Chapter 19 Chapter 12 The Silent World

Trantor is a world reborn from ashes, like a faded jewel in the star-studded space of the galaxy's core, constantly dreaming of the glory of the past and the beauty of the future. The invisible reins of the Galactic Empire once stretched from this metal-clad world to the outermost reaches of the stars.At that time, it was a single metropolis, inhabited by 40 billion administrators, the most magnificent capital in human history. When the end of the empire finally came, and after the "Great Catastrophe" a century ago, Trantor's originally slumped power shrank at an accelerated rate, and finally collapsed forever.In the post-war ruins littered with corpses, the metal that clads the entire planet is also twisted and deformed, becoming a painful mockery of the glory of the past.

The survivors peeled off the metal surface of this world piece by piece and sold them to people on other planets in exchange for food seeds and livestock.So the soil was able to see the light again, and the entire planet gradually returned to its original appearance.With the gradual expansion of primitive agriculture, Trantor gradually forgot the glorious and great past. Or rather, in the heavy and solemn silence, Trantor would be able to forget all the past without the huge ruins that still stand today. Arkadia looked at the metal edge on the horizon, and couldn't help feeling a lot of emotion in her heart.From her point of view, the village where the Pafos lived was nothing more than a cluster of houses—each narrow and old.The village is surrounded by golden wheat fields, which is a very beautiful scene.

But there, just out of sight, still lingers the memory of the past.When Trantor's sun shone upon it, the uncorroded building still reflected a golden light, as if in a blaze.She had been in Trantor for more than three months and had only been to that place once.That time, she climbed the smooth driveway without joints and ventured into the dusty buildings that were rarely visited.In those abandoned buildings, sunlight can only shine in through the gaps in the ruined walls. She felt a real pain in her heart, and it was nothing short of sacrilege. She ran, making a clanging sound, until her feet hit the soft ground again.

From then on, she could only stand in the distance eagerly looking at it with infinite yearning, not daring to disturb this huge wreck anymore. Somewhere in this world, she knew, was her own birthplace—near what used to be the Imperial Library.Trantor of Trantor, holy place of holy places!On this planet, only this place survived the "Great Catastrophe", and in the following century, it was always safe and sound, completely preserved, standing proudly between the heaven and the earth. There, Hari Seldon and his colleagues had woven an incredible web; there, Abrin Meath unraveled the mystery, and his whole body froze with amazement.In order to prevent him from revealing the secret, Argadia's grandmother had to make up her mind to end his life a moment earlier.

In that imperial library, her grandparents lived for ten years, and they didn't dare to return to the base of rebirth until the mule died. Decades later, her father and his new wife came to the Imperial Library again in order to find the whereabouts of the second base, but they found nothing in the end.There, her mother gave birth to her, and she died there shortly afterwards. She wanted to go back to the old place, but Prim Pavor shook her round head and said, "It's thousands of miles away, Ikaty, and we have a lot of work to do here. Besides , it's not good to disturb that place for no reason, you know, it's a holy place..."

But Agatha knew very well in her heart that the real reason was that he didn't want to go, which was simply a replica of the "taboo in the mule palace".Facing the huge historical relics, the living people seem to have become dwarfs, and it is inevitable to have such superstitious fear in their hearts. However, she will never blame this cute little person for this matter, it is really inappropriate.She had lived on Trantor for more than three months, and during that time he and she—"Papa" and "Mother"—had been too good to herself... But what is her reward?Alas, to drag them into the water, and die with herself.Perhaps she should have warned them that she would bring them bad luck?No!She completely kept them in the dark and risked her life to protect herself.

She really can't bear the condemnation of conscience - but is there any other choice? She managed to pull herself together and went down the stairs to breakfast.Halfway through, I heard their conversation. Prim Paffer twisted her bloated neck before she tucked the napkin into her shirt collar.Then he reached out and took the boiled egg, showing an expression of infinite satisfaction. "I went into town yesterday, Mother," he said, waving his fork.After taking a big mouthful, I almost couldn't speak the following words. "What's new in town, Dad?" asked "Mother" casually.Then she sat down, looked carefully at the table, and got up again to get the salt.

"Oh, it's not very good. There's a spaceship coming from Kalgan with papers from there, saying there's a war going on there." "War! Really? Huh, if their heads are blown off, let them beat their heads. Did you get your paycheck? Daddy, I'll nag you one more time, you go talk to That old guy in Cusco said that his cooperative is not the only one in the world. They pay you so little that I am ashamed to tell my friends, but at least they should pay you on time!" "On time, on time, on time—" "Papa" said grimly, "Hey, don't tell me at the breakfast table, it'll make me choke in my throat with every bite."

As he spoke, he vented his anger on the buttered piece of bread, which he destroyed in a moment.Then, he said in a more gentle tone: "The two sides at war are Kalgan and the base, and they have been fighting for two months." He stretched out his hands to gesture, and finally caused the two starships to collide. "Well, how's the situation?" "The base has always had the upper hand. Well, you know Calgan, they are all soldiers all over the country, and they have been prepared for a long time, but the base is different. So-touch!" "Mom" put down the fork suddenly, lowered her voice and said, "Stupid!"

"what?" "No brains at all! That big mouth of yours never shuts." She stretched out her hand and pointed quickly, and "Dad" looked in the direction she pointed, and saw Arkatia standing stiffly at the door. "Is there a war at the base?" she asked. "Dad" looked at "Mom" in bewilderment, and then nodded helplessly. "They lost the battle?" "Dad" nodded again. Agathia felt a lump in her throat immediately, and it was almost unbearable.She walked slowly to the dining table and asked in a very soft voice, "Is the war over?"

"Is it over?" "Father" deliberately used a high-pitched tone, repeated her question, and then said, "Who said it's over? During a war, many unexpected things may happen. And... …and……" "Sit down, dear child," "Mother" reassured her, "no one is allowed to talk about business before breakfast, and not having any food in your stomach is not a healthy state of health." But Argatia ignored her, and continued to ask: "Have the Kargans landed on Terminus?" "No," said "Papa" in a serious tone, "I saw the news last week, when Terminus was still fighting. It's true, what I said is true, the base is still brave and tenacious, you Shall I show you the newspaper?" "want!" After the newspaper was brought, Arkadia barely ate her breakfast, while carefully reading it from beginning to end, her eyes gradually blurred.Both Santani and Curil had fallen—they simply surrendered without a fight; a detachment of the base fleet lay ambush in the star-sparse Ifni sector, almost completely annihilated. Today, only the core territory of the Four Kingdoms is left on the base, which is the territory created by the first mayor, Seve Harding, and it is still struggling, and there is still a glimmer of hope.In any case, she thought, she must inform her father as soon as possible, she must find a way to get the word to his ears, and she must do it! But the war blocked all traffic, what should she do? After breakfast, she asked "Papa," "Are you going on a business trip again, Mr. Paffer?" "Dad" is sitting on a deck chair on the lawn in the front yard, enjoying the sun.He held a thick cigar between his fat fingers and took a few puffs from time to time, looking like a happy poodle. "Business trip?" he said lazily. "Who knows? This is a rare leisure time. My vacation is not over yet. Why think of a new errand? Can't you live anymore, Ikaty?" "Me? No, I like it here. You've been very nice to me, I mean you and Mrs. Paffer." "Dad" waved her his hand, indicating that this was nothing at all. Argadia added, "I was thinking about the war." "Don't think about that kind of thing. What can you do? Why worry about things that you can't do anything about?" "However, it occurred to me that the base had lost most of its agricultural world, and food might be rationed." "Dad" showed an uneasy look: "Don't worry, the situation will get better." She didn't care what he said, and went on and on: "I wish I had a way to send food to them, that's what I was thinking. You know, after the mule died, the base exploded very quickly." Revolution, and Terminus was isolated for a while. General Han Pridji took over the mules for a while, and he was the one who led the fleet to encircle Terminus. There was a terrible food shortage, my dad said, and his dad told He, they can only eat amino acid concentrate powder. That kind of thing is really unpalatable, but an egg costs two hundred points. Later, they broke through in time, and the food delivery spacecraft from Santani could land. Then It must have been a terrible time, and now, perhaps, history is repeating itself everywhere." After a pause, Argatia continued: "You know, I bet the base would be willing to buy food at black market prices, even if it was twice, twice or more than the market price. Ha, if there is any cooperative, For example, which cooperative in Trantor is willing to take on the work of transporting food, although they may lose a few spaceships, but I bet that before the end of the war, everyone can make a lot of war money, and everyone will become Millionaires. In the past, the merchants at the base loved doing this kind of business the most. Wherever a war broke out, they would fly there with a cargo full of goods that were urgently needed by the local area as fast as possible to gamble. Alas, often Two million points per ship—I mean net profit, just food for a space merchant ship." "Dad" seemed so tempted that he didn't even notice that the cigar was out.He said: "Food can be sold for so much money, huh? Well—but the base is far away from here." "Oh, I know, and I guess you can't go straight from here, too. If you take a regular spaceship, you'll probably only get as far as Marcena or Smushiko at most. Once you get there, you'll have to hire a small aircraft The ship will take you to smuggle into the border." "Dad" was combing his hair with his hands, while making plans in his heart. After two weeks, all preparations were completed.During this period, "mother" kept complaining—first, she insisted that he was going to die; later, because "father" refused to let her go with him, she resolutely protested to the end. "Daddy" said, "Mom, why are you acting like an old woman? I can't take you because it's a man's job. Do you think war is a joke? Is it fun?" "Then why are you going? Are you a man? You old wretch--you've got a foot and half an arm in the coffin. Let the young man go--you fat, bald old man , it’s better to squat at home to enjoy the shade.” "I'm not bald," retorted "Papa" majesticly, "and I have more hair. Why can't I earn this commission? Why young lads? Listen, it's hundreds of dollars." million riches." She knew it very well in her heart, so she had to shut up obediently. Before Pavel was about to leave, Agatha went to him for a few more words. She said, "Are you really going to Terminus?" "Why not? You said it yourself, the people there are in desperate need of bread, rice, and potatoes. So, I'm going to make a deal with them, and they'll have something to eat." "Okay, so—one more thing. If you're going to Terminus, can... can you please go and see my dad?" "Dad"'s face wrinkled, and he seemed very sympathetic.He said, "Oh—you don't have to remind me. Of course, I'll go and see him, and I'll tell him you're safe and everything is fine. When the war is over, I'll take you go back." "Thank you, then I will tell you how to find him now. His full name is Dr. Duron Darrell, and he lives in the town of Steinmark, just outside of Terminal City. You can take a small traffic plane there. We The home address is 55 Straits Street." "Wait a minute, I'll write it down." "No, no," Agatha hurriedly stretched out her hand to stop, "You can't write half a word, you must only remember it in your heart-and you have to find him alone, and you can't ask anyone for help." "Dad" looked puzzled, but he just shrugged and said, "Well, here we go--55 Strait Street, Steinmark, on the outskirts of Terminus, you can fly there. All right." Bar?" "there's one more thing." "what?" "Can you give him a word for me?" "No problem at all." "I'm going to whisper to you." So he brought his fat cheeks close to hers, and the whispered words reached his ears. "Papa," eyes widening, asked, "Is that what you want me to say? But it doesn't mean anything." "He'll know what you mean, just tell him it's my words, and I say he'll understand the meaning. You'll take my words exactly, without a little difference. You won't forget, will you?" "How could I forget? It's just five words, listen to me..." "No, no," she jumped anxiously, "don't say it, don't mention it to anyone. Unless you see my father, it's nothing to do with it. Please promise me." "Dad" shrugged again: "Okay! I promise you!" "Okay—" she said in a mournful tone. Then "Dad" walked along the road, ready to take a taxi to the space station.Agatha watched his back, wondering if she had sent him to a dead end, doubting whether she would ever see him again. She hardly had the courage to go into the house and face the kind and kind "mother" again.She had played so many tricks on them, she thought, maybe when it was all over, she'd better commit suicide and apologize.