Chapter 43 fourth quarter

The space station here isn't huge by base standards, but it's fairly well maintained.After the Farstar was towed to the berthing area and locked, they received a delicate receipt full of codes. Pelorat whispered, "Shall we leave it here?" Trevize nodded, and put his hand on Pelorat's shoulder.He also lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry." They stepped into the rented car, and Trevize inserted the map of Seychelle City into the computer in the car.The city is now on the horizon, and some of its spiers can be seen looking up. "Sychelle," he said, "the capital of this planet—city, planet, star, sector, all called Sechelle."

"I'm still worried about that spaceship," Pelorat couldn't help but added. "Nothing to worry about," Trevize said. "We'll be back at night, and unless we only want to be here for a few hours, we'll have to sleep in the spaceship. And you should also understand that the space station must Follow an interstellar convention—as long as it is a non-hostile ship, it will not be violated. As far as I know, no one has ever dared to violate this convention, even in wartime. Otherwise, everyone The life and property of the people are not guaranteed, and the interstellar trade cannot be maintained. Any world that violates this convention will be boycotted by the pilots of the entire galaxy. I assure you, no world dares to take this risk. What's more..."

"Not to mention what?" "Well, what's more, I have already made it clear to the computer that if any outsiders try to board the spaceship, no matter whether they are men or women, as long as they look or sound like us, they will be killed immediately. I also used a very polite way, face to face The station commander explained that I'd love to shut down this particular device because I respect the reputation of the Seychelle City space station - the entire galaxy knows that the security here is absolutely flawless and the staff is absolutely reliable, the problem It's a spaceship that's too new, and I don't know how to turn it off."

"He won't believe it, certainly not." "Of course not! But he has to pretend to believe it, otherwise he will be humiliated by me on the spot. Since he has nothing to do with me, even if he is humiliated by me, he has no choice but to admit it. However, he doesn't want to be humiliated in vain, so in the end Simply step down and take my word for it." "Is this another example of a characteristic of human nature?" "Yeah, you'll get used to it sooner or later." "And how can you be sure that this car is not bugged?" "I did think it was a possibility, so I didn't take the one they had for me, and picked another car on purpose. If every car was bugged—well, we just said something big ?"

Pelorat suddenly showed an uncomfortable expression. "I don't know how to put it. It seems rather rude to complain like that, but I don't like the smell in here. There's a—strange smell." "Inside the car?" "Well, it's been since the space station. I thought it was a station-specific smell, but the car walks with that smell. Can we open a window?" Trevize laughed a few times. "I think I can find the right switch on the control panel, but it won't help, the whole planet smells like this. Is it really that bad?" "It's not very strong, but you can smell it, and it's not very pleasant. Does the whole world smell like this?"

"I always forget that you have never been to other worlds. Every inhabited world has a special smell, which is mainly emitted by various plants, but I think animals should also contribute, even humans are no exception. And according to I know that anyone who has just set foot in another world will never like the taste of the place. But you will get used to it soon, Janov, and after a few hours, I guarantee you will not notice it again." "You don't mean to say that all the worlds have this strange smell." "No, as I said just now, every world has a special smell. If we really pay attention, or have a more sensitive nose, like the Anacreon dog, then we may only need to touch it You can tell which world you are in by smelling it. When I first entered the fleet, every time I arrived in a new world, I would not be able to eat on the first day. Later, I learned the trick of the old space veterans. When I first landed, I took a Dab your nose with a handkerchief soaked in local scents. That way, when you come into contact with the air of that world, you won’t smell anything. After you’ve been running in space for a long time, you’ll be numb to such things, Not caring at all. In fact, the worst part is coming home."

"why?" "Don't you think there are no strange smells on Terminus?" "You mean there really is?" "Of course there is. Once you get used to the smell of other worlds, say Seschel, you will be surprised by the strange smell on Terminus. Once upon a time, when a long-term mission was over, the ship returned to Terminus. , the moment the airlock opens, all the personnel will yell: 'Back to the cesspit again!'” Pelorat showed a disgusted expression. Now they could clearly see the spiers of the city, but Pelorat just stared at the passing scenery beside the car.There were many vehicles coming and going on the road, and occasionally a speeding car roared overhead, but Pelorat just concentrated on looking at the trees beside the road.

He said: "These plants seem to be very strange, do you think there is an inherent variety among them?" "I don't think so," Trevize said absently, busy studying the map while trying to adjust the car's computer. "While there is unlikely to be room for native life on inhabited planets, galactic colonists have always introduced their own flora and fauna—if not at the beginning of colonization, then soon after." "However, this seems a little strange." "You don't always think that the biological species are the same in every world, Janov. I have heard people say that the scholars who compiled the 'Encyclopedia of the Galaxy' once published a set of biological species atlas, and all the information accounted for Eighty-seven thick computer disks were written, yet it was not complete, and by the time it was officially published, it had become obsolete."

The car continued on and was soon engulfed by the outer ring of the city.Pelorat shuddered and said, "I don't really appreciate the architecture of this city." "Everyone only appreciates their own hometown." Trevize replied casually. He has rich experience in space travel and understands this truth very well. "By the way, where are we going?" "Hmm—" Trevize's voice was somewhat annoyed. "I tried to get the computer to drive the car and take us to the tourist center. I hope the computer understands the traffic rules and knows which roads are one-way because I don't have any idea."

"What are we doing there, Grant?" "First, since we are tourists, we will naturally go to that kind of place. And I hope we do it as naturally as possible, so as not to attract anyone's attention. Second, if you plan to ask about Gaia's information, where will you go? " "To some university, or to some anthropological society, or to some museum, I wouldn't go to a tourist center," said Pelorat. "Ha, then you are wrong. After arriving at the tourist center, we pretended to be the kind of very curious tourists and wanted to get a list of cultural cities, including all universities, museums, etc. in the city. Then We then decide where to go first, and 'there' we can find the right people to ask about ancient history, galactic theory, mythology, anthropology, or anything else you can imagine - but The tourist center must be the first stop."

Pelorat finally stopped talking. At this time, the car had already joined the traffic flow in the urban area and moved forward along with other cars.Soon they turned to a small road, and there were many signs that might indicate directions or traffic, but because of the special font style on them, the two of them could hardly understand them. Fortunately, the car seemed to know the way itself, and finally parked in a parking lot.There is a signboard at the entrance of the parking lot, which says in the same weird font: "Saixier Outer World Office", and there is a line of words below: "Saixier Tourist Center", which is written in easy-to-understand Written in block letters in the Galaxy standard font. Once they entered the building, they realized that it was not as grand as it looked, and that there was obviously no business. In the hall, there are rows of cubicles for passengers to wait, and a man is sitting in one of them, reading the news report spit out by the communicator.The other room is occupied by two ladies who appear to be playing an intricate game of cards with cards and plastic cards on the table.In addition, there is an employee sitting behind a counter that is too big, and next to him is a computer console that seems too complicated for him. It looks like a colorful chess board. Pelorat looked at him, lowered his voice and said, "People in this world obviously wear exaggerated clothes." "That's right," Trevize said, "I've noticed that too. But every world has its own style of fashion, and in some worlds, it's different from region to region. And fashion changes over time, Fifty years ago, maybe, every Sessel wore black. You'd better not be surprised, Janov." "It seems I must," said Pelorat, "but I prefer our costumes, at least they don't disturb the optic nerves of others." "Because most of us wear gray clothes? In fact, some people hate this fashion. I've heard someone describe it as 'wearing dust'. And, maybe Because the colorless clothing is popular in the base, these people deliberately wear colorful clothes to emphasize their independent status. You have to learn to adapt to these anyway-come on, Janov." When the two of them walked towards the counter, the man who had been reading the news report in the cubicle stood up suddenly, and then walked towards them.There was a smile on his face, and the clothes on his body happened to be gray as well. Trevize didn't look at that person at first, but when he turned his head to look, he immediately froze. He took a deep breath, and then said: "On the Yinhe, it's the guy who sells friends and seeks glory!"