Chapter 22 first quarter

Trevize felt restless. He was sitting in the dining area with Pelorat, who had just finished lunch. Pelorat said: "We've only been in space for two days, but I've adapted quite well and felt very comfortable. Of course, I still miss the fresh air, nature, and everything on the ground. Weird! When those things When I'm around, I don't seem to notice. But with my chip, and your amazing computer, it's like having all my books with me, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. And, I I don't even have the slightest fear of being in space now, it's inexplicable!"

Trevize just responded vaguely, he was lowering his head in deep thought, not paying attention to everything outside. Pelorat said softly again: "I don't want to be nosy, Grant, but I don't think you're really listening. I know I'm not a particularly interesting person—it's always kind of boring, and you are. I know. But you seem to have something on your mind. Are we in trouble? You don't have to scruple to tell me anything. I don't think I can be of much help, but I will never panic, my dear fellow. " "Encountered trouble?" Trevize seemed to have come to his senses, and frowned slightly.

"I mean this spaceship. Since it's the latest model, I guess there might be something wrong." Pelorat forced a hesitant smile. Trevize shook his head violently, and replied, "I really shouldn't have given you such doubts, Janov. There's nothing wrong with this spaceship, it's acting perfectly, I'm just looking for hyperwave repeaters. " "Ah, I get it—but, I still don't get it, what is a hyperwave repeater?" "Well, let me explain to you, Janov. I have been in contact with Terminus, at least I can always be reached, and Terminus can reach us. They have been observing this spacecraft trajectory, so we know where we are now. Even if they didn't do it before, they can find us at any time. The method is very simple, just scan the particle in near space, and they can locate the position of any ship or meteoroid. They It can go a step further by detecting energy patterns, so not only can you tell the difference between a ship and a meteoroid, but you can also identify each ship because no two ships use energy in exactly the same way. Anyway, no matter what devices we turn on or off Or the device, the energy pattern of this spaceship has fixed characteristics. If the terminal star does not have the record of the energy pattern of a certain ship, it is of course impossible to identify its identity; on the contrary, like our spaceship, the terminal star It has a complete record on the Internet, so when it is detected, it can be identified immediately."

Pelorat said: "I have a feeling, Gulen, that the progress of civilization is nothing more than the strengthening of privacy restrictions." "You may have a point in saying that. However, sooner or later we must enter hyperspace, otherwise we will only be able to wander in space one or two parsecs away from the terminal star for the rest of our life, and can only carry out the minimum degree of interstellar travel. In hyperspace, our tracks in normal space become discontinuous leaps, and we can jump from one place to another in an instant, I mean, usually hundreds of parsecs in one fell swoop. We will suddenly appear in the very Far away, we would practically never be detected again due to the extreme uncertainty of changing bearings."

"I get it, it's not bad at all." "Unless, of course, they've pre-planted a hyper-repeater in the ship. That thing automatically sends a signal across hyperspace—a signal specific to this ship, so Terminus authorities can always know where we are." Where. This also answers your question, see. If so, we have nowhere to hide in the galaxy, no matter how many hyperspace jumps we make, it is impossible to avoid their pursuit." "But, Grant," Pelorat said softly, "don't we want base protection?" "Of course, Janov, but only when we ask for it. You just said that the progress of civilization represents the continuous deprivation of human privacy. Well, I don't want to be so progressive. I want freedom of action, not Will be found anytime, anywhere—unless I ask for protection. So, if this spaceship doesn't have hyperwave repeaters on board, I will feel better, a thousand times more comfortable."

"Did you find it, Grant?" "Not yet. If I find it, I should have a way to disable it." "If you saw it, would you recognize it at a glance?" "That's one of the difficulties at the moment. I might not recognize it at all. I know what a hyperwave repeater looks like, and I know how to test for suspicious objects, but this is a new type of spaceship, designed for special Designed for missions, the hyperwave repeater may have become a part of the machine, and it cannot be seen from the outside at all.” "Conversely, there may be no hyperwave repeater at all, so you can't find it no matter how hard you look."

"I don't dare to speak in a hurry, and I don't want to make any jumps until I figure it out." Pelorat showed a suddenly realized expression. "So that's why we're floating in space all the time, and I've been wondering why we haven't made the jump. I've heard some rumors about the jump, and to be honest, I'm a little nervous. I don't know when you're going to order my system Put on your seatbelt, or swallow a pill, or something like that." Trevize forced a smile. "Don't worry at all, it's not the old days. On this kind of ship, everything is left to the computer. You just give the command, and the computer will do everything. You won't notice what's going on. The only The change is just a sudden change in the space landscape. If you've seen the slides, you know how the projection changes when the slide jumps to the next one. Well, the jump feels like this."

"My God, can you feel nothing? Weird! I feel a little disappointed instead." "In my own experience, I've never felt anything, and none of the ships I've been on has ever been as good as this one. But then again, it's not because we haven't made the jump yet. The relationship between the hyperwave repeater, but we must be farther away from the terminal star, and also farther away from the sun. The farther we are from the huge celestial body, the easier it is to control the transition, and the easier it is to return to the predetermined ordinary space Coordinates. In an emergency, even if it is only two hundred kilometers away from the surface of the planet, sometimes you still have to take a risky leap. At this time, you can only pray that you are lucky enough to reach the destination safely. Because in the Milky Way, a safe space is more There are many more unsafe ones, and generally speaking, luck is not too bad. However, there are always some random variables that may cause you to appear millions of kilometers away from a huge star when you return to ordinary space, Even falling into the core of the galaxy, you will find that it has been scorched before you can blink your eyes. The farther we are from the various celestial bodies, the less the influence of those factors will be, and the less likely the unfortunate event will happen."

"If that's the case, I appreciate your caution, we don't need to rush to reincarnate." "That's right, especially before I act, I really want to find the superwave repeater first—or try to convince myself that the superwave repeater doesn't exist." Trevize seemed to have fallen into meditation again, and Pelorat had to raise his voice slightly in order to overcome the mental barrier. "How much time do we have?" "what?" "I mean, if you don't take into account the hyperwave repeater, when are you going to jump, my dear brother?"

"According to our current speed and trajectory, I estimate that I will wait until the fourth day after departure, and I will use the computer to calculate the correct time." "Okay, so you have two more days to spare. May I offer a suggestion?" "Please say." "I've learned something in my work—of course my work is very different from yours, but the reason may be analogous. My experience is that if you try to dig into a corner on a certain issue, the result will be self-defeating. Why not put Take it easy and talk to me about something else, so that your subconscious mind, without the pressure of intensive thinking, may help you solve this problem."

Trevize first showed a bored look, and then he burst into laughter. "Well, why not? Tell me, Professor, why are you so interested in the Earth? How did you get that queer notion that all human beings arose from a particular planet?" "Ah!" Pelorat nodded slowly, immersed in memories. "That's a long story, starting more than thirty years ago. When I first entered college, I originally wanted to be a biologist, because I was particularly interested in the variation of species in different worlds. This kind of variation, you You should know—well, maybe you don't, so I don't mind if I start at the beginning. The variation is actually very small, and all life forms across the galaxy, at least everything we've come into contact with so far, are based on Water-based protein/nucleic acid biochemical structure." Trevize said: "I was studying at a military academy, and the courses focused on nucleonics and gravitronics. However, I am not the kind of specialist with narrow knowledge. I still have a little understanding of the chemical basis of life. However, water, proteins and nucleic acids are the only possible building blocks of life." "I don't think that conclusion is appropriate. It is safer to say that no other form of life has been discovered; or that no other form of life has been identified so far—you know that. Even more surprising is the fact that the number of 'indigenous species' on each planet, that is, species that do not exist on worlds other than that planet, is surprisingly small. Most of the species that exist today, especially the 'modern Homo sapiens' can be found in almost all the inhabited worlds of the Milky Way, and they are closely related to each other in terms of biochemistry, physiology, and morphology. On the contrary, the characteristics of inherent species have great differences. differences, and there is little overlap between the native species on different planets." "Well, so what?" "The conclusion is that there is a world in the galaxy - a single world, distinct from the others. There are tens of millions of worlds in the galaxy - no one is sure how many - that have developed life, but all Simple, delicate, and sparse life forms do not change much, are not easy to persist, and are not easy to spread. But there is a world, the only world, that easily develops millions of species, some of which It is quite specialized and has evolved into advanced life, which is very easy to proliferate and spread, including us. We have enough wisdom to form civilization, develop hyperspace flight, and colonize the entire galaxy; while expanding to the entire galaxy Along the way, we took with us many other creatures that were biologically related to each other and somewhat related to humans." "Think about it carefully," Trevize said in an unsurprised tone, "I think this argument holds water. I mean, this is a galaxy full of humans. If we assume that humans originated from a single world , then that world must be different. What’s wrong with that? The chance of life’s development being so diverse must be very small, perhaps only one in 100 million, on average in 100 million worlds capable of producing life. There will be one of those worlds—at most there can be only one." "But what are the factors that make that world so different from other worlds?" Pelorat said excitedly, "What are the conditions that make it unique?" "It's probably just a coincidence. After all, humans and other life forms brought by humans can be found on tens of millions of planets. Since those planets can support life, the conditions must be similar." "No! Once the human species evolves successfully, once it develops technology, and once it is honed in the difficult struggle for survival, it will have a strong adaptability. Even the most inhospitable world can still land on it. Rooting, like Terminus is a good example. But can you believe that any intelligent life will evolve on Terminus? When humans first arrived on Terminus, that is, the era when the encyclopedia compilers were in power, on Terminus The highest plants are mosses that grow on rocks; and the highest animals are coral-like creatures in the sea, and flying insects like insects on the land. We have released a large number of fish in the ocean, and bred rabbits, goats, herbaceous plants, woody plants, whole grains, etc. on land. The local indigenous life is almost extinct now, only in zoos and aquariums to be seen." "Hmm—" Trevize was speechless. Pelorat stared at him for a good minute, then sighed, and went on: "You're not really interested, are you? Strange! I don't see anyone who seems interested. I think that's Probably my own fault, although I myself was fascinated by the question, I just couldn't make it fascinating." Trevize said, "That's an interesting question, really. But... but... so what?" "Don't you think that this is a very interesting scientific research topic? Think about it, a unique world in the galaxy. Only in that world can a truly rich inherent ecology be produced." "That might be interesting for a biologist, but I'm not, get it, so you'll have to forgive me." "Of course, my dear fellow. But I have never found any biologists interested in this subject. As I said, I originally majored in biology, and I asked my professor about this question, but He was equally lacking in interest, and advised me to study practical issues. This disgusted me, so I turned to history, anyway, when I was a teenager, I loved reading history books. Since then, I have Drilling down on the 'problem of origins' from a historical perspective." Trevize said: "However, at least you have found a lifetime career, so you should be happy and thank the professor for his stubbornness." "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. And it's a really interesting life project. I never feel tired. But I really want to pique your interest. I hate talking to myself all the time. .” At this moment, Trevize suddenly raised his head and laughed, very happily. Pelorat's calm face suddenly showed a look of being stabbed. "Why are you laughing at me?" "It's not you, Janov," Trevize replied, "I'm laughing at my own stupidity. I appreciate your concern, you know, and you're absolutely right." "You mean I think the origin of man is an important subject?" "No, no—oh, yes, that's right. But what I mean is that you told me to stop thinking about that problem and get my mind elsewhere, and that's perfectly correct, and it's really good. It worked. While you were talking about the way life evolves, I finally figured out how to find that hyperwave repeater. If it exists, I can definitely find it." "Oh, that thing!" "Yes, that thing! That's what I was thinking about just now. I've been looking for it in the traditional way. It seems that I'm still on the old training ship when I was training. Congealed objects. I forgot that this is the latest spaceship, the crystallization of tens of thousands of years of technological evolution, do you understand?" "I don't understand, Grant." "There is a computer on the spaceship, how could I have forgotten?" He immediately got into his room, and at the same time waved for Pelorat to come along. "I just need to experiment with its communication capabilities," he said, placing his hands on the computer's sensor pad. He tried to contact Terminus.Now they are tens of thousands of kilometers away from the terminal star. Contact! Call! His nerve endings seemed to grow new shoots, and they continued to extend outwards, stretching out into space at an incredible speed (of course, the speed of light), and began to try to make contact. Trevize felt like he was touching... thinking, not exactly touching, but feeling... well, not exactly feeling, but... It didn't matter, because there was no language to describe it. He "feels" that he has made contact with Terminus.Although the distance between the two is getting farther and farther at a rate of about twenty kilometers per second, the connection has always been continuous, as if the planet and the spaceship are both stationary and only a few meters away from each other. Without saying a word, he cut off the connection.He was just testing the "principle" of communication, not really trying to do any communication. Eight parsecs away, Anacreon is by far the closest large planet other than Terminus—on galactic scales, it's Terminus' backyard.If you send a signal at the speed of light in the same way as you did with Terminus just now, you have to wait fifty-two years to receive a reply. Contact Anacreon! Imagine Anacreon! Visualize it as clearly as you can.You know its location relative to Terminus and the galactic core: you have studied its history and planetary surface science; during your service you have deduced how to retake Anacreon (now, it can never be attacked by enemies Occupation, that is only a hypothetical situation). My God! You have been to Anacreon. Imagine it! Imagine it! Use the Ultrawave Repeater to create the feeling of being in it. Nothing! His nerve endings kept flying through space, but he couldn't find any shelter. Trevize withdrew his thoughts and said to Pelorat: "There is no hyperwave repeater installed on the Far Star, Janov, I can be sure now. If I don't follow your advice, I don't know how long it will take to reach this conclusion.” Although the muscles on Pelorat's face did not move, there was a clear look of joy on his face. "I'm glad I could help, does that mean we can jump?" "No, we have to wait another two days for safety. We have to stay away from the various objects, remember? This is a new type of spaceship that is still in the experiment, and I have no concept of it at all. Usually, in In this case, it might take me two days to figure out the correct program—especially the proper 'superthrust' for the first jump. But I have a feeling now that the computer will do it all." "My gosh! Then we'd be bored to death." "Bored?" Trevize smiled brightly. "How is it possible! You and I, Janov, have a good chat about Earth." Pelorat said: "Really? You want to amuse the old man, don't you? You are very kind, very kind." "Nonsense! I was trying to amuse myself. Janov, now you have finally convinced someone. From what you just said, I find that the earth is the most important, interesting and attractive subject in the universe. .”