Chapter 47 fourth quarter

Trevize leaned back in the chair, feeling comfortable all over, as if all his vitality had been restored.The restaurant isn't luxurious by Vertex standards, but it's pretty novel in every way.In one corner of the restaurant, there is an open fire for cooking, and the whole restaurant is warmed up.The meat was cut into bite-size pieces—and served with an assortment of spicy sauces on the side.Each piece of meat is wrapped in a wet, cool, smooth green leaf, the kind of leaf that has a faint minty fragrance.Guests can eat it directly with their hands without worrying about being burned or getting their hands greasy.

The waiter also specifically explained to Trevize and Pelorat that they should eat the meat and leaves in one bite.The waiter apparently often entertains alien guests, and when the two of them carefully took the steaming meat with a spoon, he showed a fatherly smile; and when they discovered that the green leaves can not only neutralize the meat The waiter obviously felt very relieved when the temperature of the cake was warm and his fingers could be protected. Trevize exclaimed, "It's so delicious!" He immediately ordered another customer, and Pelorat followed suit. Then they ate another soft and slightly sweet pastry, and the waiter brought coffee.The two found that the coffee smelled like caramel, they both shook their heads disapprovingly, and they added a lot of syrup by coincidence, which caused the waiter on the side to shake his head.

When both of them were full, Pelorat asked, "Okay, what happened at the tourist center just now?" "You mean Komp?" "Is there anything else we should discuss?" Trevize looked around.Although they sat in a deep alcove, there was no privacy at all. Fortunately, the restaurant was full of guests and the noise was the best cover. Then he said in a low voice: "Isn't it strange that he followed us to Seychelles?" "He said he had a stalking instinct." "Yes, he won the college championship in the hyperspace competition. I didn't feel that there was a problem with it until today. I am quite aware that if a person is well-trained and develops a kind of intuitive reflex, he can use it. Another ship’s preparation action, to determine where it is going to jump. But I can’t understand how CommScope can judge a series of jumps. At first, I was only responsible for the preparation of the first jump, and the rest were left to the computer. , Of course CommScope can study and judge our first leap, but what kind of magic does he have, how can he guess the data of the computer core?"

"But he did, Grant." "He did," Trevize said. "The only answer I can think of is that he knew where we were going. He predicted the outcome, not judged it." Pelorat thought for a moment, and then said: "That is very unlikely, my dear boy. How could he have foreseen it? We ourselves did not decide where we were going until we boarded the Far Asterisk." "I know that—what about the Day of Contemplation?" "Kang Pu didn't lie to us. When we entered the restaurant just now, I asked the waiter, and he said that today is indeed a meditation day."

"Yes, he said that, but he emphasized that the restaurant was not closed. In fact, what he said was: 'The city of Seychelles is not a backwater, we are open today.' In other words, there are people I am meditating behind closed doors today, but the big cities don’t do this kind of thing. The people in the city are more or less sophisticated and not as pious as the country people. Therefore, the traffic is still busy today, and there are still bustling crowds, maybe a little less than usual , but still busy enough." "But, Grant, when we were at the tourist center, no one actually walked in. I noticed that no one ever came in."

"I noticed that too, and I even went to the window to look. It turned out that I could clearly see that there were a lot of pedestrians and vehicles on the surrounding streets, but no one walked in. The contemplation day is a good excuse, if it is not I have made up my mind that I will never trust this foreigner again, and we will never doubt this lucky timing." "Then what's the point of all this?" asked Pelorat. "I think the answer is very simple, Janov. This person can know where we are going as soon as we decide on our destination, even if he and we are on two different spacecraft; this person can also be in a busy area, Keeping a public building empty so that it fits the three of us to talk in secret."

"You want me to believe that he has the means to perform miracles?" "Exactly. If Comm happens to be an agent of Second Foundation, so he can control the minds of others; if he can read the contents of your mind and mine at that time in a distant spaceship; Customs stations in space; if he can gravity propel the landing so that Border Patrol doesn't care; if he can use psychic influence so that passers-by don't want to enter the tourist center." Trevize showed an indignant expression, and continued: "All the stars, I can follow this clue all the way back to when I just graduated. I didn't travel with him. I remember that I didn't want to go. Did he influence me? It must be that he must act alone, but where is his real destination?"

Pelorat pushed away the cup and plate in front of him, as if wanting to make room for enough thinking space.Unexpectedly, this action called the "mechanical tea room" - an automatic small dining car, so the two moved the cups, plates and tableware to the dining car. After the dining car left by itself, Pelorat said: "This is a crazy idea. Don't forget that anything can happen naturally. Once you start to suspect that someone is controlling everything, you will follow this line of thought. Explain everything, and never trust anyone or anything again. Come on, old man, these are accidents, it's just a question of how you explain them, and don't get caught up in delusions."

"I also don't want to be overly optimistic and get carried away." "Okay, then let's use logic. Assuming he's an agent of Second Base, why would he risk making us suspicious by vacating the tourist center? What important thing did he say? Can't let other people be present? Even if there are several people nearby, they must all be busy with their own work." "The answer to this question is quite simple. He has to keep our minds under close observation, and want no other minds to interfere nearby, that is to say, no noise, and no chance of confusion."

"That's your own interpretation again. What was the significance of that conversation he had with us? We may well assume that he came to us, as he insisted, to explain to us what he was doing." , and apologize to you for it, and warn us of the trouble that lies ahead. What else might he have in mind?" At this point, a small credit card machine on one side of the dining table flashes softly, showing the cost of the meal.Trevize reached out his hand to take out the credit card from his belt. This kind of credit card with the stamp of the base is universal throughout the galaxy. No matter where the base citizens go to the ends of the world, as long as they have a card in hand, they can pass without hindrance.He conveniently inserted the credit card into the slot, and settled the bill in a short while.Trevize (in his naturally cautious style) checked the balance and put the credit card back in his belt pocket.

He turned his head and looked around again, making sure that none of the guests sitting nearby showed any suspicious looks at him, and then continued: "What other purpose might there be? What other purpose? He told us That's not all he talked about, he also mentioned the Earth, he told us that the Earth is dead, and urged us to go to Complon, should we go or not?" "I'm thinking about this too, Grant." Pelorat admitted frankly. "Go away like this?" "We can come back after we finish investigating the Sirius region." "Didn't you think that the real purpose of his coming to us is to divert our attention from Sachel and let us leave this place automatically? No matter where we go, he doesn't want us to stay anyway." "why?" "I don't know—listen to me, they wanted us to go to Trantor, which was your original destination, and maybe they did expect us to go there. But I got in the way and insisted we should come to Seychelles, which is That must be the last thing they want, so something must be done to get us out." Pelorat looked rather displeased. "But, Grant, you're jumping to conclusions. Why don't they want us to stay in Seychelle?" "I don't know, Janov, and I don't need to know. Since they want us to go, I'm going to stay, and I'm not going to." "But... but... listen to me, Glenn, if the second base really wants us to leave, why don't they directly influence our hearts and let us go on the road willingly? Why bother to send someone to Come to reason with us?" "Since you mentioned this, Professor, didn't they play tricks on you?" Trevize narrowed his eyes, showing a suspicious look. "Don't you want to get out of here?" Pelorat stared at Trevize in surprise. "I just think it's quite reasonable to do that." "Of course you would think so, if you were affected." "But I didn't..." "If your mind had been tuned, of course you'd swear it wasn't there." Pelorat said: "If you trap me in this way, I can't disprove your sweeping accusations at all. What are you going to do?" "I'm going to stay in Seychelle, and you're going to have to stay. You can't pilot that spaceship yourself, so if Comm is affecting you, then he's picking the wrong guy." "Okay, Grant, then we'll stay in Sachel, and it won't be too late when we find another reason to go. After all, the last mistake we should make is to turn our backs on ourselves first." , whether to go or stay, nothing is worse than the internal strife. Well, my brother, if I am really affected, will I change my mind so easily, as I am going to do now, happily Does it depend on you?" Trevize thought for a while, as if suddenly realizing it, he smiled and stretched out his hand. "I agree, Janov, let's go back to the spacecraft now, and start with another pipeline tomorrow—if we can think of any other pipeline."