." "I want you to know that these records are of no use to you or to the mayor." "Strange, I take the exact opposite view. You can go now, of course, with guards escorting you along the way." "Where will I be taken?" Cordel just smiled. "Goodbye, Mr. Congressman. You have not been fully cooperating, but I never expected it to be, or I would be too unrealistic." After speaking, he held out his hand. Trevize got up slowly, ignoring him at all.He smoothed out the creases in his sash, and said, "You're just procrastinating. The inevitable will happen sooner or later. There must be someone who thinks the same as me, and there's always this Human. If I am imprisoned or killed, it will arouse everyone's curiosity and prompt everyone to suspect early. In any case, the truth and I will be the final winners." Cordel retracted his hand and slowly shook his head. "Honestly, Trevize," he said, "you're an idiot."