Chapter 58 third quarter

Cordel nodded slowly and respectfully, which was a necessary etiquette before discussing with the mayor.This type of rule is a bad habit handed down by the Indepur family, and almost everything has changed now, with the exception of the etiquette norms. Cordel said: "I'm sorry I'm late, Mayor. But the matter of your arrest of Trevize, the paralyzed council is finally beginning to respond." "Oh?" the mayor replied in a very calm tone: "Is there a palace revolution about to break out?" "Don't think about it, there are no doors, everything is under our control, but there will be some noise."

"Just let them make the noise, it'll make them feel better, and I -- will stay out of it. I think I can appeal to the support of general public opinion?" "I think you can get support, especially in worlds other than Terminus. No one cares about the whereabouts of a missing councilor except Terminus." "But I care." "Oh? Another news?" "Riono," said the Mayor, "I want to know more about Sachel." "I'm not a history textbook with two legs," Leonor Cordel replied with a smile. "I don't want to listen to history, I just want to know the facts. Why is Sachel independent? You see——" She pointed to the red part of the global map. On the inner part of the spiral inner circle, there is a surrounded white area.

"It's pretty much completely sealed off by us -- almost swallowed up, and yet it's still white. According to our map, it's not even a pink loyal ally," Burano said. Cordel shrugged. "Although it is not officially a loyal ally, it has never provoked us. It has always been neutral." "Okay, then look at this again—" She lightly touched the control switch again, and the red area suddenly expanded a lot, covering almost half of the Milky Way. "This is when the mule dies," Burano said. "The domain he conquered. If you look inside the red area, you can see that the Sechelle Alliance is completely surrounded at this time, but it is still white. It's the only encirclement the mules spare."

"It was also neutral at the time." "Mules don't have much respect for neutrality." "He seems to have made an exception for Sachel." "It seems to be an exception. What's so special about Sachel?" Cordel replied, "Nothing! Believe me, Mayor, it's ours any time we want it." "Is it? But it's not actually ours." "We don't have that need yet." Burano's upper body leaned back on the chair, and his arm lightly swept the control switch, turning off the map of the galaxy. "I think we'll have to ask for it now."

"Sorry, I didn't understand, Mayor?" "Riono, I sent that stupid congressman into space to use him as a lightning rod. I feel that the second base will be fooled by him and think he is quite dangerous, even more dangerous than the base. So he is destined to be struck by lightning, and we will be able to find out the source of the lightning." "I understand that, Mayor!" "My original idea was to ask him to go to that ruin on Trantor, to go to that library and rummage through—whatever materials are left in there—to find the whereabouts of the earth. The world of the earth, you should remember, those Boring metaphysicians often emphasize that it is where the human race originated. They make it sound like they are right, although that is hardly likely to be true. The Second Foundation will not believe that Earth is what they are looking for, so they will certainly do something about it. Find out who he really is."

"But he didn't go to Trantor." "That's right, he actually went to Saixieer. This is really beyond my expectation. Why is it like this?" "I don't know. But excuse me old police dog, it's my job to doubt everything, so please tell me how you learned he went to Seychelles with that Pelorat. I know Kang CommScope once made a report, but how much can we trust CommScope?" "That hyperwave repeater tells us that CommScope's spacecraft has indeed landed on Planet Sessel." "There is no doubt about it, but how do you know that Trevize and Pelorat are also there? There may be other reasons for Komp to fly to Seychelle. He may not know or care about the whereabouts of the other two people at all." .”

"In fact, the ambassador to Sachel has informed us that the spaceships of Trevize and Pelorat have also arrived there. I don't believe that no one will fly to that spaceship automatically. In addition, CommScope reported Said to have talked to them, even if he is not trustworthy, we have other reports to corroborate - someone saw both of them at Seychelle University, they went there to find a little-known historian, Ask him something." Cordel said in a gentle tone: "I have not received any of these reports." Burano snorted. "Don't worry, these reports are all handled by me personally, and I'm just telling you now? It didn't take much time. I just got an update from the ambassador, and he said that our lightning rod has On the road; Trevize stayed two days on the planet Sessel, and then left. He told the ambassador that he was heading for another planetary system, which was about ten parsecs away from Sessel. He also sent the destination The name and galactic coordinates were passed on to the ambassador, who then passed it on to us."

"Has CommScope confirmed these things?" "Before the ambassador reported to us that the two had left, Comm's report had already arrived. At that time, Comm was not sure where Trevize was going, so he must have continued to follow." "We haven't figured out why the situation has changed," Cordel said, popping a lozenge into his mouth and licking it thoughtfully. "Why did Trevize go to Sessel? Why did he leave?" "The question I'm most interested in is: Where? Where is Trevize going?" "You just said it, Mayor, didn't you? You said he gave the ambassador the name and coordinates of the destination. Are you implying that he lied to the ambassador? Or that the ambassador lied to us?"

"Even assuming that everyone is telling the truth, and that no one has committed an inadvertent mistake, the name intrigues me. Trevize told the ambassador that he was going to 'Gaia', Gai of Gai, female Beside Ya, Trevize explained it carefully." Cordel said, "Gaia? I've never heard of it." "Really? It's not surprising." Burano pointed to the location where the map was displayed just now. "From the map of this room, in theory, I can immediately call out every star that has an inhabited world, as well as many stars that are not inhabited nearby, but are very conspicuous in themselves. If I operate properly, I can mark a total of more than Thirty million pieces—individuals, pairs, and huddles. I can mark five different colors, or mark them one by one, or solve them all at once. But I can't find the cover In this map, Gaia does not exist at all."

Kodel said: "The stars shown on the map only account for one ten-thousandth of the total number in the Milky Way." "The words are good, but none of the undisplayed stars are inhabited planets. Why does Trevize want to go to an uninhabited planet?" "Have you ever tried the Central Computer? It contains all 300 billion stars in the Milky Way." "That's what I heard too, but can you believe it? You and I, we know very well that our map misses thousands of inhabited planets—not just the map in this room, but the data in the central computer Same. Gaia clearly slipped through the cracks."

"Mayor, there's nothing to worry about. Trevize may just be wandering around, or he may be deliberately trying to deceive us. There may not be a star named Gaia in space at all. The coordinates he gave us may be Nothing. He did this just to get rid of our stalking, and since he met Kang Pu, he may have guessed that he was being followed." Cordel's tone was still calm, even a bit like coaxing a child. "How is that going to get rid of us? Of course Comm will be on the trail. No, Leonor, I've got another thought in mind, we're probably going to be in bigger trouble. Listen—" She paused, then said: "This room is completely screened, Leonor, you have to understand that. We won't be bugged by anyone, so please feel free to say anything, as I intend to do the same myself. "If those intel are to be believed, this Gaia is only ten parsecs away from the planet Sessel, so it is part of the Sechelle Alliance. In the entire galaxy, the Sechelle Alliance is a well-explored area, in which all There are detailed records of the galaxies, whether they are inhabited or not, and the information on the inhabited world is even more detailed. Gaia is the only exception. Regardless of whether it is inhabited or not, no one has heard of it. However, it is not included in any map. In addition, the Sechelle Federation maintains a peculiar independence from the Base Federation, and even maintains independence from the Mules of the year. In fact, it has been independent since the collapse of the Galactic Empire. .” "What do these things matter?" asked Cordel cautiously. "Of course the two points I mentioned should be related. Sachel contains an unknown planetary system, and Sachel is an untouchable place. It is impossible for these two points to be unrelated. No matter what Gaia is The world, it protects itself very carefully, except for its neighbors, almost does not let others know of its existence, and it has always protected the world around it, so that outsiders can never conquer Sai Xier." "Are you telling me, Mayor, that Gaia is home to Second Foundation?" "I'm telling you, that Gaia deserves a good investigation." "May I raise a puzzling problem, perhaps inexplicable by your theory." "Please say." "If Gaia is the Second Foundation; if for centuries it has successfully defended itself against outside invasion, and also protected all of Seychelle, using that alliance as its broad, deep shield; and if , it has kept its possessions from leaking to the rest of the galaxy—so why did all these protective nets suddenly disappear? After Trevize and Pelorat left Terminus, although you advised them to go to Trantor, they But without hesitation, you immediately went to Sachel, and now you turn to Gaia. What's more, now that you have the ability to doubt Gaia, why haven't you been stopped by some kind of external force?" Mayor Burano lowered his head, his gray hair gleaming dimly under the light.After a long silence, she said suddenly, "I think it's because Trevize has inadvertently disturbed the situation. Something he has done or is doing has jeopardized the Seldon plan in some way." "That's absolutely impossible, Mayor." "I don't think anything or anyone is perfect, not even Hari Seldon. There must be some kind of flaw in the Seldon plan that Trevize just happened to run into, perhaps unaware of it himself. We have to understand where this is going, so we have to be there." Cordel finally showed a dignified and serious face. "Don't make up your own mind, Mayor. We must not take action without careful consideration." "Don't take me for an idiot, Leonor, I don't want to start a war or send an expedition to land on Gaia, I just want to be there - or as close as I can get, if you like words. Leo No, do me a favor. I don't like dealing with people in the military. After 120 years of peace, those people must have become eccentric, but you don't seem to care. Go and check for me. How many warships are stationed near Seychelle. Can we make their movement look like a routine deployment, without the other party knowing that we are mobilizing?" "After such a long period of peace and prosperity, I'm sure there won't be too many warships around, but I'll try to find them." "Even if only two or three ships are enough, it would be great if one of them is of the 'Supernova' class." "What are you going to do with them?" "I want them to push as far as they can toward Seschel, but without causing any trouble. They also need to be close enough to each other to provide mutual support." "What is this for?" "Use it flexibly, I want to be able to launch an attack immediately when necessary." "Fight against the second base? If Gaia has a way to make mules stay away, of course it won't pay attention to a few battleships." Burano's eyes shot out with fierce fighting spirit. She said: "Old friend, as I said just now, nothing or anyone is perfect, not even Hari Seldon. When he drew up that Millennium Plan, he Absolutely cannot surpass the situation at that time; he was a mathematician trained by a dying empire, and all the technologies of that year were almost dying, so in his plan, the progress of future technologies could not be fully considered. For example, gravitons is a Brand new technology, which he could not have foreseen at the time. In addition, many other technologies are constantly advancing by leaps and bounds." "Gaia may also have been progressing." "In a closed situation? Come on. The base federation has a total population of gigabytes. This is the only way to select the elite among the elites, brainstorm research and development, and make great progress in various technologies. How can an isolated world be compared. Our warships will move forward, and I'm going with them." "Excuse me, Mayor, what did you say?" "I'm going to board the battleship and go to the border of Sesel in person. I want to observe the actual situation for myself." Cordel was stunned for a long time with his mouth open, and then he swallowed, and a strange noise came out of his throat. "Mayor, that's—not very smart." He emphasized his opinion as best he could. "Smart or not," Burano said passionately, "I'm going to do it. I'm sick and tired of Terminus. I hate the endless politics, factions, and alliances here. , betrayal. I've been at the center of the political vortex for seventeen years, and now I want to do something else—anything else. There—" She pointed casually in one direction. "The history of the entire galaxy may be rewritten, and I want to personally participate in this grand event." "You don't know anything about these things, Mayor." "Who knows, Riono?" She stood up, rather stiffly. "As soon as you help me find the information on those warships, as soon as I explain the trivial matters here, I will immediately prepare to leave. Also, Leonor, don't try to change my mind in any way, otherwise I will immediately Turn your face and deny anyone, cancel our old friendship, and then dismiss you, this is something I can do." Cordel nodded. "I know you can do it, mayor, but before you make up your mind, could you please reconsider the power of Seldon's plan? Your plan may be a moth to a flame." "I'm not afraid of this, Leonor. The Seldon Plan cannot predict the appearance of mules. If there is one, there will be two. Since its calculations have made mistakes, it may fail again." Cordel sighed. "Well, if you really have made up your mind, I have no choice but to go all out loyally." "Very well, let me warn you again, you had better say this from the heart. Leonor, keep that in mind, and then let's move on to Gaia, onward!"