Chapter 7 Chapter VII

Benny parked his scooter in the academy parking lot under the observatory, and ran quickly towards the steps leading to the main entrance of the building.When he stepped up the wide stone steps at the entrance, he was suddenly taken aback when he heard someone calling his name from above. "Benny, you're finally here." The astronomer looked up and saw his friend, the burly and tall Therimon 762, was standing in the doorway of the observatory gate. Theremon is a reporter for the Chronicle in Salo. "Therimon, are you looking for me?" "Yes. They told me you wouldn't be here in a few hours. I was going to leave when you came. What a coincidence!"

Beanie trotted up the last few steps, and the two exchanged a hug.He had known the reporter for three or four years.Four years ago, he came to the observatory to interview all the scientists on the latest manifesto of the Flames.Gradually he and Theremon became close friends, even though Theremon was five years his senior and lived in a coarser and more worldly environment than his.Beanie would have liked a friend who had nothing to do with the politics of the university; Theremon would have liked a friend who had no interest in the journalism he was doing. "What happened?" Beanie asked.

"It's not that big of a deal. But I need you to write another piece for the Voice of Science. Mondill gave another 'Repent, repent, death is coming' speech. He claimed to have done Get ready and announce the specific time of the end of the world. If you are interested, I can tell you that this day is actually September 19 next year." "He's a madman! It's a waste of paper to write about him. People don't take even the slightest interest in anything about the Flames!" Theremon shrugged. "The truth is there are people interested, and a lot of them, Beanie. If Mondial says the end of the world is coming, someone like you needs to come out and say 'That's not the case, brothers and sisters! Don't be afraid! It's all going to be alright !' or something to the same effect. I want you to do this, will you, Beanie?"

"You know I will." "How is tonight?" "Tonight? Oh, God knows, Theremon, you don't know how busy I am. How much time do you need?" "Half an hour, or forty-five minutes." "You see," Beanie said, "I have an urgent appointment...that's why I came here early. After the appointment, I promised Resta to go home immediately and spend a time or two with her." Hours. Recently, our working hours are always staggered, and we can’t meet each other. I have to come to the observatory at night to supervise the shooting of a group of photos..."

"Well," said Theremon, "I know it's not the right time. Oh, look, it's all right, Beanie. I'll use my manuscript tomorrow afternoon. How about we talk tomorrow morning?" "Morning?" Beanie said hesitantly. "I know this morning is unthinkable for you. I mean after your work tonight is over, I can come back here when Onas rises. Give me a short interview before you go home to sleep... " "this……" "Just as a friend, Beanie." Beanie gave the news reporter a weary look. "I'm all right, of course I'd like to. It's just that after a night's work I'm probably in a daze and won't be of much use to you."

Theremon grinned. "I don't worry about that. I've noticed that you're surprisingly clear-headed when there's some anti-science lie to refute. How about meeting you in your office tomorrow morning when Onas rises?" "Ok." "Ten thousand thanks, friend. I owe you a favor this time." "Don't mention that." Theremon saluted respectfully and began to walk down the steps. "Say hello to your pretty wife," he said loudly, "see you in the morning." "Okay, see you in the morning." Benny agreed. This sounds a bit strange.He never saw anyone or anything in the wee hours of the morning, with the exception of Theremon.That's the beauty of friendship.Without friendship, would there be such an exception?

Beanie turned and entered the observatory building. Inside the building, the light is dim, and everything is peaceful.The silence of the Science Hall was all too familiar to Benny, who had spent most of his time there since he was in college.But he understands that this calm is a superficial calm.This huge building, like more secular buildings in the world, produces various conflicts and contradictions from time to time.There are big scientific disputes, small personal enmities, quarrels, conspiratorial slanders and so on.Members of the group of astronomers are as unethical as members of other groups.

Still, the observatory remains a sanctuary for Beanie and most of the people who work there...a place where they put mundane concerns behind them and live in peace as they devote themselves to scientific research and answers to the big questions that arise in the universe. He walked swiftly down the hall, trying to muffle the sound of the hard soles of his boots hitting the marble floor, but always failing. He moved forward at a constant speed, and quickly scanned the display cabinets on the left and right sides of the hall against the walls.Some of the respected exhibits representing the history of astronomy are permanently displayed in the showcase.Here are the crude, almost comical telescopes used by astronomical pioneers like Chettor and Stanta four or five hundred years ago.Also on display here are black rough meteorites collected over the centuries... mysterious remnants from beyond the clouds.The first printed astronomical charts and astronomy textbooks are of epoch-making significance, and some of the manuscripts of theoretical works of great thinkers that have been yellowed due to time can all be seen here.

Beanie paused for a moment before the last manuscript.Unlike the others, this one seemed very new, almost as fresh as it was written...for it was only one generation old, and was written not long before Beanie was born.It is Arthur 77's carefully codified theory of universal gravity.Although Beanie was not very religious, he looked very devout when looking at this thin manuscript.He felt like a worshipper, thinking hard about the problem. In his view, the theory of universal gravitation is a pillar of a harmonious universe, perhaps the most important pillar.If this pillar falls, the consequences will be unimaginable.Now, however, he seems to feel that this pillar is likely to fall.

At the end of the hall, behind a beautiful bronze door, was Arthur's own office.With a quick glance, Beanie walked over quickly, then jumped up the stairs.At this moment, in this world, the only person Beanie wants to see is the respected and admirable director of the observatory. Fano and Yermott were waiting for him upstairs in the drawing room, where they had arranged to meet. "Sorry, I'm late," Beanie said, "Things have been messed up this afternoon." They gave him a nervous, stern, slightly intelligent smile.What a strange couple, he thought, but it wasn't the first time.Both of them are from provinces with lagging agriculture... West Nova Scotia or Gatembo.Fano 24 is short and chubby, moves slowly and sluggishly, has a comfortable and laid-back personality, and looks indifferent when things happen.His friend Yermot 70 is incredibly tall and thin.He was like a stairway with limbs, with a vague head at the top, which could almost be seen with a telescope.In contrast to Fano, Yermot seemed very nervous and restless.However, the two of them are always inseparable, and neither can be separated from the other.Of all the graduates who studied astronomy, they were the two by far the best next to Beene.

"We didn't have long to wait," Yermot said immediately. "Only a minute or two, Dr Beanie," Fano added. "Don't call me 'Doctor,' please," Beanie said. "I've got a final scrutiny to go through. Are those calculations you guys did for me done?" Yermott said: "Sir, this is a gravitational calculation problem, isn't it?" As he spoke, his two surprisingly long legs kept shaking. Fano elbowed him so hard that Beanie could hear his ribs creaking. "Don't do that," Beanie said, "Actually, Yermott is right." He cast a faint smile at the tall young man, "I thought it was a simple piece of abstract mathematics. I'm giving you a problem. It doesn't surprise me that you can figure it out, and know that it has something to do with gravity. You figured it out, didn't you?" "Yes, sir." Fano and Yermott replied almost in unison. "We ran it all through first," Fano said. "Then we checked again, and the situation was clear at a glance." Yermot continued. "Oh, so it is," said Beanie.The two young men seemed a little nervous at times.They are said to be very young... In fact, they are only six or seven years younger than him. He is an assistant professor, and they are students. There is a huge gap between him and them.Although they are very young, their intelligence is so superior!He was not very happy that they guessed the propositional function of the operation.In fact, he wasn't happy at all.In a few years, they'll be on their way to being his equal, maybe even competing with him for the same professorship, and then it won't be so much fun.But now he tried not to think about it. He reached out for a printout of the calculation. "May I take a look?" he asked. Yermot handed over the materials, his hands shaking violently.Benny browsed through the data, at first he was calm, then excited and restless. For more than a year he had been thinking about certain problems of gravitation which had been honed to perfection by his mentor Arthur.According to the principle of gravity, Arthur calculated the orbital data of Kalgesh and its six suns, made great achievements and won a high reputation. Using modern computing tools, Biney has been working out some aspects of Kargesh's orbit around Onas, the important planet that gives Kargesh its light source.During the calculation, he suddenly found that his data did not match the theory of universal gravitation.According to the theory of universal gravitation, the distance between Kargesh and Onas should be in place A, but an undeniable fact is that his calculations appeared in place B.This shocked him greatly. The deviation is tiny... In fact, it's only a few decimal places... But for the vast universe, it's just a small difference, a thousand miles away.Gravity is so precise that most people call it the law of gravity.Its mathematical foundations are considered beyond doubt.But for a theory that attempts to explain the laws of motion of objects in the universe, there can be no slight deviation, only correct and incorrect, and ambiguity is absolutely not allowed.Beanie understood that if the calculations continued, deviations of a few decimal places would create huge holes.According to the calculation results of the theory of universal gravitation, the Kalgesh star will stay in the sky for a hundred years from now. If this staying position is half the actual position around Onas, then what effect will the universal gravitation have? As Resta had told him, Beanie double-checked his calculations and got a little tired of them.The result is always the same. But whose results should he trust?His own calculated data?Or is it the unshakable result of Arthur's supremacy?His own trivial insights into astronomy?Or Arthur's profound insights into the fundamental structure of the universe? He imagined himself standing on top of the dome of the observatory, shouting to the people: "Listen everyone! Arthur's theory is wrong. I have the data to overthrow his theory!" This will definitely attract the ridicule of the world.Who is he?How dare you go against the mighty Arthur?Who would believe that a fledgling professor's assistant overturned the laws of gravity? However... however... His eyes moved quickly over the printouts Fano and Yermot had prepared for him.The calculations on the first two pages were unfamiliar to him: he set up the data for the two students in such a way that the potential connection of the data obtained was not obvious, and obviously, they used calculations in a way that any astronomer who calculates planetary trajectories would be considered unorthodox.The orthodox method led him to disastrous results; however, he was dealing with too much information to use any other method than the orthodox method.Fano and Yermott were not so hampered. But following their thoughts, Benny began to notice a far-fetched convergence of numbers.By the third page, their calculations were exactly the same as his, and he still remembered his own calculations perfectly. Starting from the third page, all calculations are methodical, moving forward step by step.Every step forward brings closer to the same result which is astonishing and disappointing, unbelievable and utterly unacceptable. Benny looked up at the two students, stunned. "Could it be like this? Impossible? Is there something wrong? For example, this line of points... They seem to have been tricked..." "That's right!" Yermot yelled, very loudly.His face was flushed, and his arms were waving as if voluntarily. Fano's tone was calmer. "I'm afraid these results are correct, sir. They have been confirmed by reckoning and back reckoning." "Yes, I imagined it was right," Beanie said vaguely, trying to hide his apprehension.But his hands trembled so badly that the printing materials slipped from his hands.He wanted to put them on the table in front of him, but his wrist didn't work at all. He seemed to make a gesture like Yermot's, but all the materials were scattered on the floor. Fano crouched down and picked them up, then gave Beanie an anxious look. "Sir, have we taken offense?" "Oh, no, not at all. I didn't get a good rest today, and that's the problem. You guys are doing a great job, no doubt about it. I'm so proud of you. To accept a situation that doesn't resonate with the real world, that actually Calculation problems that are completely contrary to the scientific truth of the real world, on the one hand, have to completely forget the fact that this assumption is absurd from the beginning; A marvelous piece of work, an admirable display of your logical thinking abilities, a first-rate thought experiment..." Beanie saw the quick exchange of glances between them and wondered if he was fooling them. "Guys," he continued, "forgive me now...I have a meeting..." Beanie rolled the damned papers, put them under his arm, and walked quickly past the two students, slipped out the door, and rushed down the hall, running all the way to the safety and privacy of his own office. run away. God!God... what!look what i have doneWhat's the next step?Beanie's mind was constantly churning with these questions. He buried his head in his hands to calm the beating of his heart, but it seemed difficult to calm down.After a while, he raised his head and poked the call button on the table with his fingertip. "Put me through Serimon 762, a reporter from Salo's Chronicle," he said to the machine. There was an unbearable burst of beeps and hisses from the intercom.After a while, Serimon's deep voice was suddenly heard: "Column Department, Serimon 762." "I'm Beanie." "What? I can't hear you!" Beanie realized that his voice was worse than that of a frail old man. "I said I'm Beanie! I...I want to change the date." "Changing the time? Look, old man, I understand how you feel in the morning, because I feel the same way. But we have to talk before noon tomorrow, otherwise, there will be no column in this issue. I would like to satisfy you requirements, but..." "You have misunderstood me. I want to see you immediately, not postponed, Theremon." "when?" "Tonight, half past nine. If not, ten o'clock will do." "I seem to remember that you are going to film at the observatory." "To hell with filming! I need to see you." "Need? Beanie, what's the matter? Did you have a fight with Lesta?" "It has nothing to do with Resta. How about nine-thirty? At the Six Suns Club?" "Six Suns Club, half past nine, yes, it's a deal." Serimon said. After finishing the call, Benny sat for a while, staring at the paper tube in front of him, shaking his head sullenly.He felt a little calmer, but only a little.He believed that Theremon would relieve this pressure, and he had complete confidence in Theremon.Beanie knew that journalists were usually untrustworthy, but Theremon was a friend first in his heart and a reporter second.He never failed Beanie, not once. Still, Beanie doesn't know what to do next.Maybe Theremon would have something to say, just maybe. He descended the stairs behind the observatory and slipped out of the fire escape like a thief.He dared not go through the main door for fear of bumping into Arthur.The thought of possibly meeting Arthur one-on-one, face-to-face, terrified me. He found that riding a motorcycle home was also very scary, worrying that the law of gravity might lose its effect at any time, sending the motorcycle flying into the sky.However, he eventually returned to the small suite he shared with the Resta 717. "Benny, your face is as pale as..." Lesta said hurriedly when he saw him. "Like a devil, isn't it?" He reached out and pulled her closer, "Hold me tight, hold me tight." "What's the matter? What happened?" "I'll tell you in a moment".He said, "Hold me tight now."