Chapter 17 Chapter two

Harding is known to be a man of eloquence, and many aphorisms are said to have been off-the-cuff, although many of them may have been false.Leaving aside the question of credibility, it is said that he once said this on a certain occasion: "It is always good to be open and aboveboard, especially for those who are known for showing off mysteries." Poli Verisov had acted on this advice several times, for he had spent fourteen years in Anacreon in a double capacity—to maintain that dual status he had often felt as if he were walking barefoot. Like a hot iron plate, it was extremely painful.

To the people of Anacreon, Verisov was a patriarch, a representative sent by the base.In the minds of these "barbarians", the base is the source of all mysteries, and it is also the holy place of their religion - a religion established by the priests of the base over the past thirty years with Harding's assistance.Because of this status, Verisov was naturally extremely respected.But he was very bored, because he hated religious ceremonies that centered on himself. But the king of Anacreon—whether it is the old king or the grandson who is currently in power, they all regard Verisov as an ambassador sent by the powerful base, and their attitude towards him is both welcoming and fearful.

Overall, Verisov's job was a thankless one.Today was the first time in three years that he had the opportunity to return to the base. He came back with the mood of vacation, although those troublesome accidents made him have to come back. This is not the first time he has had to travel in absolute secrecy, so he has adopted Harding's "high and aboveboard" strategy. He took off his priestly vestments for civilian clothes—and that alone was considered a vacation.Then he took a regular passenger ship to the terminal star, and deliberately went to take the second class.When he arrived at the space station on Terminus, he hurried through the crowds to the public video phone booth and called City Hall.

"My name is Jane Smile, and I have an appointment with the mayor this afternoon," he said on the phone. The secretary who answered the phone was a young woman with a flat voice and high efficiency.She immediately made another call for instructions, and then told Verisov in a dry monotonous voice: "Sir, Mayor Harding will see you in half an hour." Then the screen disappeared. After the ambassador to Anacreon hung up the phone, he bought a copy of the latest edition of "Endpoint City Daily", strolled leisurely to the city hall park, sat on the first bench he found, and began to read the newspaper. News reviews, sports pages, and comics on the Internet to pass the time.Half an hour later, with the newspaper under his arm, he entered the drawing room of the town hall.

During this process, no one noticed him at all.Because all his actions were aboveboard, no one wanted to take another look at him. When Harding saw Verisov, he immediately smiled and said, "Have a cigar, please. Did you have a good trip?" Verisov took a cigar and said, "Interesting. I had a priest in the next cabin, and he came to the base for special training in the use of radioactive synthetic substances—you know, for cancer. " "But surely he wouldn't call it 'radioactive synthetic material'?" "I don't think he would, it's a 'holy food' for him."

The mayor smiled: "And then?" "He induced me to discuss spiritual issues with him, and tried his best to save me from the vile and dirty materialism." "And he never found out that you are his immediate boss?" "How could he recognize me without my crimson cassock? Besides, he was a Smirnian. Anyway, it was an interesting experience. Harding, it is so obvious that the religion of science is firmly Implantation. On this point, I wrote an article - I wrote it for fun, not suitable for publication - to study this phenomenon from a sociological perspective. When the old empire began to disintegrate in the outer rim of the galaxy , science seems to be starting to disappear in these worlds, and in order for science to be accepted again, it has to appear in a different guise, and that's what we've done, with great success indeed."

"That's very interesting!" The mayor folded his hands behind his head, and suddenly changed the subject: "Tell me about the situation in Anacreon." The ambassador took the cigar out of his mouth, looked at it with a frown before putting it down, and then replied: "The situation is very bad." "You can find it, or you won't come back quietly." "Almost—the situation is like this. The key figure in Anacreon is the regent Winnes, who is the uncle of King Lepped." "I know, but isn't Leppard coming of age next year? If I remember correctly, he'll be sixteen next February."

"That's right—" After Verisov replied, he was silent for a while, and then said in a sarcasm tone: "If he can live to that time. The cause of his father's death is extremely suspicious. He was shot through the chest by a needle while hunting." , the official statement is that the death was accidental." "Well, I seem to have seen Winnis when I went to Anacreon. We had just driven the Anacreonians out of Terminus, and you hadn't been there yet. Let me think, If I remember correctly, he was a dark-skinned lad with black hair, a squint right eye, and a playful hooked nose."

"Here he is, with the same hooked nose and squinting eyes, but with gray hair now. He's terribly vile, but fortunately he's the biggest fool on the planet. He thinks he's clever, and it turns out he's stupid. more explicit." "It's not unusual." "He was so stupid that he had to use a nuclear bomb to kill a chicken. The most obvious example is trying to tax the property of the Spirit Hall. That was two years ago when Lao Wang just died, do you remember?" Harding nodded emotionally, then smiled and said, "The Padres used to bounce back from this."

"They did bounce back a lot. Since that backlash, he's been more wary of the Padres, but he's still tough. In a way, it's not good for us. He's infinite. Extremely overconfident." "Maybe it's an inferiority complex that overcompensates—the royal children, you know? Except for the eldest son, they often have this tendency." "But it's just as troublesome no matter what. He strongly advocated attacking the base, and he never concealed his attempt, just like a mad dog. From the perspective of armaments, he does have this ability. The old king established a powerful interstellar space during his lifetime. Fleet, Winnis has not been idle for the past two years. In fact, when he wanted to tax the property of the Spirit Hall, it was originally for the expansion of armaments. After this attempt failed, he simply doubled the general income tax."

"Has anyone complained?" "There was no violent protest. Obedience to the authority that the Holy Spirit desires is the theme of every sermon of the dead, but Winnis doesn't appreciate it." "Okay, I have the background. Now tell me what happened?" "Two weeks ago, Anacreon's merchant ships discovered an abandoned Imperial Starfleet cruiser that had been wandering in space for at least three centuries." There was a light of interest in Harding's eyes, and he sat up straight and said, "Well, I've heard of that. The space agency once applied to me, hoping to get that starship for research purposes, I know It's in good condition." "Totally in the best condition," Vrysov said coldly, "Last week, when Winnis received your suggestion that he hand over that cruiser to the base, he was about to explode. .” "He hasn't answered yet." "He won't answer—unless he answers you with guns, even if he knows that's not the best course of action. You know he came to me the day I left Anacreon, Ask the base to refurbish that cruiser to combat readiness before returning it to the Starfleet of Anacreon. He has the cheek to open his eyes and lie, saying that the suggestion you sent last week represents the base's attack on Anak Reon. Ryan's attempt. And said that if we refused to repair the cruiser, it would prove what he suspected was true, and that he would be compelled to act in self-defense for Anacreon's safety. That's what he said— Forced to act in self-defense! So, I had to come back the same day." Harding listened, but just smiled lightly. Verisov also smiled and continued: "Of course, he is waiting for our rejection. In his opinion, that is the best excuse to march immediately." "That's true. However, Verisov, we still have at least six months, so we might as well help them repair the cruiser and return it to them respectfully. As a token of our respect and kindness, we put Call it the 'Winnes'." After speaking, Harding smiled again. Still with a hint of a smile, Vrysov replied, "I believe it's a reasonable course of action, Harding, but I'm a little worried." "worry about what?" "That's a starship, an interstellar cruiser that the empire could only build back then! Its tonnage is equivalent to one and a half times the total size of Anacreon's fleet, and it is equipped with nuclear cannons that can destroy entire planets. Energy beams, shields that don't produce radiation at all. That's a really nice starship, Harding..." "On the surface, Verisov, it's only on the surface. You and I both understand that if Vinnis wants to attack Terminus, it will be easy with his current strength. We don't have time to repair the cruiser at all, It’s used for defense, so what’s the point of repairing it and sending it to Winnis? And you should know that there will never be a real war.” "Yes, I think so too," the ambassador raised his head, "However, Harding..." "What's wrong? Why did you stop? Keep talking." "Okay, although this is not my job, but I read from the newspaper..." He put the "Daily" on the table, pointed to the first page and said, "What the hell is going on here?" Harding glanced casually at him and replied, "A group of aldermen are going to form a new political party." "That's what it says on it." Verisov became anxious: "Of course you know better than me about internal affairs, but they have tried everything to attack you except fighting. How powerful are they? " "It's so fucking strong. After the next election, they may control the parliament." "After the election, not before the election?" Verisov squinted at the mayor, "Besides the election, there are naturally other ways to seize power." "You see me as Winnes?" "Of course not. However, it will take months to repair the starship, and the attack will inevitably follow after the repair. Our concession will be regarded as a sign of cowardice by the MPs; Nice's fleet will be doubled in strength, and he will attack 100% by then. Why should we take risks? I think you should inform the council of our plan, or you should force Anacreon to a showdown now!" Harding frowned and said, "Putting them to a showdown now? No, I will never do that before the crisis. Don't you forget Hari Seldon and his plan." Verisov hesitated for a moment, then murmured: "So, you absolutely believe in the existence of that plan?" "There is almost no doubt about it," Harding replied decisively: "I was there when the vault opened, and Seldon's video has revealed this secret." "I don't mean that, Harding, I just don't believe it. How can he predict the history of the next thousand years? Maybe it's just that Seldon is too confident." At this time, Harding showed a mocking smile. There was a pause before continuing, "However, I'm not a psychologist either." "Yes, neither of us. However, when I was young, I had some basic training, so I was able to understand the abilities of psychology, although I could not use this knowledge myself. Hari Seldon did exactly what he claimed , this is unquestionable. The establishment of the base, as he said, is to provide a refuge for all science - in the emerging barbaric century, to preserve the science and culture of the dead empire, waiting for the Second Empire. Build it up and build it up again.” Verysov nodded, but still a little disbelieving: "Everyone knows how things might turn out, but can we take this risk? Betting on the present fate for the sake of an illusory future?" "We must do this—because the future is not illusory. Seldon has calculated and described it very clearly. He has pointed out in advance that there will be successive crises in the future. Each crisis depends more or less on the successful resolution of the previous crisis. The current crisis is only the second one, and God knows what the final result will be if there is a slight deviation." "What you said is all empty speculation." "No, it was Hari Seldon who said so in the Vault. Every time there is a crisis, our freedom of action is restricted, and there is only one way left." "To keep us on this narrow road?" "Yes, or in other words, in order to prevent us from going astray. But on the other hand, if there are still more than two feasible paths, it means that the crisis has not yet come. We must let things develop naturally as much as possible, and That's what I decided to do." This time Verisov didn't answer, but bit his lower lip reluctantly and said nothing.It was a year ago that Harding had first discussed this issue with him, and they were discussing the practical issue at that time—how to defuse Anacreon's intention to attack the base.Because at that time, Verisov also began to advocate the end of the policy of appeasement. Harding seemed to read the ambassador's mind, saying: "I wish I had never told you these things." "Why do you say that?" Verisov shouted in surprise. "Because there are six people in all now—you, me, and the other three ambassadors and John Lee—who have a fair idea of ​​what's going to happen, and I'm really afraid that Seldon won't let anyone know what he thinks. " "why?" "Because Seldon's psychology is very clever, but it also has inherent limitations. It can't deal with too many independent variables, and it can't be used on individuals. No matter how long or short the time you want to predict, it's just like the kinetic theory of gas is not applicable. As with individual molecules. Seldon's subjects of study must be masses, the inhabitants of the entire planet, and these masses must be uninformed—with absolutely no foreknowledge of the consequences of their actions." "I don't quite understand." "I can't help it. I'm not a real psychologist, so I can't explain it in scientific terms. But you know, there are no specialized psychologists on Terminus, and there is no mathematics in this area." Reference books. Seldon apparently does not want the people who live on Terminus to have any ability to predict the future. He wants us to develop blindly—that is, to develop correctly according to the principles of crowd psychology. As I once told you , when I drove out the Anakrians, I really didn't know where we should go. At that time, my idea was just to maintain a balance of power, that's all. It wasn't until later that I realized that there was a subtle pattern in the occurrence of various events , but I try not to take this into consideration when I make any decision. For if the Seldon plan is interfered with by foresight, the whole plan will be destroyed." Verisov nodded knowingly and said: "I have heard the same complicated theory in Anacreon's Spirit Hall. However, when you need to take action, how do you judge the correct one? opportunity?" "Actually, the timing has already been decided. You also admit that once we repair the cruiser, Winnis is bound to launch an attack on us. This is what will inevitably happen, and there is absolutely no room for turning around." "yes." "Okay, so the external factors have been settled. On the other hand, you also admit that after the next election, there will be a new parliament dominated by the opposition party, which will force us to take action against Anacreon. A fact that cannot be changed." "That's right." "When all the leeway is gone, the crisis hits, exactly like last time - I'm a little worried about one thing, though." Harding stopped at this point, and Verisov waited patiently for him to continue, but Harding continued slowly, almost reluctantly: "I have an idea-it can only be It's just my feeling, that is, according to Seldon's plan, the internal and external pressure should rise to the peak at the same time. But now it seems that there is a difference of several months-Winnis may come before spring, but We're still a year away from the election." "It doesn't seem to matter." "I don't know, maybe it's just an unavoidable error in calculations, or maybe I feel this way because I'm a fan of the authorities. I try not to let my actions be swayed by hunches, but how do I know if I'm doing the right thing? What kind of effect will that little time difference bring? But no matter what," he raised his head and said, "at least one thing I have decided." "What's up?" "When the crisis breaks out, I'm going to Anacreon, I'm going to be there myself... Well, I've said enough. It's getting late, Verisov, let's go out for a drink , I want to take it easy." "We'll have a drink here," said Verisov. "I don't want to be recognized. Otherwise, you know what kind of statements the new party of those great MPs will make because of it— — send some brandy, please." Harding took his advice—but not too much.